Why Achebe may not be the father of African Literature

No doubt, Chinua Achebe is a very great and enviable writer whose skill in story-telling I personally aspire to acquire. Of course, Achebe had won a number of literary laurels before his death and he taught in many universities overseas. I don't want to go to the area of comparing Soyinka and Achebe because each of them has his distinctive uniqueness and creative prowess. But if we talk about the number of awards and influence, I would surely raise Soyinka's arm.

Also, hen we talk of a multiplicity of talent and cross-bred literariness, Achebe is barely qualified for such. True, Chinua Achebe has got a prize in poetry but still rarely goes into the genre while we have other African writers who do well in the three genres. For instance, Ngugi wa Thiong o writes prose, poetry and drama and readers have mentioned how remarkable is works are. Wole Soyinka has also written a lot of plays, poems, prose-fictions, memoirs, as well as films.

So if we talk of how vast a writer is in the realm of writing, there are few other writers who could be labelled the title of the father of African literature apart from Achebe. However, the path that Ache, our own Okonkwo, and hero of Nnewi has left on the path of literature and writing is an indelible one as his simplicity and how much he handles literariness with ease cannot be overemphasized. And this is very meritorious.

What readers and literary fans should know that every writer has their voice that should not be muffled, every writer has their uniqueness, and that should be appreciated. We should learn that a budding talent could even possess tthesame qualities a renowned one has but background, circumsatnce and time could be excuses (which they can change) for failure or current status.