Elechi Amadi

{{Infobox writer

| name = Elechi Amadi

| honorific_suffix = MFR

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Emmanuel Elechi Daniel

| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|05|12|df=y}}

| birth_place = Aluu, Rivers State, Nigeria

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|06|29|1934|05|12|df=y}}

| death_place = Port Harcourt, Nigeria

| occupation = Novelist

| nationality = Nigerian

| alma_mater =

| spouse =

| subject =

| period =

| genre =

| movement =

| notableworks = The Concubine (1966)

| awards =

}}

Elechi Amadi {{post-nominals|country=NGA|MFR|size=80%}} {{IPAc-en|audio=Ig-Elechi Amadị.ogg}} (12 May 1934 – 29 June 2016) was a Nigerian author and soldier. He was a former member of the Nigerian Armed Forces. He was an author of plays and novels that are generally about African village life, customs, beliefs, and religious practices prior to contact with the Western world. Amadi is best regarded for his 1966 debut novel, The Concubine, which has been called "an outstanding work of pure fiction".Eldred Jones, "African Literature 1966-1967", African Forum, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 5.

Early life and education

Born in 1934, in Mbodo-Aluu in what is now the Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria, Elechi Amadi attended Government College, Umuahia (1948–52), Survey School, Oyo (1953–54), and the University of Ibadan (1955–59), where he obtained a degree in Physics and Mathematics.{{cite book |last=Gikandi |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Gikandi |title=Encyclopedia of African Literature |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-134-58223-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKmCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |access-date=2018-11-20 |pages=26–27}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/amadi.htm |title=Elechi Amadi |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=Kuusankoski Public Library |location=Finland |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150125001500/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/amadi.htm |archivedate=25 January 2015 |url-status=dead }} While in university, he adopted the name Elechi Amadi, which he felt reflected his Ikwerre heritage more than his birth name, Emmanuel Elechi Daniel.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Amadi, Elechi |encyclopedia=Dictionary of African Biography |editor1-last=Gates |editor1-first=Henry Louis Jr. |editor1-link=Henry Louis Gates Jr. |editor2-last=Akyeampong |editor2-first=Emmanuel |editor3-last=Niven |editor3-first=Steven J. |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-0149 |access-date=2022-10-27 |last=Ochiagha |first=Terri |date=January 2011 |publication-date=2012 |isbn=9780195382075}}

Career

He worked for a time as a land surveyor and later was a teacher at several schools, including the Nigerian Military School, Zaria (1963–66).Hans M. Zell, Carol Bundy, Virginia Coulon, A New Reader's Guide to African Literature, Heinemann Educational Books, 1983; pp. 350-351.

= Military service and politics =

Amadi served in the Nigerian army, remained there during the Nigerian Civil War, and retired at the rank of captain.[http://www.elechiamadi.org/about.php Elechi Amadi website, CV.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326043033/http://www.elechiamadi.org/about.php |date=2013-03-26 }} He then held various positions with the Rivers State government: Permanent Secretary (1973–83), Commissioner for Education (1987–88) and Commissioner for Lands and Housing (1989–90).{{Cite web|title=Literary icon, Elechi Amadi, is dead|url=https://punchng.com/literary-icon-elechi-amadi-dead/|website=Punch Newspapers|date=29 June 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}

= Writing =

He was a writer-in-residence and lecturer at Rivers State College of Education, where he has also been Dean of Arts, head of the literature department and Director of General Studies.{{Cite web|title=Elechi Amadi (1934-2016)|url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/elechi-amadi-1934-2016/|date=2016-07-08|website=The Sun Nigeria|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}

Amadi has said that his first publication was in 1957, a poem entitled "Penitence" in a University of Ibadan campus magazine called The Horn, edited by John Pepper Clark.[http://www.elechiamadi.org/%20Elechi%20speaks%20about%20JP%20Clarke.pdf A Celebration of J. P. Clarke's 50 Years of Artistry, A Presentation by Elechi Amadi – 13 August 2010.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226004628/http://www.elechiamadi.org/%20Elechi%20speaks%20about%20JP%20Clarke.pdf |date=26 February 2013 }}

Amadi's first novel, The Concubine, was published in London in 1966 and was hailed as a "most accomplished first performance".Eustace Palmer, "Elechi Amadi and Flora Nwapa", African Literarture Today, no. 1, 1969, p. 56. Alastair Niven in his critical study of the novel wrote: "Rooted firmly among the hunting and fishing villages of the Niger delta, The Concubine nevertheless possesses the timelessness and universality of a major novel."Alastair Niven, A Critical View on Elechi Amadi's "The Concubine" (London, 1981), p. 7. The Concubine was made into a film, written by Elechi Amadi and directed by accomplished Nollywood film director Andy Amenechi, which premiered in Abuja in March 2007.[http://www.elechiamadi.org/video.php Elechi Amadi website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726024522/http://www.elechiamadi.org/video.php |date=2011-07-26 }}, videos.

The setting of Amadi's second novel, The Great Ponds, published in 1969, is pre-colonial Eastern Nigeria, and is about the battle between two village communities over possession of a pond.

In 1973 Amadi autobiographical non-fiction, Sunset in Biafra, was published. It records his personal experiences in the Nigeria-Biafra war, and according to Niven "is written in a compelling narrative form as though it were a novel".Niven, A Critical View on Elechi Amadi's "The Concubine", (1981), p. 5.

On 13 May 1989 a symposium was held at the University of Port Harcourt to celebrate Amadi's 55th birthday.{{Cite web|title=Elechi Amadi dies -|url=https://www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/06/29/elechi-amadi-dies/|date=2016-06-29|website=The NEWS|access-date=2020-05-26}}

In May 2004, a conference was organized by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Rivers State Branch, to mark Elechi Amadi's 70th birthday.[http://www.elechiamadi.org/newbook2.html Preface to Seiyifa Koroye, Critical Perspectives on Elechi Amadi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220075241/http://www.elechiamadi.org/newbook2.html |date=2013-02-20 }}, Port Harcourt: Pearl Publishers/Association of Nigerian Authors.

For his last book, When God Came, Elechi turned for the first time to the genre of science fiction.Aderonke Adeleke, [http://cerebrallemon.com/late-elechi-amadis-final-work-of-art-when-god-came/ "Late Elechi Amadi’s Final Work Of Art, ‘When God Came’"], The Cerebral Lemon Co., 1 July 2016. Reviewing it, Lindsay Barrett wrote: "When an author has attained the status of an icon in his profession, based on the publication of works that have been declared iconic masterpieces from the earliest period of his career, it is unusual to find him engaging in experimentation in the latter stages of that career. This is the surprising trajectory that this short but profoundly memorable booklet by the late Elechi Amadi represents. Although the two narrative treatises contained in this work were described by the author as an excursion into the medium of science fiction it would really be more accurate to define them as philosophical allegories. Their contents contemplate the human condition and the limits of the potential for human achievement based on the concept of the supernatural rather than simply being exercises in the conceptualisation of events of an otherworldly nature, which popular science fiction often is. ... In the final analysis these works read like fables from the future that the author must have had immense enjoyment creating.

Amadi’s love for literature and his prolific output in his early years overshadowed his scientific background especially after the Civil War when he settled down to work as an educationist and public administrator in Rivers State. It was in this period that he embarked on the experiments in new forms of writing of which this work is a slight but unforgettable example."Lindsay Barrett, [http://independentnig.com/fables-from-the-future-elechi-amadis-philosophical-allegories/ "Fables From The Future: Elechi Amadi’s Philosophical Allegories"], The Independent (Nigeria), 21 August 2016.

Later years

= 2009 kidnapping =

On 5 January 2009 Amadi was kidnapped at his home in Aluu town, Ikwerre, by unknown gunmen. He was released on the evening of 6 January, 23 hours later.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7814454.stm "Gunmen kidnap Nigerian novelist"], BBC News, 6 January 2009.Jimitota Onoyume and Samuel Oyadongha, [http://allafrica.com/stories/200901070333.html "Nigeria: Novelist, Elechi Amadi Kidnapped, Freed After 23 Hours"], AllAfrica, 7 January 2009.

= Africa39 =

In 2014 he was a judge of Africa39, together with Tess Onwueme and Margaret Busby.[https://www.hayfestival.com/africa39/index.aspx?skinid=27¤cysetting=GBP&localesetting=en-GB&resetfilters=true "Imagine the World"], Africa39.

= Death =

On 29 June 2016, Amadi died at the Good Heart Hospital in Port Harcourt at the age of 82.{{cite news |author=Jimitota Onoyume |author-link=Jimitota Onoyume |title=Elechi Amadi dies at 82 |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/elechi-amadi-dies-82/ |accessdate=30 June 2016 |work=Vanguard |date=29 June 2016}}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36672302 "Nigeria's Elechi Amadi, author of The Concubine, dies"], BBC News, 30 June 2016. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka paid tribute to Amadi as "a soldier and poet, captive of conscience, human solidarity and justice."Ben Ezeamalu, [http://www.premiumtimesng.com/arts-entertainment/artsbooks/206424-adieu-soldier-poet-soyinka-pays-tribute-elechi-amadi.html "‘Adieu Soldier and Poet,’ Soyinka pays tribute to Elechi Amadi"], Premium Times, 4 July 2016.

Awards

1992 – Rivers State Silver Jubilee Merit Award.{{Cite web|title=Elechi Amadi {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/journalism-and-publishing-biographies/elechi-amadi|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2020-05-26}}
2003 – honorary doctorate, Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Education, honoris causa, awarded by Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
2003 – Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Education.{{Cite web|title=Elechi Amadi dies at 82|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/elechi-amadi-dies-82/|date=2016-06-29|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}
2003 – Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).{{Cite news|last=Niven|first=Alastair|date=2016-08-22|title=Elechi Amadi obituary|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/22/elechi-amadi-obituary|access-date=2020-05-26|issn=0261-3077}}

Legacy

The Faculty of Humanity in University of Port Harcourt, is dedicated to him. Port Harcourt Polytechnic was renamed to Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/rivers-govt-renames-port-harcourt-poly-elechi-amadi/|title=Rivers government renames Port Harcourt Poly after Elechi Amadi|date=5 December 2016|first=Jimitota|last=Onoyume|location=Port Harcourt|website=Vanguard|access-date=4 January 2023}}

Bibliography

The Concubine (novel), London: Heinemann African Writers Series, 1969; Ibadan: Heinemann Books, 1993, {{ISBN|0-435-90025-0}}
The Great Ponds (novel), Heinemann, 1969; Macmillan Education, 1976, {{ISBN|978-0435270261}}
Sunset in Biafra (war diary), Heinemann African Writers Series, 1969, {{ISBN|978-0435901400}}
Isiburu (play), Heinemann, 1973, {{ISBN|978-0435925086}}
Peppersoup and The Road (plays, combined volume), Ibadan: Onibonoje Publishers, 1977
Dancer of Johannesburg (play), Ibadan: Onibonoje Publishers, 1978
The Slave (novel), Heinemann African Writers Series, 1978, {{ISBN|978-0435902100}}
Ethics in Nigerian Culture (philosophy), London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1982, {{ISBN|978-9781295966}}
Estrangement (novel), Heinemann African Writers Series, 1986, {{ISBN|978-0435905644}}
The Woman of Calabar (play), Port Harcourt: Gitelle Press, 2002
Speaking and Singing (essays and poems), University of Port Harcourt Press, 2003
Collected Plays (ed. Seiyifa Koroye), Port Harcourt: Pearl Publishers, 2004
When God Came, 2011

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20090429022316/http://www.elechiamadi.org/ Elechi Amadi official website]
[http://sunnewsonline.com/conversation-with-elechi-amadi-when-i-wrote-the-concubine-i-thought-it-was-a-joke/ "Conversation with Elechi Amadi: When I wrote The Concubine, I thought it was a joke"], The Sun (Nigeria), 16 July 2016.
Wole Soyinka, [http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/07/soyinka-elechi-amadi-a-tribute/ "Elechi Amadi, a tribute"], The News, 4 July 2016.

Category:1934 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:Nigerian male novelists

Category:University of Ibadan alumni

Category:Writers from Rivers State

Category:Members of the Order of the Federal Republic

Category:20th-century Nigerian novelists

Category:21st-century Nigerian novelists

Category:Ikwerre people

Category:Rivers State commissioners of education

Category:People of Rivers State in the Nigerian Civil War

Category:Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War