The Anambra State Government has clarified that the statue of literary icon, Chinua Achebe, unveiled at Ugwu-Nwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, was conceived, funded and executed by the Ogidi Town Union, dismissing claims that it was a state government project.\n<\/p>\n
The clarification followed widespread reactions on social media after Governor Chukwuma Soludo unveiled the sculpture on Saturday. While some praised the monument, others questioned its resemblance to the late author of Things Fall Apart and criticised its artistic interpretation.\n<\/p>\n
Responding to the controversy in a statement released on Sunday, the Governor\u2019s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Ejimofor Opara, said the project was initiated and financed entirely by Achebe\u2019s home community.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a spreading misconception that the statue of our literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, at Ugwu-Nwasike Roundabout was commissioned and built by the Anambra State Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the avoidance of doubt: the statue was conceived, funded and executed by the Ogidi Town Union, Achebe\u2019s community. Governor Chukwuma Soludo was graciously invited to unveil the monument in honour of Achebe\u2019s towering legacy and its significance to Ndi Anambra and the world,\u201d Opara said.\n<\/p>\n
He urged critics not to undermine what he described as a thoughtful initiative by the community.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not trivialise this thoughtful gesture by the Ogidi people for social media traffic. The decision of Achebe\u2019s own community to immortalise their illustrious son is profound and deserves commendation, not needless debate about the sculptor\u2019s interpretation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Opara noted that beyond the sculpture itself, the monument features engraved excerpts from Achebe\u2019s celebrated works, including Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease, to preserve the literary icon\u2019s legacy. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who visits the monument will see how deeply Achebe is venerated. Beyond the bust, the base of the statue carries carefully engraved excerpts of his literary masterpieces\u2026 ensuring that even if one misses the face, no one will miss the ideas that made him immortal,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
He further argued that public attention should focus on the symbolism of the monument rather than its artistic accuracy.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis back and forth about whether a statue is \u2018picture-perfect\u2019 is a huge distraction from the weight of this symbolic effort. Symbols are about what they represent.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not measure our reverence for images of Christ, Mother Mary, or the Saints by artistic perfection, but by what they stand for. The same reverence should apply here,\u201d he stated.\n<\/p>\n
Opara also recalled that the Soludo administration had earlier honoured Achebe by renaming the Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport after the literary icon in 2023.\n<\/p>\n
He added that Achebe is also among the five distinguished Anambra figures honoured with statues at the entrance of the Light House in Awka.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message is clear: If you respect Achebe, you must respect every sincere monument raised in his honour.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe congratulate the Ogidi Town Union, the Achebe family and all stakeholders who made this possible,\u201d the statement added.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Anambra State Government has clarified that the statue of literary icon, Chinua Achebe, unveiled at Ugwu-Nwasike Roundabout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[134817,236300,307,304,305,306,236301,236302,308,93,236303,61,60,236304,236305,236306,236307,149446],"class_list":["post-558777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-anambra-state","tag-art-controversy","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-chinua-achebe","tag-community-project","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-governor-soludo","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-literary-icon","tag-nigerian-literature","tag-ogidi-town-union","tag-public-monuments","tag-things-fall-apart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}