Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has renamed the Anambra International and Cargo Airport, Umueri, to Chinua Achebe International Passenger and Cargo Airport.
In his speech at the 63rd Nigerian Independence Anniversary which took place at Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, on October 1, Governor Soludo informed the large audience that the airport was named after Achebe after wide consultations because Chinua Achebe is an African and global hero.
Governor Soludo recalled that in his lifetime Achebe declined to accept two high Nigerian national honours in protest against what he perceived as injustice to his home state that had tacit support from high officialdom.
For Governor Soludo, it’s now incumbent on Achebe’s home state of Anambra to honour Anambra’s greatest gift to the literary world. He stated that his administration will work in tandem with the Federal Government to offer an international airport worthy of the Achebe legacy.
Chinua Achebe is globally acclaimed as Africa’s most influential writer. His classic novel Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, ranks amongst the greatest novels ever written in the world.
Achebe was the founder of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where Governor Soludo was then a young student.
