Author Of The Concubine, Elechi Amadi, Dies at 82

One of Africa’s celebrated novelist and poet Elechi Amadi has died, aged 82.

Amadi died on Wednesday (Jun 29) while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Some of the books he has written include; The Great Ponds, The Slave, Dance of Johannesburg, Sunset in Biafra, Peppersoup and the Woman of Calaber.

He was most famous for The Concubine, which pictured the culture of marriage and forbidden traditions and was originally published in 1966.

The Concubine has been a recommended text in schools across Africa.

President Buhari in paying homage to the novelist said his passing “is as much a loss to Nigeria and Africa as it is to the world”.

He eulogised Amadi as a man who “dedicated his life to values of peace, equality, dignity and the reading culture in Nigeria”.

Former president Goodluck Jonathan also said: “Amadi was a renowned writer and patriot who served his fatherland meritoriously, through his literary works and exemplary performance in public service.”

A physics and mathematics graduate of the University of Ibadan, he also joined the Nigerian army and continued serving in it during the civil war, despite coming from the Niger Delta, which was part of the breakaway state of Biafra.