Catherine obianuju acholonu biography examples

Nigerian writer (1951–2014)

Catherine Obianuju Acholonu (26 October 1951 – 18 March 2014) was a Nigerian author, researcher reprove political activist.^[1] She served style the Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to President Olusegun Obasanjo press on Arts and Culture and was a founder-member of the Assemble of Nigerian Authors (ANA).^[2][3]

Early progress, marriage and education

Catherine Acholonu was born in an affluent Universal Igbo family to Chief Mendicant Emejuru Olumba and Josephine Olumba, at Umuokwara Village, in authority town of Orlu, Imo Return, southeastern region of Nigeria.^[4][5] She was the eldest of quaternity children.^[6] She completed her preeminent and secondary education in High-mindedness Holy Rosary School, before bring into being married off at the have power over of 17 to Brendan Pol Acholonu, a surgeon from say publicly same clan, who was then-settled in Germany.^[4][5] Catherine was accordingly enrolled at the University exercise Düsseldorf as a student annotation English, American literature, and Germanic linguistics in 1974, from in she post-graduated in 1977.^[4] Wrench 1982, she obtained her PhD in Igbo Studies, thus beautifying the first African Woman go down with earn both Masters' and PhD from Dusseldorf.^[4][5] She went kick to attend her first congress at the Ibadan conference innovation Pan Africanism, next year, skull presented four papers.^[6]

Career

Academia

Acholonu taught reassure the English Department of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Tuition, Owerri since 1978,^[5] and difficult authored over 16 books.^[2]

In 1982, she established AFA: A document of Creative Writing which was the first journal concerned get the gist African literature.^[4] In 1986 she was the only Nigerian, submit one of the two Africans to participate in the Mutual Nations Expert Group Meeting appearance "Women, Population and Sustainable Development: the Road to Rio, Town and Beijing”.^[4] In 1990, she was selected as a Senator Scholar by the US decide (as a result of attendant documenting the Igbo roots accord Olaudah Equiano, a famed crusader and slave autobiographer) and served as a visiting faculty give a lift several private colleges.^[4] The Individual American Studies program was initiated in the Manhattanville College, translation a result of her efforts.^[4]

She also co-founded the Catherine Acholonu Research Center to focus leader historical revisionism centered on Pre-History of the African continent, always what was the first probation initiative named after a Nigerien woman.^[4][6]

Politics

In 1992, she had awfully run for the post bargain Nigerian president as a nominee from National Republican Convention.^[3][7] Away that time, her husband was the deputy-governor of Imo Status from the same party.^[7][8]

From 1999, she served as the Known Special Adviser (SSA) to Boss Olusegun Obasanjo on Arts boss Culture before resigning in 2002, to contest for the Orlu senatorial district seat of Imo State as a National Representative Party candidate and re-enter investigative electoral politics.^[2][6] However, she misplaced to Arthur Nzeribe.^[6]

Works and reception

Poems

Acholonu has been widely held considerably to be one of leadership most notable female poets let alone Nigeria.^[6] Her poems have anachronistic included in the Heinemann Notebook of African Female Writers queue other anthologies.^[6]Afro-Surrealist themes have antique noted.^{[6][9][10][11][12]}

Western and Indigenous Traditions remark Modern Igbo Literature

The book was an edited reprint of dismiss PhD thesis by the City University Press; a typical inclination in German Universities.^[13] Chidi Orderly.

Maduka, reviewing over Research pull African Literatures, noted it come to be an extremely poor agenda-driven work which failed to legitimate its central theme of Objectively works in Igbo being a-one part of Igbo literature, near in the process, denounced friendship and all dissenting views let alone within academic circles using ad-hominem polemics lacking in logic.^[13] Comprehensive misreading of scholars and massive flaws in bibliographic data were highlighted.^[13]

The Igbo Roots of Olaudah Equiano

Her first monograph, it employed Igbo oral history to hurl the ancestral home of Olaudah Equiano in Isseke, Ihiala.^[6][14] Yet, the findings were rejected near-unanimously, and her historiographic methods were widely criticized by other historians.^[5][15][16]

In a review in The File of African History, Elizabeth Isichei noted of Acholonu's book work stoppage be an enthusiastic venture discern pseudo-history, with a genealogy saunter allotted ridiculous life-spans to haunt members of Equiano's family.^[17] Alternative route a review over Research scope African Literatures, Paul Edwards laid-off the entire work as swindler essential exercise in speculation, which was bereft of any educated rigor.^[18]Ode Ogede penned a critical critique of the work advocate noted of it to just an express example about oral history can be battered to fulfill preset goals, poverty-stricken any veneer of scholarly harshness and objectivity; he also estimated her to be ignorant lead to recent studies concerning Olaudah Equiano's autobiography.^[19]

Christopher Fyfe, reviewing for leadership International Journal of African Consecutive Studies, noted it to joke a fascinating contribution to Human folk-history but also noted promote to Edward's critiques, and the id of her findings on nobility validity of genealogical records assignment extraordinarily long time-spans to Equiano's relatives.^[20] Erving Beauregard of character University of Dayton deemed smooth as an interesting work, go off at a tangent made a plausible case rag its central assertion despite turn a deaf ear to accepting oral testimonies from people claiming to be 200 era old.^[21][22]

Acholonu had rejected her critics and has been accused be advisable for engaging in ad-hominem attacks intrude upon them.^[23][6]

Motherism : The Afrocentric Alternative egg on Feminism

Originating as her Fulbright Man of letters Project, it has been because regarded as a pioneering borer in the domain of Mortal Gender Studies and has weightily laboriously influenced the development of motherly theory in Western nations.^[4][6] (For more details, see Philosophy section.)

Other works

Her disillusion with Compile Gore's west-centric views on endurable development led her to transcribe the book The Earth Unchained: A Quantum Leap in Consciousness: a reply to Al Gore, which sought to rediscover Africa's lost knowledge and highlight sheltered place in solving global issues.^[6] Acholonu claimed to have conventional the contents as a protest march from God in her fantasy, and allegedly wrote the all-inclusive book in about a fortnight.^[6]

They Lived Before Adam: Pre-Historic Emergence of the Igbo won probity Flora Nwapa Award for Erudite Excellence and the Philis Poet Book Award at the Harlem Book Fair, 2009.^[4]The Gram Jus civile 'civil law' of African Adam: Stone Books and Cave Libraries, reconstructing 450,000 Years of Africa's Lost Civilizations put forward a new arrangement system for the Ikom monoliths, and claimed to have overfriendly the existence of indigenous verbal skill systems in prehistoric Africa.^[4] Hefty reception has been poor.^[24]

These deeds are not widely known small of Nigeria.^[5]

Philosophy

Acholonu self-identified as almanac environmental humanist, and rejected feminism.^[6][25] She disagreed with the thought-schools of Alice Walker, Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa and other feminists, accusing them of harboring exorbitant misandry and radical concepts affection lesbianism squarely situated outside significance boundary of African morality, make your mind up glossing over the concepts disseminate motherhood, central to African femininity.^[6][26][27] She instead asserted that resign is not gender but in or by comparison economic status that determines administrate hierarchies in Africa.^[26][28] Thus, excellence concept of motherism that promotes a theme of "motherhood, style and nurture"—it advocates for uncut return to traditional pro-natal adulthood, and promotes conciliatory stance somewhat than confrontations, as to male-female cooperation.^[26][29][30] Her views have back number challenged by the later time of African feminists.^[31][32]

Acholonu viewed excellence introduction of Islam into Continent as a form of colonialism, which subverted indigenous African systems and reduced the quality show signs life for native women.^[26]

Death

Acholonu boring on 18 March 2014, dig an age of 62 be bereaved a year-long renal failure.^[33]

Honours

She was enlisted among the greatest squadron achievers of Nigeria by significance National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) in 1997.^[34] Her scrunch up have been selected as rendering material for secondary schools station universities in Nigeria, and Continent Studies Departments of universities package America and Europe.^[34]

Bibliography

Poems

• "Going Home"
• "Spring's Latest Drop"
• "Dissidents"
• "Harvest of War"
• "Other Forms perfect example Slaughter"

Collections

• The Spring's Last Drop, 1985
• Nigeria in the Year 1999, 1985
• Recite and Learn – Poems fail to appreciate Junior Primary Schools, 1986
• Recite turf Learn – Poems for Recognizable Primary Schools, 1986

Drama and plays

• Trial of the Beautiful Ones: out play in one act, Owerri, Nigeria: Totan, 1985—based on nobleness Igbo ogbanje myth.^[35]
• The Deal nearby Who is the Head designate State, Owerri, Nigeria: Totan, 1986^[36]
• Into the Heart of Biafra: excellent play in three acts, Owerri, Nigeria: C.

  Acholonu, 1970^[37]

Essays see non-fiction

• Western and Indigenous Traditions crop Modern Igbo Literature , 1985.
• Motherism, The Afrocentric Alternative to Feminism, 1995.
• The Igbo Roots of Olaudah Equiano, 1995, revised 2007.
• The World Unchained: A Quantum Leap limit Consciousness: a reply to Question Gore, 1995.
• Africa the New Perimeter – Towards a Truly Epidemic Literary Theory for the Xxi Century.

  Lecture Delivered to glory Association of Nigerian Authors every year Convention, 2002.

• The Gram Code commemorate African Adam: Stone Books wallet Cave Libraries, Reconstructing 450,000 Age of Africa's Lost Civilizations, 2005
• They Lived Before Adam: Pre-Historic Ancy of the Igbo – Say publicly Never-Been-Ruled (Ndi Igbo since 1.6 million B.C.), 2009.

  Winner loom the USA-based International Book Distinction (2009) in the multi-cultural non-fiction category.

• The Lost Testament of class Ancestors of Adam: Unearthing Heliopolis/Igbo Ukwu – The Celestial Flexibility of the Gods of Empire and India, 2010
• Eden in Sumer on the Niger: Archaeological, Prolix, and Genetic Evidence of 450,000 Years of Atlantis, Eden be proof against Sumer in West Africa, 2014

Books authored

• The Igbo Roots of Olaudah Equiano: An Anthropological Research.

  1 January 1989^[38]

• The Deal and Who is the Head of State^[38]
• The Spring's Last Drop^[38]
• Nigeria in nobleness year 1999 (TOT Series)
• Into prestige Heart of Biafra (TOP Series)
• Trial of the Beautiful Ones^[38]

Articles mount chapters

• (with Joyce Ann Penfield), "Linguistic Processes of Lexical Innovation compile Igbo." Anthropological Linguistics.

  22 (1980). 118–130.

• "The Role of Nigerian Dancers in Drama." Nigeria Magazine. 53.1 (1985). 33–39.^[36]
• "The Home of Olaudah Equiano – A Linguistic viewpoint Anthropological Research", The Journal pan Commonwealth Literature. 22.1 (1987). 5–16.^[39]
• "L'Igbo Langue Litteraire: Le Cas fall to bits Nigeria." [Literary Igbo Language: Glory Case of Nigeria.] Notre Librairie: Revue du Livre: Afrique, Caraibes, Ocean Indien.

  98 (Jul–Sept 1989). 26–30.

• "Mother was a Great Man." In The Heinemann Book flaxen African Women's Writing. Ed. Metropolis H. Bruner. London: Heinemann, 1993. 7–14.
• "Motherism: The Afrocentric Alternative nip in the bud Feminism." Ishmael Reed's Konch Magazine. (March–April 2002).
• ^[40]

References

External links

External links