Chimamanda Adichie Calls for Unity and Cultural Reawakening at Grand Finale of Things Fall Apart Festival in Enugu

Award-winning author Chimamanda Adichie delivered a stirring keynote speech on July 5, 2025, at the Things Fall Apart festival’s grand finale at the International Conference Centre, Enugu. Her words left a deep impression on attendees, as she called on the Igbo people to preserve their language, reclaim their values, and unite for a greater cause.

The larger point is that Igbo people have long been known for greatness, yet today, the land is in disarray. Today, we’re overseeing our decline. We do not have a thriving Igbo literature. We cannot seem to reach a consensus on a classical form of written Igbo, and many of us are proud to say that our children don’t speak Igbo, she said. Her speech highlighted the disappearance of Igbo literature, disunity among the people, and the growing loss of pride in cultural identity.

What is happening is not whether children can learn many languages. It is the lack of value for what is ours, she continued. We do not value what is ours, and this lack of value is also reflected in the contemporary Igbo practice of giving strange names to our children. Names we like. Not because of their deep meanings but because they can be easily shortened to sound western.

She urged a shift in focus from external challenges to internal healing. “While all these are significant. We must focus on the large fire burning up Igbo land. As Igbo people, we often speak of political marginalisation. We should talk about marginalisation, but it is time to suspend the subject of marginalisation until we have cleaned house.”

Adichie stressed the power of unity, especially among leaders. “Part of that house cleaning must involve a concerted return to unity. We must unite. Unity is not the absence of difference or the agreement on everything. Unity means a decision to come together for a greater goal despite our differences. Unity is an act of intelligence.”

If all the governors of the Igbo-speaking states came together and all of the senators from the Igbo states decided to come together in unity and put away party affiliations, it would confer on Igbo land a great bargaining power for policies that will benefit all of Igbo land.

Referencing Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, Adichie also spoke of a “resident evil” that must be addressed. That evil, she said, is “ritual killing,” and she urged Igbos to rise up against it, drawing comparisons to the fictional Umuofia before the missionaries came.

The event marked the end of a weeklong celebration organised by the Centre for Memories to commemorate 67 years since Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart. The festival began on Sunday, June 29, 2025, with the unveiling of a reimagined Umuofia village at the Centre for Memories (Ncheta Ndi Igbo) in Enugu. Visitors were welcomed by men dressed in traditional bodyguard attire – animal skin clothes, shields, and sticks- into an entrance designed like an Igwe palace with palm fronds overhead.

Cultural performances filled the festival schedule, with reenactments of scenes from Things Fall Apart by Ijele Renaissance Theatre, spoken word sessions in Igbo, movie screenings, and panel discussions ranging from technology to Igbo filmmaking, womanhood and identity. A highlight was the premiere of a special episode of Libation in collaboration with Centre for Memories and Afia TV, featuring a conversation between veteran actor Pete Edochie and Afia TV’s CEO, Emeka Mba, about his portrayal of Okonkwo in the 1987 NTA adaptation of Things Fall Apart.

The festival climaxed with a powerful sense of identity at the grand finale held in the International Conference Centre. The audience was entertained by various Igbo folklore music from a young lady, Oluomachukwu Odimegwu, who played the ọja beautifully and Gerald Eze, also an ogbuọja. With the theme “Masculine, Feminine, Human: The Dialogue of Compliments in Things Fall Apart,” powerful conversations were held throughout the festival. Among the many notable guests were veteran actor Nkem Owoh, the chairman of the occasion, Dr. Ike Chioke (Managing Director of Afrinvest and Chairman of the grand finale), actor Jidekene Achufusi of Living in Bondage, and CNN’s international correspondent, Larry Madowo.

A particularly heartwarming moment came when Adichie, after receiving a standing ovation for her speech, looked into the crowd and said, “Someone here looks like Nkem Owoh.” The crowd went crazy, affirming that Owoh was seated in front. Owoh ran up to the stage to meet her. The two hugged and shared a joyful moment.

The great Osuofia. This man is an icon for us. I’m his biggest fan, Adichie declared. Owoh, known popularly by that nickname from his film roles, responded: I noticed that you are just you. No pretences. No apologies to anybody. Just like me.

Following her keynote, Adichie sat for a fireside chat with the festival chairman, James Eze. She opened up about her literary journey, including being rejected 25 times by publishers in New York before Purple Hibiscus was finally accepted. She used that experience to encourage young creatives not to give up on their dreams. She also spoke of how Achebe’s Things Fall Apart gave her “literary permission.” The freedom and courage to write the stories she wanted to write.

The grand finale also marked the Enugu leg of Adichie’s Dream Count homecoming tour, which had previously been held in Lagos and Abuja.

Speaking on what inspired the festival and how its success is being measured, Iheanyi Igboko, Executive director of the Centre for Memories, explained that the idea of the festival was born during a staff retreat earlier in the year, “as a way to move beyond mere commemoration of June 17 as Things Fall Apart Day into a cultural platform that inspires literary creativity, revives value-driven consciousness, and responds meaningfully to the issues that hail our ala Igbo. So, that was how the Things Fall Apart festival was born. As a vehicle for storytelling, memory and critical dialogue,” he said.

Reflecting on the impact, he described it as overwhelming, citing 3,000 global reading marathon videos from four continents, over 180 essay submissions, 100 featured artworks from across Nigeria, more than 7,000 participants, including international guests, and the cultural engagement of over 320 children. “We intentionally tried to reach this generation… and reimagine our society. So to us, that’s the real success. We’ve reached minds and reconnected people back to their roots.”

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