Professor Akachi Ezeigbo is a distinguished literary scholar in Nigeria and Africa. She is a literary enigma, and the mother of contemporary Nigerian Literature. Professor Ezeigbo’s creative efforts have presented her as an endowed intellectual, creative writer, social critic journalist, administrator and essayist of Igbo descent. No doubt, the eastern region of Nigeria, where she was born and raised propelled the richness of her depictions of settings in her novels.
Professor Akachi Ezeigbo’s academic prowess is derived from her consistent quest to impart knowledge and attain academic height. This gradual attainment of her zenith is visible in her acquisition of Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master’s (MA) degrees in English Language and Literature, from the University of Lagos; and her PhD from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A significant attribute worthy to note, is that her prolificness and love for teaching gained her the position of a lecturer in the department of English Language and Literature, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
She also retired from the aforementioned university as a renowned Professor of Literature and a literary goddess. In fact, her greater significance as a literary giant and academic scholar of a rare breed has gained her a professorial position at the Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria where she is currently lecturing in the department of English Language and Literary Studies.
Professor Akachi Ezeigbo is an active member of numerous academic and literary groups, both locally and internationally. She has served in some of these organizations and associations as Vice President and Financial Secretary. She has received unique literary awards from different parts of the world, in appreciation of her outstanding literary and intellectual achievements.
Professor Akachi Ezeigbo’s academic profile defines her as a Professor of Gender Studies and Creative Writing. She is a feminist scholar who has championed women’s rights in numerous writings of different genres. Her interest in promoting womanhood has birthed the complementarity ideology—an ideological inclination wrapped in Snail-Sense Feminism. Professor Akachi Ezeigbo’s love for creative literature reveals her strong will to encourage a harmonious relationship between men and women in society. Her works reveal a consistent re-examination of issues bordering on female identity, female bonding, oppression and liberation. To empower women positively has also been a major concern which is visible in the portraiture of female characters in her works. Significantly, her use of evocative linguistic resources is visible in the depiction of female emancipation, self-realization and self-actualization.
Professor Akachi Ezeigbo’s imaginative recreation explores issues bordering on the Nigerian Civil War, from the Feminist and Marxist perspectives. Her novels give a fresh insight into the historical bizarre experiences that disintegrated the sanity of people in the war-affected regions. The novels have demonstrated her resolution to reveal the horrors of war, and the psychological consequences it portends on the surviving victims.
To Professor Akachi Ezeigbo, life is captured in feelingful emotion. Poetry thus becomes a powerful medium for letting out emotion recollected in tranquility or turbulence. In her poetry, she has displayed visible influences of oral traditional patterns knitted in lyricism and evocative diction. In a specific manner, her poetry has revealed her giftedness as a social critic with rare creative ingenuity.
Notably, the idea of celebrating an intellectual landmark in instituting awards in honour of a literary Guru, who has had a distinguished career, is an interesting turn. Dr. Onyeka Nwelue’s decision in instituting the Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Literature, is of historical significance—the first in the history of the world. The prize is in five categories (Poetry/ Drama/Fiction/ Non-Fiction/ Children’s Literature) and awards will be given to a winner in each category. These awards are spurred by an intellectual drive to celebrate an erudite scholar who has many academic and literary works credited to her name.
