“Joys of Motherhood” Author Buchi Emecheta Passes Away

Nigerian literary icon, Florence Onyebuchi “Buchi” Emecheta has passed away.

Confirming her death, current president of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Denja Abdullahi said her death was a major loss to the literary world. Abdullahi, said Emecheta, would forever be remembered for championing the agenda of the girl child through her works. He said:

“We have lost a rare gem in this field. Her works would forever live to speak for her. It is a sad loss to our circle and we pray that God would give the family the fortitude to bear the loss. She was known for championing the female gender and we would forever miss her.”

She was one of Nigeria’s veteran writers, an author of more than 20 books including ‘The Joys of Motherhood’, ‘Second-Class Citizen’, ‘The Bride Price’, ‘The Slave Girl’ and many others.

Emecheta, received many awards and recognition for her works, some of which include: New Statesman Jock Campbell award for ‘The Slave Girl’ in 1979, and Grantas ‘Best of the Young British Novelists’ in 1983.

Her themes of child slavery, motherhood, female independence and freedom through her works earned her major critical acclaim and honours, including an Order of the British Empire in 2005.

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Emecheta, was born on the 21st of July 1944, in Lagos, Nigeria, to parents Alice Okwuekwuhe Emecheta and Jeremy Nwabudinke. She married Sylvester Onwordi, and later moved to United kingdom with him. She was blessed with five children

She has been regarded as the first successful black woman novelist living in Britain after 1948. She died on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 in London, England where she lived most of her life.