The death has been announced of renowned writer and author of Eze Goes to School, Onuorah Nzekwu.
The literary doyen passed away at the age of 89, Friday night. The real cause of his death is still unknown at the moment.
Pa Nzekwu became popular for his book entitled Eze Goes to School, written in 1963.
Denja Abdulahi, president, Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, who confirmed the news described the late Nzekwu as an icon, who would be greatly missed.
While commiserating with his family over the incident, Abdulahi said the late writer would forever be remembered for his literary works, which preached about the importance of education.
“Yes, it is true but I can’t confirm what actually the real cause of his death was; but it is a big loss to the Nigerian literary community.
“We would miss him dearly and we pray God to grant the literary icon eternal rest in his bosom,” he told our reporter.
When asked on what ANA is doing to help the aged and struggling writers, Abdulahi said the association needed to take census of those writers alive so as to make the necessary moves.
“Well, ANA is doing its best but we still need to take census of those icons alive. We can do more of cooperative programmes for them. We might not have the money but we still need to know them.
“For instance, we have a large portion of land in Mpape, Abuja for the association, the government can come in and build houses for those literary icons,” he added.
Born February 19, 1928 in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, Nzekwu was a writer who explored the internal conflicts inherent in the relationship of the educated Igbo to traditional Igbo culture.
Nzekwu’s first novel, Wand of Noble Wood (1961), portrays in moving terms the futility of a Western pragmatic approach to the problems created by an African’s traditional religious beliefs.
In 1963 he published a children’s book, Eze Goes to School (written with Michael Crowder), and his third novel, Highlife for Lizards, appeared in 1965.
He had worked as a teacher, civil servant and journalist, also wrote Wand of Noble Wood, Blade Among the Boys and other fictional and non-fictional works.
He was also the pioneer general manager of News Agency of Nigeria.