Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an award-winning Nigerian author who was recently honoured with Harvard University’s prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, has spoken out about missing President Buhari’s October 11 ceremony to bestow national honours.
Omawumi Ogbe, a member of Chimamanda’s communications team, clarified the situation by telling The Guardian that the author turned down the honour.
“Following the recent conferment of national awards by the President, there have been conflicting reports about one of the announced recipients, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Some social media users say the award-winning writer rejected the award, while others say she accepted it.
“The author did not accept the award and, as such, did not attend the ceremony. She, however, did not want to create undue publicity around it, so her non-acceptance was conveyed privately” Ogbe said.
President Buhari justified the honours when presenting awards to 450 Nigerians and foreigners, stating that the recipients had distinguished themselves in the service of the country and humanity.
“We have among the recipients today, Amb. Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who are doing our country proud on the international scene. Our dear sisters are a source of inspiration to our young women that through the dint of hard work and dedication, they can achieve greatness.” the President said.
Her absence at the event has drawn various reactions online.
Recall that the Novelist living in the US has advised young people all across the world to spend more time reading.
Adichie announced this while receiving the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal on Thursday at The Harvard Center Honors in Massachusetts, United States.
The 45-year-old author of Purple Hibiscus said in her acceptance speech that she left Nigeria rather than pursue a medical degree at the insistence of her parents because “I was created to tell stories.”
