{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Hundreds at funeral of fearless writer who bowed to no political pressure' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54ba7ad8eafeecae11dd03' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54ba7ad8eafeecae11dd03' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nHundreds at funeral of fearless writer who bowed to no political pressure\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Wide of Chinua Achebe's casket being carried into funeral service in Ogidi, Nigeria2. Close of man looking at a funeral booklet bearing picture of Achebe 3. Various of choir singing  4. Wide of pallbearers carrying Achebe's casket...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Wide of Chinua Achebe's casket being carried into funeral service in Ogidi, Nigeria\u003cbr/\u003e2. Close of man looking at a funeral booklet bearing picture of Achebe \u003cbr/\u003e3. Various of choir singing  \u003cbr/\u003e4. Wide of pallbearers carrying Achebe's casket into service \u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide of service \u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid of Owen Nwokolo at funeral service \u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Owen Nwokolo, Anglican priest:\u003cbr/\u003e\"He spoke very well concerning the corruption that has been a problem in this country and he fought it with all his heart. In fact, to the point of rejecting national honours, he was awarded some honours and he said no, if you don't deal with corruption, if you don't fight against it, there's no need giving him honours.\" \u003cbr/\u003e8. Wide of church exterior \u003cbr/\u003e9. Pull out from coffin to crowd \u003cbr/\u003e10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerian president: \u003cbr/\u003e\"For those of us who, by the grace of God and the will of Nigerians are holding political offices today, we should ask ourselves have we changed from that.\" \u003cbr/\u003e11. Mid of Achebe's family members paying their respects \u003cbr/\u003e12. Mid of Christy Achebe, wife of late author Chinua Achebe, at his funeral service\u003cbr/\u003e13. Mid of Ikechukwu Achebe, son of late author Chinua Achebe, speaking at funeral service\u003cbr/\u003e14. Pan of service \u003cbr/\u003e15. Mid of clergy approaching casket \u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE: (English) John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana:\u003cbr/\u003e\"By fully embracing the task assigned to him by providence, Professor Achebe made it possible for so many of us to also embrace and fulfil our destinies.\" \u003cbr/\u003e17. Wide of Achebe's casket being carried out of funeral service\u003cbr/\u003e18. Various of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (in the grey Kaftan) and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama (in black) leaving funeral service \u003cbr/\u003e19. Wide of crowds outside church \u003cbr/\u003eHundreds of Nigerians attended the funeral on Thursday of writer Chinua Achebe who is best known for his 1958 classic novel, \"Things Fall Apart.\"\u003cbr/\u003eLawmakers and the country's elite were among those who attended the service which was held at St. Phillip's Anglican Church, which sits just next to the primary school Achebe attended as a child in Ogidi.\u003cbr/\u003eThe service saw President Goodluck Jonathan literally hold up the writer's books.\u003cbr/\u003eThe gold plaque on his coffin simply called him the \"eagle atop the Iroko tree\" in his native Igbo language.\u003cbr/\u003eIt was a fitting tribute to the respect Achebe carried among the people in Nigeria and for many others around the world who knew him through his books, which many say is the first African voice heard in modern literature.\u003cbr/\u003eAchebe died in March at the age of 82 in Boston following an illness.\u003cbr/\u003eHe rose to acclaim with the publication of his 1958 classic novel \"Things Fall Apart,\" a parable for the collapse of traditional society in Africa on the arrival of colonialists. \u003cbr/\u003eThe journalist's tense, short sentences recalled Ernest Hemingway, but offered a vision of Igbo culture before British rule ultimately united the regions that now form modern Nigeria.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Things Fall Apart\" has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 50 languages. \u003cbr/\u003eThough describing himself in writing as a \"British-protected child,\" Achebe became a forceful critic of Western literature about Africa, especially Joseph Conrad's \"Heart of Darkness.\"\u003cbr/\u003eHis writings often focused on that split between cultures, serving at times as a bridge for those wanting to understand the those two worlds.\u003cbr/\u003eThough a 1990 car crash left him paralyzed from the waist down, he continued writing and taught at universities in the United States, earning him the nickname \"Prof\" throughout Nigeria.\u003cbr/\u003eAchebe also could be just as harsh of a critic of Nigeria. \u003cbr/\u003eWhen the Igbo lands of the east broke away from Nigeria to become the nation of Biafra, Achebe served as a roaming ambassador for the new nation. \u003cbr/\u003eHowever, the war saw 1 million people killed, many through starvation in the waning days of the conflict. \u003cbr/\u003eAchebe later twice refused Nigeria's second-highest award, the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, over the lawlessness in his home state of Anambra. \u003cbr/\u003eA spokesman for President Jonathan later said Achebe's decision to reject the honour \"clearly flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria's current political situation.\" \u003cbr/\u003eHowever, the problems raised in Achebe's polemic 1980s essay \"The Trouble With Nigeria\" ring true even today in this oil-rich nation beset by extremist violence, rampant poverty and poor governance.\u003cbr/\u003eThursday, even Jonathan held up that essay before mourners at St. Phillip's Anglican Church, which sits just next to the primary school Achebe attended as a child in Ogidi. \u003cbr/\u003eJonathan mentioned how Achebe wrote that Nigeria's problem \"is political leadership\" and \"tribal sentiments.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\"For those of us who, by the grace of God and the will of Nigerians are holding political offices today, we should ask ourselves have we changed from that,\"the president said. \u003cbr/\u003eYet Jonathan himself, toward the end of his 12-minute speech, referred to the 2011 elections that cemented him in power as a \"significant improvement,\" without mentioning the 800 people killed in religious rioting and political violence afterward, nor the allegations of vote rigging. \u003cbr/\u003eMany expect Jonathan to run for re-election in 2015 and some see his appearance at burials for Igbo leaders as an attempt to sway voters in a crucial 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