By Femi Anamelechi
The city of Enugu is set to come alive from 29 June to 5 July 2025, as over 10,000 lovers of culture, literature and history converge for the inaugural Things Fall Apart Festival, in honour of the literary legend, Chinua Achebe.The event, which is being organised by the Centre for Memories – Ncheta Ndigbo, will hold at the Centre’s premises in Enugu and will mark 67 years since Achebe’s world-acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart, was published in 1958. In what is being described by the organisers as “a weeklong celebration marking the 67th anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, the literary classic that redefined African literature.”
This year’s edition promises to be the biggest cultural tribute yet to the celebrated author. The theme for the event is: “Masculine, Feminine, Human: The Dialogue of Complements in Things Fall Apart.”One of the high points of the festival will be the keynote address by Nigeria’s foremost novelist and public intellectual, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who has been globetrotting to promote her upcoming novel, Dream Count, her first in more than a decade. Adichie is expected to return home to deliver the keynote in person, a moment organisers are calling “a symbolic homecoming and a continuation of the literary conversation that Achebe’s work has long inspired.” According to the organisers, “Adichie’s keynote draws heavily from the festival theme,” and will offer a reflection on “the Achebean inheritance.”
Another exciting highlight is the re-creation of Umuofia, the fictional Igbo village from Achebe’s classic.The Centre revealed that, “From the huts where great men once lived, to the courts presided over by the Egwugwu, and the village square where palm wine flowed and moonlit tales were told — Ụmụọfia will be fully reimagined in our Things Fall Apart Village.”Activities lined up for the festival include: art exhibitions, film screenings, memory walks, essay competitions for both students and the general public, dramatic performances and staged readings, tech installations, and saloon-style conversations with cultural thought leaders. In a nostalgic twist, cast members from the 1987 television adaptation of Things Fall Apart will make a special appearance, including Nollywood icon Pete Edochie, who famously portrayed Okonkwo. Also making a grand entrance will be the Ajofia masquerade, an iconic figure in the novel, which will appear within the recreated Umuofia village. The Chairman of the Planning Committee, James Eze, a renowned poet, journalist and cultural enthusiast, is leading the charge to ensure the festival lives up to Achebe’s towering legacy.
In the build-up to the event, the Centre for Memories has also introduced a creative way of involving the public. Individuals are nominated to read excerpts from Things Fall Apart on video, after which they nominate others to do the same — a process that is already gaining traction among friends and professionals.One of such nominees, Mr Emeka Ugwu-Oju, founder of the Nigeria and Entrepreneurship: Summit & Honors (NESH) Foundation, shared his experience: “On 15th May 2025 while on my way to Emene Airport to board a flight from Enugu to Lagos, I stopped over at the office of Ben Etiaba & Co, Chartered Accountants, where I had requested the team from Centre for Memories to wait for me so they could record my reading of the excerpts from ‘Things Fall Apart’ before continuing my journey to the airport. It was fun reading the excerpts,” he said. Ugwu-Oju has since nominated Barrister Ricky Agu, whom he described as “a great lover of history and the arts.” He added: “I intend to attend the Festival and will encourage my family, friends, associates and fellow Nigerians to also attend.”For organisers, this festival is more than just a celebration of Achebe’s work. It is a cultural homecoming, a literary pilgrimage, and a reminder of the power of storytelling.The Centre is inviting all — students, scholars, creatives, and culture lovers — to come witness the magic of Umuofia come alive again.
