Chinweizu Ibekwe (born 26 March 1943), known mononymously as Chinweizu, the celebrated Nigerian critic, essayist, poet, and journalist, is 83 years old today, March 26 2026.
To mark the occasion, the Pan African Writers Association ( PAWA) represented by it’s Secretary General, Dr Wale Okediran in the company of one of Chinweizu’s close associates, Albert Tetteh paid the celebrant a visit in his Accra, Ghana home today.
While studying in the United States during the Black Power movement, Chinweizu became influenced by the philosophy of the Black Arts Movement which led to his long term association with Black orientalism especially, Pan Africanism.
After a teaching spell in the United States, Chinweizu returned to Nigeria in the early 1980s, working over the years as a columnist for various newspapers in the country and also working to promote Black orientalism in Pan-Africanism.
Chinweizu’s notable intervention on this theme came in the essay “The Decolonization of African Literature” (later expanded into the 1983 book Toward the Decolonization of African Literature)
Among Chinweizu’s other works is Anatomy of Female Power in which he discusses gender roles, masculinity and feminism.
Chinweizu who moved to Ghana about twenty years ago has continued his to contribute to academic discourse through lectures and seminars despite his ill health.
Above picture showed Albert Tetteh and Wale Okediran presenting a birthday card to the celebrant during the visit.
