Nigerian novelist, Florence Onyebuchi Emecheta, passed away in London on Wednesday.
She was 72.
Confirming Emecheta’s death, President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Denja Abdullahi, said “We have lost a rare gem in this field. Her works would forever live to speak for her. It is a sad loss to our circle and we pray that God would give the family the fortitude to bear the loss. She was known for championing the female gender and we would forever miss her”.
Born in Lagos on July 21, 1944 to Igbo parents, Emecheta got married at the age of 16 and migrated with her husband to London in 1962.
She is most popularly known for her work, The Joys of Motherhood, which is read in most secondary schools in Nigeria. Her book, The Slave Girl, won her the 1979 Jock Campbell Award.
Her themes of child slavery, motherhood, female independence and freedom through education won her considerable critical acclaim and honours, including an Order of the British Empire in 2005
