Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's media aide has stated that she refused the President's national honor bestowed on several notable Nigerians and foreigners.
The award-winning Nigerian novelist, who was just awarded Harvard University's legendary W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, broke her silence about her absence from President Buhari's national honours event on Tuesday, October 11.
Omawumi Ogbe, a member of Chimamanda's communications team, confirmed to The Guardian that she refused the honor.
“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 defended the award, saying the honorees had distinguished themselves in the service of the nation and mankind, while presenting it to 450 Nigerians and foreigners.
“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.
