THE Senate yesterday urged the Federal Government to grant the late novelist, Professor Chinua Achebe, a state burial and name a major federal highway or street in Abuja after him.

It also urged the government to name a national monument after him to portray the fact that Nigeria, as a country, and Nigerians appreciated his positive contributions to the country and world through his literary works.
As part of honour for the literary giant, the Senate announced a high-powered delegation, led by Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, to commiserate with the family, people and government of Anambra State on the demise of Professor Achebe, as a minute silence was observed for him.

Resolutions of the Senate came after deliberations on the death of the literary icon, on a motion, titled “Death of Professor Chinualumogu Albert Achebe”, sponsored by Senator Chris Ngige, ACN, Anambra Central, and other senators, during yesterday’s plenary.

In the motion,read by the lead sponsor, Senator Ngige, the Senate said it was saddened by the death of Professor Achebe whose “glorious exit occurred on Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Massachusetts, USA, after a brief illness at the age of 82 years.”
Of the six prayers listed in the motion, only the call for aposthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Niger, GCON on him was rejected on grounds that he had rejected several of such honours while alive, in spite of efforts by some senators to push for that.

In his presentation of the motion, Senator Ngige noted that the late Achebe was a world figure and personality who brought fame and prestige to Nigeria and humanity through his literary talents and works, having written several novels and essays, some of which became instruments for his dogged and dynamic activism ultimately seeking a better life for all Nigerians.

He said: “The Senate observed that he was also a social critique, an activist-poet, a principled personae, who denied himself several personal accolades while he marketed and exported Nigerian and African cultures to several other continents.”
He said Achebe’s life had been exemplary and worthy of emulation and, therefore, needed immortalization, having made Nigeria proud by bringing honour and prestige to the country, regretting that his demise was a monumental loss to his family, people of Anambra State, Nigeria, Africa and the world over.

“Achebe was a patriot who loved his country. He criticized governments when they had not done well. He was an activist of prodigiousintensity, very courageous and spoke truth to power. He refused national honours in 2005 and recently on another occasion because, according to him,he did not believe things were good enough as to dine with the governments that offered such honours,” Ngige said

After various contributions from senators to the motion, Senate President, David Mark,who presided over the plenary, said given the mood of the people on the issue, everybody was delighted to talk.

Mark said: “This is a motion that all of us were very delighted in moving today and it is a motion that all of us would have contributed if I had allowed everybody to contribute. For those who did their West African School Certificate Examination after 1966, they will remember Chinua Achebe very well because I think 1966 was the first year that Things Fall Apart was used for WASCE.
“I recalled that before then, it was Shakespeare and the whole lot and nobody believed because at that time, we didn’t think that Chinua Achebe was a human being.
“We didn’t see authors and writers at that time as human beings; we thought they were just spirits or people that imagine things. That was the impact he had on Nigerians and at very early age. That was the level of impact he had on Nigerians. But it is very difficult to pay tribute to a man like Chinua Achebe because there is hardly anything you can say that will befit or you can express that will befit the way you ought to say it.
“But nevertheless, this is one of those occasions that we thank many Nigerians and I believe many of us here would have loved to express even much more than what we have done but we are not Chinua Achebe, so we cannot express in very simple term, very vividly the way he used to express things.
“He was a role model for the youths and for the elders alike. He was a fearless, courageous and very forthright Nigerian. He was a patriotic Nigerian who took Nigeria to the highest possible level. He lived well ahead of his time. He was as positively controversial as he was progressively controversial.

http://www.malaspark.com/2013/05/senate-urges-fg-to-grant-achebe-state.html?m=0

If Achebe was to express his opinion on this, he would have rejected this offer.