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And now Chinoa Attebe, a hero returns.

Earlier this year, the great Nigerian writer travelled to his homeland of Nigeria

for the first time in many years.

Richard Dowden, the director of the Royal African Society, travelled with Attebe

on a journey that attracted the attention of the nation.

Dancers and singers greet Chinoa Attebe at a Buja Airport

as he returns to Nigeria for the first time this century.

He's Africa's most famous novelist and came to symbolise what Europe did to Africa

when it took it over in the 19th century.

Ebo is his language, his ethnic group.

And the return of this man who made it globally famous is at great event.

And I'll be accompanying him for the BBC.

I always miss Nigeria when I leave it.

And that's very strange because when I'm there, we're constantly quarrelling.

In my case, I'm a novelist.

Where there are novels all over the place, not written but stories

within to be transformed into novels.

It's a country full of stories.

Now nearly 80, Chinoa Attebe is the grandfather of African literature,

...