some rambling about my brit. lit. homework

Currently, I am reading The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Equiano for my British Literature class. I was supposed to have read it in one of my American Lit. classes two or three years ago, but remember getting a few pages into it, and then not finishing it. Anyway, I have been noticing many similarities between Equiano's account of native Africa, and the Africa portrayed by Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart. In fact, the two seem so similar in certain places that I can't help but wonder if Achebe was influenced by Equiano in any way. I don't know much about Achebe's life, but I do know that he was educated in Europe after growing up in South Africa (Equiano was kidnapped from Africa as a boy and eventually sold to an English master. He later became a well-known British advocate for the termination of the practice of slavery). From what I have read about Achebe, he is typically seen as a innovative writer, that is, he is seen not as an imitator of previous authors (as so many modern writers are), but as a pioneer in African literature. It's just been interesting to note the similarities between the two, and I'm curious to know whether others have noticed the same thing.