POST COLONIAL AFRICAN LEADERSHIP IN AYI KWEI ARMAH’S THE BEAUTYFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN AND CHINUA ACHEBE’S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE

POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN LEADERSHIP IN AYI KWEI ARMAH’S THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN AND CHINUA ACHEBE’S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Abstract

This paper centers on how Post-Colonial African Leaders in Armah’s The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born And Achebe’s A Man Of The People have shifted from democratic leadership to an autocratic type of governance. The paper denotes a form of corruption that departs from cherished values and ideas of Post-colonial Africa. The key method of this Paper is textual analysis. The Paper seeks to show the socio-economic disillusionment of an independent African Society. The leaders abuse the posts to enrich themselves at the nation’s expense. They seek to show how the black People’s quest for shared power and freedom has been thwarted by the post-colonial African governments. The paper also dwells on how the misuse of power cause the offices of African leaders to be sources of evil and wealth creation for a few selected individuals

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background to the Study.

Chinua Achebe’s and Ayi Armah Kwei generally adapt to the notion that independence is sources of disillusionment to most black Africans because it has failed to deliver the key objective that triggered the call for independence. The two authors introduce a paradigm shift from the culture of blame shifting which is characterized mostly by polemics (defending by attacks) against colonialism towards a culture of internal focus. The sad aspect of current African politics is blaming colonial encounter as responsible for misgoverning, yet most of the blames lies on endogenous factors behind that such as corruption, nepotism, manipulation of media, politics of lies, the demonization of democratic values, politics of deception, self-aggrandizement, ethnicization of politics and naturalization of election violence in a sense,  it is not a fulfillment of expectations but a nightmare, an illusion that generated a false sense of arrival.

        The postcolonial elite of independent Africa championed the first movement of African nationalism, which coerced its political demands in terms drawn from European nationalists’  thought when colonization  came to Africa accepted it as a beginning of a new era to bring and deliver a human right culture and a democratic dispensation.

1.2      Statement of The Problem

The colonial encounter left the legacy of capitalism and its related system of exploitation. After independence, some Africans thought they were welcoming victory in its fullness but their fellow blacks used  their powers improperly, replicating the colonial forms of repression. Africa has slipped off the noose of colonialism but then their governments are not different from colonial governments because at independence, it was realized that black oppressors replaced colonialists there was a mere substitution.

        According to Mbeki, it has also been argued that Africa was re-colonized at independence by black oppressors. African leaders run their economies according to American standard and the governments have been taught. The system of self-interest and told to forget the ancient songs that glorified the notion of a collective good. African leaders in positions of authority are cushioned in extravagance, yet the majority are suffering. in post-colonial Africa, cultural dislocation is coupled with political betrayal by the indigenous crop of African leaders. Leaders betray people in that independence in many countries remained in the hands of founding fathers and there was a negation of power-sharing thereby undermining democratic principles. Nationalist leaders at independence engaged in politics of violence, exclusion, and inclusion, hence, independence brought nothing but suffering. This is the reason why this research looks at the following problems:

     i.        The reason why Africa is yearning for independence

    ii.        If Africa is suffering as a result of the foundations laid by colonial masters.

  iii.        If African predicament is caused by the fact that Africans are incapable of handling their affairs.

1.3      Significance of the Study

This study will give a clear solution that will help Africans to amend their thwarted government. This research will also expose the colonial and post-colonial situations and this will help in the educational system, the political system of Africa and entire Africans as a whole.

1.4      Purpose of the Study.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the conditions that have bedridden and drag Africa to the mud. It further aims at making Africa to see the need for rebuilding and recovering it lost glories. It also aims at educating Africans to say no to corruption, makes Africans value and appreciates their literary writers, especially, those who choose to pen down the positive and negative side of Africa. Those who speak about the colonial and post-colonial leadership in Africa e.g Chinua Achebe and Ayi Amah Kwei.

1.5      Scope of the Study.

This the study shall be directed to two major levels, as a survey of the literature of the post-colonial encounters, it will be followed by the discussion of how each author handled post-colonialism. To achieve this two African novels are selected. Chinua Achebe “A Man Of The People” and Ayi Amah Kwei  “The Beautiful ones are not Yet Born; it is pertinent to note that research acknowledges that, these authors have other works that convey the same message with pungency. Reference will be made to those works as situation demands.

1.6      Research Methodology

The details needed will be extracted from these novels as a result of post-colonial leadership in these novels. While magazines, Websites, Journals, Articles will be added as it secondary sources.