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The Dynamics of Underdevelopment in the African Novel: A Comparative Appraisal of Anglophone and Francophone Fiction

AFRREV VOL 14 (1), S/NO 57, JANUARY, 2020

African Research Review: An International

Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia

AFRREV Vol. 14 (1), Serial No 57, January, 2020: 95-105

ISSN 1994-9057 (Print) ISSN 2070-0083 (Online)

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v14i1.9

The Dynamics of Underdevelopment in the African Novel: A

Comparative Appraisal of Anglophone and Francophone Fiction

Wosu, Kalu

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Faculty of Humanities

University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

E-mail: kalwosu@yahoo.fr

Abstract

The post-independence era in sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by progressive

underdevelopment. From the 1960s till date no meaningful development has occurred, and all

known development strategies that have so far been adopted have defied all logic.

Accordingly, some social scientists and scholars of development theories have come to the

sad conclusion that with respect to Africa, all development theories have hit the rocks

(Chambua, 1994, p, 37). The implication is that in all spheres of human endeavour, Africa

south of the Sahara has failed. The leadership problem is one of the plagues that have

bedevilled the West African sub region. And from the failure of leadership stems a truckload

of woes: infrastructural deficit, corruption, neo-colonialist propensity, unemployment,

ethnicity, educational backwardness, declining living standards, etc. This situation has left

Africans disillusioned and disappointed. And African writers from the Anglophone and

Francophone worlds have not relented in their condemnation of the post-independence

malaise. Their oeuvre is a clear reflection of the battered landscape. Thus, in the works of

Chinua Achebe, Wale Okediran, AhmadouKourouma and J.R. Essomba, the reader is led into

the very soul of a continent in turmoil. These authors are selected from both sides of the

linguistic divide. Whereas, Achebe and Okediran are Anglophones from Nigeria, Kourouma

and Essomba are Francophones from Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon respectively. This paper

therefore attempted a diachronic investigation of the works of these authors in order to

uncover the pervasive indices of underdevelopment. In other words, between Achebe and

Okediran on the one hand, and between Kourouma and Essomba on the other hand, one

discovers that the ills which the earlier novelists condemned in the first decade of

independence have only gone from bad to worse some five decades later. The methodological

approach adopted for this research work is textual analysis/ intertextuality, while privileging a

socio-historical framework.

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Key Words: underdevelopment, West Africa, dynamics, Achebe, Okediran, Kourouma,

Essomba

Introduction

The states that emerged from the hot embers of colonialism can best be described as ‘cold,

impotent ash’, to borrow Chinua Achebe’s expression (Achebe, Things Fall Apart, 1958)

Today, almost sixty years after independence, African nations have remained pariah states.

The state of affairs on the continent has provided fodder for African writers and critics of

African literature as well. African writers of English and French expression have been very

committed in their denunciation of the ills of postcolonial African societies. The

disillusionment expressed by most of them draws from the fact that the nominal independence

which African countries have achieved is in the words of Frantz Fanon ‘an empty shell, a

crude and fragile travesty of what it might have been’ (Gikandi, 1991, p. 205). Simon Gikandi

summarized the disappointment of African writers in these words:

Against the rhetoric of freedom being promoted by the founding fathers,

many African writers felt that the ideals of nationalism were being betrayed

by new political elite which adopted the colonisers’ mantle. African writers

as Achebe was to observe at the height of the Nigerian civil war (a true

emblem of the failures of national consciousness in postcolonial Africa)

found themselves with a terrifying problem – they found that the

independence their country was supposed to have won was “totally without

content” (Gikandi,1991, p. 205).

It is evident that the catch-phrase “totally without content” implies the absence of any form of

development. The leadership which the departing colonial masters foisted on hapless and

unwary Africans was dead on arrival. Most of these countries witnessed unprecedented

corruption as a result of an inept and rotten political class, coupled with the

institutionalisation of a pro-western comprador bourgeoisie class. It is therefore not surprising

that African writers like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, AhmadouKourouma, Sembène

Ousmane, NguguWaThion’go, AyiKwei Armah and a host of others from the four corners of

the continent embarked on a critical appraisal of the state of affairs in their various countries.

The reader of African literature discovers in the works of these writers that sub-Saharan

Africa presents a uniformed state of pervasive underdevelopment.

This paper studied the works of selected Anglophone and Francophone writers between 1960

and 2010 to uncover the dynamics of underdevelopment thematised in these works. First, the

paper discussed underdevelopment which is the crux of the matter. The term

‘underdevelopment’ is to be seen basically as the opposite of development. The prefix under

which precedes development renders the word pejorative, and a negation of the very idea of

progress. It is therefore in an attempt to understand what development is that one can

appreciate what underdevelopment implies. Aloysius Ohaegbu considers development as

‘change for the better’ (2000, p. 170). For this critic,

This change implies the economic advancement of the state, the

advancement of science and technology needed for the production of the

modern amenities considered vital to the promotion of the living standards

of the people, the equitable distribution of available resources among the

citizenry (…) The education of the people so that they can be useful to

themselves and the society in which they live, moral upliftment and the

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abolition of certain traditional practices, which impede self-actualisation

(Ohaegbu, 2000, pp.170-171)

Sadly, enough, if one considers all the factors inventoried by Ohaegbu as necessary for the

development of a nation, it becomes evident that sub-Saharan African countries are

underdeveloped. Samuel E. Chambua’s assessment of post-colonial sub-Saharan African

countries is appalling:

The first decades of independence have been a period of endless

experimentation with various policies and strategies, aimed at bringing about

rapid and sustainable socioeconomic development in less developed

countries (…). Surprisingly, however, is the fact that irrespective of the

particular paradigm or school of thought that has informed the particular

policies, strategies by a specific sub-Saharan LDC, the end result has been

the same, i.e. the failure to liquidate underdevelopment. Indeed, the

development for the majority of sub-Saharan LDCs has changed radically

(for the worse) from the end of the 1960s to the mid-1980s … (Chambua

1994, p. 37)

Chambua’s assessment covers the period between 1960 and the mid-1980s. A fair assessment

I must say. But if one considers the period between the mid-1980s and the present day, then

the scenario painted by Chambua is most desirable. The LDCs have fallen to an advanced

stage of underdevelopment. I consider underdevelopment to be the absence of modern

infrastructure/amenities that are necessary for the improvement of living standards; the

absence of a viable and virile democratic political culture that ensures the equitable

distribution of the commonwealth to the people; the continued dependence of African

countries on external agencies; the prevalence of corruption and moral decay, ethnic and

religious conflict/civil wars, general insecurity, and of course poor standards of education.

The Literary Corpus

The following novels form the corpus of this study. My study is in the main diachronic in the

sense that I have carefully, and to the best of my ability, read the novels to uncover a

sustained thematic constant. These novels condemn the post-independence malaise which has

kept sub-Saharan African in a state of perpetual underdevelopment.

1. A Man of the People – Chinua Achebe

2. Les Soleils des indépendances – AhmadouKourouma

3. Le Destin volé – J.R. Essomba

4. Tenants of the House – Wale Okediran

The Dynamics of Underdevelopment in the African Novel

The novels mentioned above have all in various ways treated the subject of

underdevelopment. I shall begin with an analysis of Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People

given the fact that it is the first to be published of the novels which form the corpus of the

paper.

When A Man of the People appeared in 1966, many did not sense the prophetic undertone;

for no sooner had the novel been published than a coup took place in Nigeria in the same

year. The novel itself is a satire of the pervasive corruption of the political elite blinded by

their new status. The reader of the novel is confronted with a catalogue of socio-political

problems occasioned by the erosion of morality. In his book Philosophical Perspectives on

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Chinua Achebe (2004), Christopher S. Nwodo dedicates a chapter to a study of A Man of the

People. That chapter is titled “Declining Morality: A Man of the People.” This critic traced

the origin of this ugly situation to colonialism which destroyed the traditional mytho-ethical

structures of the pristine African world. Nwodo goes on to enumerate some of the colonial

policies that “had far-reaching consequences on the people’s psyche even after independence

and the subsequent departure of the white man” (p. 78) He avers that “It was the colonial

policy to look down on the African and the African way of life, social norms and moral

values even when the African moral values were far superior to those of the colonialist” (p.

78).

It is clear from Nwodo’s analysis that political independence is a mere smoke screen since the

new political taskmasters inherited a warped system which thrives on the oppression of one

class by another. Once again, Nwodo’s opinion should be very useful here:

Political independence itself was a new phenomenon, a recent event. It is

clear from every indication that it had not been, at least for the ordinary

people, the elixir it was supposed to be. The new African Political leader

stepped into the shoes of the white man and began to show what he could do

now that he was in power, that he too could operate with ruthlessimmunityas

his predecessor the white man. Besides, there was so much material gain and

comfort attached to political power (p. 79)

Immunity breeds corruption as a result of the apparent lack of adequate control mechanism to

curtail the abuse of power. The corruption of the political elite is responsible for the lack of

infrastructure in the various countries of Africa even after independence. These critical

amenities are necessary for the improvement in living standards. Unfortunately, monies meant

for the provision of all these amenities are put in private pockets. According to Ayeleru

(2010, p. 118): “when there is corruption, there can neither be sustainable

development…corruption is literally the antithesis of development and progress.” And so, the

main thematic thrust of Achebe’s novel is political corruption which is one of the

manifestations of ‘declining morality.’

In A Man of the People, the new political class is eminently represented by Chief the

Honourable M. A. Nanga, M.P. He is the ‘Man’ of the people. What an irony! It is the same

Chief Nanga whose political activities have brought hardship on the people. A polygamist, he

lives in comfortable luxurious mansions and indulges in corrupt practices that enable him to

acquire properties all over the country. Chief Nanga is the very epitome of corruption and

moral decay. Chief Nanga, a semi-literate politician and his ilk arrive the corridors of power

through the ‘back door.’ Elections are rigged; people are killed or maimed because of the

inordinate ambition of politicians who engage the services of thugs, hired killers and all kinds

of diabolical means to achieve their aims. In this kind of charged political climate decent

people shy away from politics, or are even intimidated or discouraged by the politicians

themselves. Chief Nanga’s advice to OdiliSamalu who is planning on getting involved in

politics is appalling:

I have done my best and, God so good, your father is my living witness. Take

your money and take your scholarship to go and learn more book; the country

needs experts like you. And leave the dirty game of politics to us who know

how to play it” (p. 119).

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It is important to note that Chief Nanga says these things to Odili in the presence of the young

man’s father. The old man’s complicit support of the corrupt chief leaves much to be desired.

Same goes for Edna’s father who sees nothing wrong in giving out his young daughter, Edna,

to be one of the chief’s wives. Although the plan fails, his intention is to make the most out of

his would-be son in law. Money is thus at the root of corruption. The temptation to make

quick money also pushes Josiah to try the unthinkable when he tries to “make juju with

Azoge’s stick” (p, 84) in order to succeed in his trade. Unfortunately, the same Josiah finds

his way into politics and joins chief Nanga’s camp.

The police are not spared the cankerworm of corruption. The Police Force till this day is

about the most single corrupt public institution in Nigeria. Police men are used to rig

elections, intimidate the opposition, escort corrupt politicians, and collect bribes in order to

alter the course of justice. During Chief Nanga’s “inaugural campaign meeting” (p, 136),

OdiliSamalu braves all odds to attend the meeting where he summons courage to denounce

chief Nanga as a liar. He escapes death by the hair of the teeth, and narrates his ordeal thus:

Immediately hands seized my arm (…) He slapped me again and again. Edna

rushed forward crying and tried to get between us but he pushed her aside so

violently that she landed on her buttocks on the wooden platform. The roar of

the crowd was now like a thick forest all around. By this time blows were

falling as fast as rain on my head and body until something heavier than the

rest seemed to slit my skull. The last thing I remembered was seeing all the

policemen turn round and walk quietly away (p. 140)

This moral degeneracy as exemplified by a blighted and rotten political class led to the

collapse of Nigeria’s First Republic. In his coup speech (Obasanjo, 1987, pp. 97/99) Major

Nzeogwu declared:

The aim of the Revolutionary council is to establish a strong, united, and

prosperous nation, free from corruption (….) Our enemies are the political

profiteers, swindlers, the men in the high and low places that seek bribes and

demand ten percent, those that seek to keep the country divided permanently

so that they can remain in office as ministers and VIPs of waste, (…) those

that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those

that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back

by their words and deeds (Emphasis mine).

It is this coup that takes place in the prophetic ending of Achebe’s A Man of the People which

according to Ezenwa-Ohaeto (2000) “reflects a creative purge of the rotten political system”

(p. 109). Nzeogwu’s speech captures the state of affairs in Nigeria in the years following

political independence from Britain. Simon Gikandi (2009, p. 8) cannot be far from the truth

when he insists that: “For students trying to understand the violent politics of postcolonial

Nigeria, especially the period of corruption and military coups in the mid1960s, there is

perhaps no better reference than A Man of the People.”

AhmadouKourouma’s first novel, Les Soleils des indépendences is a classic as far as

Francophone, nay African literature is concerned. The novel was published in 1970. The

book’s title is apt and captures the very spirit of the times. From the time the novel appeared

on the African literary scene, Africans have not had any respite under the ‘suns’ of

independence. The imagery of the sun which the reader finds in the novel’s title reflects

AhmadouKourouma’s rootedness in an African culture which is undoubtedly Malinké. The

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suns represent each passing day since independence. The sun is usually very hot, and thus

depicts the stifling political climate under corrupt and rotten politicians who have foisted a

one-party state on the people. The heat which the sun of politics radiates is inimical to

development and growth. By the way, in an interview granted Jean Claude Nicholas (1985, p,

105), AhmadouKourouma tells how the title of the novel was chosen:

C’estcurieux de dire comment le titre m’estvenu: quandil y a eu les évènements à Abidjan, je

suisallé dans mon village (…) Les vieux, on leurrapportait tout ce qui se

passait à Abidjan. Un vieux, un jour, entre dans la case. Il me salue. Il me dit:

- On m’apprend tout ce que vousavezcommemalheurs. Vous qui êteslà-bas, à

Abidjan, est-ce que vouspouvez nous dire quandest-ce que çavafinir les

soleils des indépendances?

It is curious to say how the title came to me: during the crises in Abidjan, I

went to my village (…). The elders were always informed of the happenings

in Abidjan. One day, an old man enters my house and greets me. He says to

me: - I have been informed about your predicaments. You who live there, in

Abidjan, can you tell us when the suns of independence will be over?

(Translation mine)

Les Soleils des indépendences is the story of the uneasy transition from the rustic but coherent

African way of life to a confused and chaotic modernity which colonialism brings to Africa.

Political independence is only a continuation of the steady erosion of Africa’s past.

AhmadouKourouma’s novel exposes the failure of the new regime in a newly independent

African state to rise above the challenges of development. This is evident in the predicament

of the protagonist of Kourouma’s text. Fama’s disillusionment stems from the fact that the

anticolonial struggle in which he was an active participant, has not yielded the desired results.

He is excluded from the “spoils of war”. The reader finds Fama at the crossroads of

ideological confusion.

Fama discovers to his chagrin that the last vestiges of tradition have been wiped away by

independence. He is pauperised and turns a beggar in the streets of Abidjan in order to

survive. The former Horodugu kingdom of which Fama was a prince is now partitioned into

two different countries; The Ebony Coast (capitalist) and the Peoples’ Republic of Nikinai

(socialist). The protagonist even requires an identity card, nay a passport to cross over to what

used to be his ancestral domain. And later in the novel, he is arrested and incarcerated; upon

his release, he decides to go back to his native Togobala, but he dies en route his village. The

overbearing imagery of death which pervades the universe of the novel is also symptomatic of

the gloom which independence casts over the African landscape.

But beyond the personal story of FamaDumbuya, is the problem of Africa’s development.

New African regimes, up till this day, have tinkered with different western-style ideologies

and the blueprint for the continent’s development; but this has scarcely yielded any result. In

the early years of independence, we find leaders on the two sides of the ideological divide,

caught between the American/British capitalist model and the Marxist-Leninist socialist

doctrine. These ideologies are to say the least, at variance with the realities of the African

continent, and cannot in any way pave the way for any meaningful development. It is worthy

of note that these ideologies were introduced to Africa during the colonial period as tools for

Africa’s exploitation. In their well-researched work on these conflicting ideologies and their

implication for Africa’s development, Kodah and Traoré (2015) posited that:

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The multiplicity of exogenous ideologies flooding the African sphere creates

grounds for ideological misunderstanding and misinterpretation. This is

eventually a source of confusion in policy formulation and orientation in

African countries. The situation creates a vacuum for indigenous ideologies

required for the articulation of the development realities of African countries

and their people. It has turned African countries into testing ground for a

plethora of alien ideologies which are hardly understood by African

governments and intellectuals who only guess the meanings of these

exogenous ideas without substance, since they are disconnected from the

realities that serve as material base for their formulation.

(http://internationalpolicybrief.org/journals/edu-and-science-journal-vol5-no)

From the above argument put forward by these scholars of development, it becomes clear that

development strategies which do not take into account the indigenous African models of

development are bound to fail. Thus, in AhmadouKourouma’sLesSoleils des independences,

the bid to apply the socialist model of development in the Peoples’ Republic of Nikinai brings

Diakité and his father in conflict with the regime in power. The use of communal forced

labour to carry our developmental projects is at variance with the African way of life. In

effect, Diakité refuses forced labour and is maltreated by the youth vanguard of the socialist

party (Les Soleils, p, 84). In revenge, his father kills some key members of the party,

including the Secretary-general.

No meaningful development can take place in such a chaotic and confused situation. Former

friends and brothers are now divided along imported ideological lines which can only lead to

counter productivity. This same situation is condemned in Jean Pliya’sLesTresseurs de corde.

The Beninese writer recreates for his reader the ugly events in Benin Republic in the 1970s

when the poor country tries to experiment with Marxism-Leninism. The resultant effect is the

hounding and muscling of elements of the opposition considered enemies of the revolution. In

the end, Trabi, a former member of the revolutionary vanguard teaches the people the way

forward: solidarity. And as Jean Pliya himself puts it:

« C’est au bout de l’anciennecordequ’il faut tresser la nouvelle » (Pliya, p. 3)

‘‘It is at the end of the old rope that we should weave the new

one”

This simply implies that Africa’s development should be hinged on true African solidarity

backed by an African philosophy that takes into account the traditional structures which

colonialism and western-backed regimes have tried to extirpate.

Clearly, western ideological models have not solved Africa’s developmental problems. These

models have all failed whether it is in Sekou Toure’s Guinea, Kwame Nkruma’s Ghana,

AughostinoNeto’s Angola or in Mobutu SeseSeko’s Zaire. These regimes, just to mention a

few, have applied these western-inspired ideologies to the detriment of the continent’s

development. The one-party states run by those early regimes did not leave room for personal

freedom, justice, human capital development, cultural advancement which are some of the

ingredients required to fire the engine of development.

The Cameroonian, J.R. Essomba’sLe Destin volé is one of the recent post-independence

novels that denounce political corruption as responsible for sub-Saharan Africa’s

underdevelopment. The novel’s author, a francophone African like AhmadouKourouma

paints a sordid world of institutionalised corruption. The character of WinceslasOngala looms

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larger than life. Much in the same way as Achebe depicts the character of Chief Nanga in A

Man of the People; Essomba presents this character as corruption personified. Mr. Ongala is a

very important personality in the government of the day. Through foreign agents, the ruling

elite set up a comprador class that rides roughshod over the masses to achieve their inordinate

ambition.

The protagonist of the novel is Jeff Effala, who like OdiliSamalu in A Man of the People, tries

to antagonise Mr. Ongala. He pays dearly; he is set up by his benefactor who slams drug

charges against him. His family also suffers. So, through the eyes of Jeff Effala, the reader is

led into the hideous world of politics, police corruption, and rot in the educational system,

including institutions of higher learning. The narrator tells of how students pay money or give

sexual gratification to lecturers to succeed.

In the opening pages of the novel, Jeff attributes these woes to the ‘suns of independence.’

When his grandfather announces to the family that he has been posted to a new place which

will require that the family move away from their official quarters, his grandmother recalls

what Mâlam, the seer says about Africa:

Je commence vraiment à croire que Mâlamavait raison quandil nous

disaitvoir, dans sescauries, l’Afriquesombrer dans unenuit sans étoiles, et que

l’homme noir qui prenait la place du colon blanc auraittellementfaim que les

gargouillements de son ventreallaientcouvrirtoutes les voix de la raison.

(Essomba, p, 29)

I am beginning to believe that Mâlam was right when he told us that he saw

in his cowries, Africa sinking in a starless night, and that the black man who

was taking the place of the white man would be so hungry that the sounds

from his stomach would becloud every sense of reason (Translation mine)

How else can one explain the pervasive underdevelopment which plagues Africa? The

politicians who took over from the colonialist have merely replaced the Whites without

replacing the structures left behind. The black man has merely adjusted into the boots of the

white man. He lives in opulence while his country men and women live in abject penury. Jeff

and Richard are shocked at the apparent lack of concern for the masses. When they attend a

party in Carole’s house, Richard wonders why the roads in the country cannot be fixed (p. 50)

He concludes by exclaiming:

« Il faut bien que l’argent du pétrole et de l’aideétrangèreaillequelque part! »

(p. 50).

« The money from crude oil and foreign aid must be going somewhere else! »

(Translation, mine)

Across Africa, oil rich countries have not been able to account for the billions of dollars in oil

earnings since independence. It is the case with Nigeria for example, where oil bearing

communities are polluted. The activities Shell Petroleum have degraded the environment, and

successive governments (civilian and military) have all failed to address the problem of

pollution. Those communities have no portable water, no good roads, no health care facilities,

etc. the resultant effect is the rise in militancy in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Today, the

whole of the Niger Delta is underdeveloped, the youths have been radicalized and whole

families are living below poverty line.

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Essomba’s novel paints the picture of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. It is a historical

document which captures the very essence of underdevelopment in the ‘developing

countries.’ The title of the novel, Le Destin volécan best be translated as stolen destiny. When

the oligarchic class in power has concentrated the means of livelihood in a few households,

the masses are left to perish. The youth cannot afford to go to school; rural folks cannot

access portable water and electricity, etc. In the prevailing circumstance one can say that the

destiny of the masses has been stolen.

Tenants of the House, Wale Okediran’s largely autobiographical novel, paints a gloomy

picture of the political corruption that has come to characterise the Nigerian state during the

first decade of the post- military era. The author himself was a member of the House of

Representatives, the lower chamber in the country’s bicameral legislature. The striking

resemblance between the author and the protagonist, Sam is therefore not fortuitous. The

scale of corruption depicted in Achebe’s A Man of the People is dwarfed by the enthronement

of systemic corruption by a new political class which comes to power on the heels of an ill-

prepared military transition process.

The men and women who are elected into positions of responsibility are found to be self-

seeking. This political corruption, up till this day, has beclouded the capacity for law makers

to initiate bills aimed at addressing the menace of underdevelopment which has bedevilled the

country since 1960. The reader is even shocked that roads are in a terrible state and the drains

are blocked across a country which boasts of hundreds of oil wells that earn her billions of

petrodollars annually. The nation’s capital, Abuja is not spared the crisis of infrastructural

deficit. The narrator tells the reader that:

It was a wet morning in June. I drove out of the legislators’ quarters in Apo.

The rain had started before dawn, making it difficult to leave the cosy

warmth of my bed, now, the roads were flooded and the traffic had slowed

to a crawl (Okediran, 2009, p. 12).

The situation painted above is the same across most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Roads are not tarred; when they are tarred, the job done is sub-standard. This has led to traffic

congestion in most capital cities. In the course of the narrative, Honourable Sam comes to a

better understanding of the inner workings of the nation’s political machinery. He comes to a

position of maturity and knowing just as in a bildungsroman; he discovers that politics is a

dirty game of power and survival. He also discovers that politics in his country is not a game

for the educated; that “education and political gangsterism do not go well together” (p. 57).

He therefore solicits the reader’s empathy when he takes an ideological position through his

interior monologue: “And instead of my current alignment with political gangsterism, I

should use my education and experience as a lawyer in a more positive way: promoting bills

and policies which would move the nation forward” (p. 57).

The truth is that no bill has ever been passed in Nigeria to move the country forward. Political

demagogy is not enough to drive development. Corruption cannot drive it either. In a country

where godfatherism and sycophancy are venerated, personalisation of power in the hands of a

single individual will surely lead to stagnation. How can government ministries and agencies

carry out developmental projects when, for example President Ambrose Oneya expects them

to contribute towards the celebration of his mother’s birthday? The President orders one of his

aides: “Now, arrange a birthday gift for her. Every ministry, agency, parastatal, state, local

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government and the wards of the Total Party must drop ‘something’. One million naira each”

(p. 84).

The political elite are thus only interested in what goes into their pockets and into those of

their relatives and cronies. Corruption is inimical to progress and development in all spheres

of human endeavour. One of the most celebrated cases of corruption is the disappearance of

NigComsat, a satellite project in Nigeria. According to the narrator:

The project, which was executed for National Space Research and

Development Agency by the China Great Wall Industry Corporation, cost the

Federal Government of Nigeria a whopping N40 billion. The satellite (…)

was supposed to improve internet access to even the remotest rural villages

and to enhance government’s economic reforms in the areas of e-learning, e-

commerce, tele-medicine and tele-education among others (p. 221).

The circumstances surrounding the missing satellite are muddled up and tied to an ever-

evolving game of corruption in high quarters. Unfortunately, whereas in saner climes the

President should have resigned, Chief Ambrose Oneya seeks a third term in office. His bid

fails because of members of the legislature, including Sam are vehemently opposed to what

has come to remain in Nigerian parlance as the “Third Term Agenda’’. The group opposed to

the tenure prolongation gave these reasons among several others in a well-articulated

document presented by the group’s leader, Hon. Kalkulus:

Corruption remains entrenched and endemic. The roads are impassable and

with the spate of air crashes, air travel offers no alternative. The railway,

which was only comatose before this new government came into power, is

now certified dead. Education has been priced out of the reach of the masses.

Public education institutions including the universities have never suffered a

more terrible fate and neglect. Public health system has collapsed (p. 252).

With the above inventoried infrastructural deficit, it becomes evident that underdevelopment

is sustained through corruption and the inability of government and its agencies to reverse the

ugly trend. Wale Okediran’sTenants of the House is therefore a satire of the Nigerian state

between 1999 and 2007 when the first batch of politicians emerged from their cocoon after

over fifteen years of military diktat.

Conclusion

Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People has been succinctly summarised by Simon Gikandi

(2009, p, 9) as “a serious questioning of the nature of power once it has been translated into a

nationalist narrative that is unclear about its idiom and moral authority.” This assertion is

true of all the novels which we have analysed. The authors of these novels are Africans who

have taken it upon themselves to document the historical evolution of Africa since

independence in the mid-20th century.

It is quite worrisome that sixty years after independence, Africa south of the Sahara is still

struggling to find its footing in the committee of nations. It is therefore recommended that for

any meaningful development to take place in Africa, all hands must be on deck to do a critical

reappraisal of where we have gone wrong. African countries must revive traditional structures

which in synergy with modern modes of thought can address the problem of leadership.

Electioneering processes must be transparent to bring responsible and responsive leaders to

power. The resources of African countries must be harnessed to ensure an equitable

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distribution of wealth. This will curb the menace of militancy and youth restiveness; it will

also reduce the rate of prostitution among females, thereby curbing HIV/AIDS. If this is

pursued with vigour, development can take place.

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