Hope and Despair in Post-independence African Leadership: A Reading of Achebe’s A Man of the People

Due to combination of factors such as educational crisis, institutional corruption and political instability, Africa experiences leadership challenges, and it still lags far behind in the community of nations. As a result, the current paper explores the crisis of leadership in Nigeria, by extension in Africa, through Achebe’s satirical
novel: A Man of the People. During the movements for independence, the hope of Africans was not only to enjoy real freedom that they were once deprived of; but also, to achieve social justice and socio economic and political development. Africans, completely, entrust their future development in the hands of their political leaders. Unfortunately, Africans’ hope turns into despair as the new elites fail to address the structural challenges of liberation promises and socio-economic prosperity. In other words, in post-independence Africa, Africans witness only the continuation of exploitation, marginalization, injustice, corruption…. Thus, leaders become egocentric by prioritizing self-interest and nepotism over public comfort. Using a post-colonial theory, as a framework in reading A Man of the People, the paper seeks to redress that political stability and social justice are sine qua non for the development of Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.

Keywords: Hope, Despair, Post-Independence, Leadership, Disillusionment.