Political Satire in Achebe’s “A Man of the People”
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Date
2018-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The novel ‘A Man of the People ‘by Chinua Achebe is a satire of the political era of the first
republic of Nigeria’s history. It portrays the problem of corruption in Nigeria among the
political class. ‘A Man of the People’ is a Realistic fiction. Its story reconciles with the Postindependence
Nigeria’s history that reveals corruption and political power as the two sides of a
coin. Leaders come to power with the sole purpose of filling their own coffers or benefiting
friends, followers or clans etc., at the expense of the poor masses. But the major focus of the
thesis is to explore how Achebe satirizes corruption, the major forms of corruption committed
by the officials, the consequences of corruption and how he satirically attacked the corrupt
politicians and the possible solutions the author suggested to curb corruption. The findings
vividly show that the major causes of corruption in Nigeria are poverty, attitudinal
problem/tribalism and greediness. But attitudinal problem of both the politicians and the
society at large could be taken as the major one. The sad aspect is, in Nigeria, corruption has
become cultural. The majority are involved in committing every type/form of corruption.
However, electoral corruption is the dominant one. It has paralyzed democracy and has a
deleterious effect on social and economic spheres. Achebe tried to condemn the corrupt
politicians using the literary mediums of irony and exaggeration and in the end suggested coup
as the only solution to minimize corruption and/or deter the politicians from abusing their
power. But the key solutions in fighting corruption lie on supporting and recognizing the
authors who fight against corruption through their pens to induce society to change its attitude
and to strengthen civil society institutions including media and design a mechanism by which
those who practice corruptors will be punished.
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political era of the first