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Political Corruption And Symbolism In Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi’s Half Of A Yellow Sun And Okey Ndibe’s Arrows Of Rain
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 3]
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On January 15, 1966, major Kaduna Nzeogwu and other junior Army officers
(mostly majors and captains) attempted a coup d‟etat. It was generally
speculated that the coup had been initiated by the Igbo and for their
own primary benefit, because of the ethnicity of those that were killed.
The two major political leaders of the North, the Prime Minister Sir
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Premier of the Northern region, Sir
Ahmadu Bello was executed by major Nzeogwu. Also murdered was Sir Ahmadu
Bello‟s wife
The coup was not only generally carried out in the
Northern region, it was most successful there. The fact that the
officer, Lieutenant Connell. Arthur Umegbe was killed can be attributed
to the more fact that the officers in charge of implementing Nzeogwu‟s
plans in the East were incompetent. The coup, also referred to as the
coup of the five majors, has been described in some quarters as
Nigeria‟s only revolutionary coup. This was the first coup in the short
life of Nigeria‟s nascent democracy. Claims of electoral fraud was one
of the reasons given by the coup plotters. This coup resulted in General
Johnson Aguyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and Head of the Nigerian Army, taking
power as General becoming the first Military Head of State in Nigeria.
By
the late 1960s the literature of disillusionment was taking form as a
reflection of the widespread violent conflict and political corruption
which had began to take hold throughout African societies. Such
conflicts inevitably threw the nationalist project into turnoil: how can
one speak of a nation or even Pan-African identity when a national is
at war with itself? In terms of the novel as genre, Gikandi states that
in the mid-1960s the form and function of the novel changed almost
overnight, moving the reader away from the sometimes celebratory and
utopian tone of earlier novels to a grim critique of the narrative of
cultural nationalism. This was a generation of writers who are
consciously distancing themselves from the project of cultural
nationalism.
This interventionist reading of the contemporary
problems regarding ethnic conflict in Africa is one that is shared by
writers as diverse as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ngugi Wa Thion‟o.
Discussing Nigeria Adichie takes the view that the idea of the tribe
has, its roots in colonialism as people did not consciously identify
themselves as Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa until the involvement of the
British.
The British governed Nigeria indirectly through their
traditional rulers, as a result the true leader of the masses were
hamstrung and held down. Just because Africans were given authority to
rule over her own people. They saw it as means to maltreat those that
have more than them and sell his or her brother and sister, mother to
gain favour from the superior leaders. The British (Adewale
Ademoyeya:why we Struck).
These actions by the local and foreign
leaders made the people to seek for independence. Many of them were not
thinking straight anymore. The present leadership blame the colonial
masters and fore runners of independence for their actions for not doing
what is expected of them and also for the embezzlement and stealing of
public fund. The political elicits in other to become rich and
influential in the society, steal and blame it on the economy and
leaders. No one takes responsibility for his own crime and actions.
The politicians and military rulers blame one another for a bad government no one agrees that the other is better than himself.
Emeka
Nwabueze is of the opinion that, the question is not weather we should
wage war against corruption or not, my quarrel is that the fight should
be waged within the context of the constitution.
Several opinions
hold that Nigerian political and economic underdevelopment since
independence has been as a result of pervasive corrupt practices in both
private and public fields: Nepotism which means favouratism granted in
politics or business to relatives regardless of merit.
Bribery which is an act of giving money or gift giving that alters the behaviour of the recipient.
Political
Scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a
scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of
engaging in various illegal, corrupt or unethical practices.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 3]
Page 2 of 3
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This project work is on political corruption and symbolism. This project work brings out the corrupt practices by politicians and military rulers. To also brings out the symbols used in the novels. Chapter one is an introduction on political corruption in Nigeria and the way the military took over and ruled Nigeria. Chapter two is on the related literature review, chapter three is on political corruption and symbolism in Adichie Chumamanda Ngozi Half of a yellow Sun. Chapter four is on the polit ... Continue reading---
