The paper aims at tracing the genesis of abuse of power and the irresponsibility that goes with it to its full blossoming in Achebe’s fiction through a close reading of Arrow of God and A Man of the People. Disenchantment with leadership in Africa, especially after independence, is not new on the African literary scene. But to Achebe, the problems associated with poor leadership in Africa did not start after independence. Failure in leadership only worsened in most African countries after independence due to the perpetuation of colonial vestiges. By doing a close reading of the two novels and by using the theory of postcoloniality, the researchers compare the traditional world of Ezeulu in Arrow of God to the post-independence setting of Chief Nanga in A Man of the People. The paper concludes that Africa has gone beyond the politics of post-colonialism and is now at the postcoloniality stage. In order for Africans to truly overcome the perennial problem of poor leadership, there is the need for us to first accept our role as a continent in contributing towards the failure of leadership in Africa. There is also the urgency to encourage grass root participation and understanding of modern democracy, to build stronger institutions and to put in place heavier punishments for those who abuse power.
What factors should come first in the choice of an educational programme or a future career for a ward? Is it the interest, potential, and passion of the ward or the ego of the guardian? Is it monetary consideration and social status that should be the criteria based upon which such a decision is made or the criterion of better prospects of a job market? These and other questions are raised and dramatised in Sons and daughters by De Graft. This paper examines the extent to which capitalist ideology plays a role in determining career choice and in creating the familial tensions and conflict that are presented in the play. By applying Marxist theory and praxis to the content and form of the play, it is found that Sons and daughters is not simply about a generational conflict between parents and their children; it equally presents capitalist ideologies that undergird some of the attitudes and decisions that we make on a daily basis. More significantly, evidence from the play indicates that it is the prospects of a job market, the potential and interest of the ward and not the ego of the guardian or the wishful careers of the latter which must come first in the choice of a programme or a future career for a ward.
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