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In Achebe's essay, he explains that Africa's economic backwardness and political instability is due not by the incompetence of the native people, but by the tough changes it has endured because of it's colonial past. In the introduction of their freedom, the African people had no way of knowing what to do because they were colonized for so long. As Achebe puts it, "If you take someone who has not really been in charge of himself for 300 years and tell him, 'O.K., you are now free,' he will not know where to begin".
As the African people gained their freedom, there was a huge rise of corrupt government officials who saw independence as a way of gaining great wealth and power. If Africa were to receive help from the same people who brought this conundrum upon the African citizens, many such situations could be relinquished before it causes massive destruction to the stability and growth of African society. This is said by Achebe who states, "...because the West has had a long but uneven engagement with Africa, it is imperative that it also play an important role in forging solutions to Africa’s myriad problems. This will require good will and concerted effort on the part of all those who share the weight of Africa’s historical albatross. While the much-vaunted day of independence arrived to much fanfare, it rapidly became a faded memory. The years flew past. By 1966, Nigeria was called a cesspool of corruption and misrule. Public servants helped themselves freely to the nation’s wealth."
Achebe's desire to want to make the country of Nigeria and Africa as a whole more prosperous is also quite present; we can detect his fondness and high expectations for his homeland and that comes to no surprise. In his conclusion to the essay, Achebe exclaims, "In the end, I foresee that the Nigerian solution will come in stages... it is from this kind of environment that a leader, humbled by the trust placed upon him by the people, will emerge, willing to use the power given to him for the good of the people."
As the African people gained their freedom, there was a huge rise of corrupt government officials who saw independence as a way of gaining great wealth and power. If Africa were to receive help from the same people who brought this conundrum upon the African citizens, many such situations could be relinquished before it causes massive destruction to the stability and growth of African society. This is said by Achebe who states, "...because the West has had a long but uneven engagement with Africa, it is imperative that it also play an important role in forging solutions to Africa’s myriad problems. This will require good will and concerted effort on the part of all those who share the weight of Africa’s historical albatross. While the much-vaunted day of independence arrived to much fanfare, it rapidly became a faded memory. The years flew past. By 1966, Nigeria was called a cesspool of corruption and misrule. Public servants helped themselves freely to the nation’s wealth."
Achebe's desire to want to make the country of Nigeria and Africa as a whole more prosperous is also quite present; we can detect his fondness and high expectations for his homeland and that comes to no surprise. In his conclusion to the essay, Achebe exclaims, "In the end, I foresee that the Nigerian solution will come in stages... it is from this kind of environment that a leader, humbled by the trust placed upon him by the people, will emerge, willing to use the power given to him for the good of the people."