Political Satire In Achebes A Man Of The People

The novel ‘A Man of the People ‘by Chinua Achebe is a satire of the political era of the firstrnrepublic of Nigeria’s history. It portrays the problem of corruption in Nigeria among thernpolitical class. ‘A Man of the People’ is a Realistic fiction. Its story reconciles with the PostindependencernNigeria’s history that reveals corruption and political power as the two sides of arncoin. Leaders come to power with the sole purpose of filling their own coffers or benefitingrnfriends, followers or clans etc., at the expense of the poor masses. But the major focus of thernthesis is to explore how Achebe satirizes corruption, the major forms of corruption committedrnby the officials, the consequences of corruption and how he satirically attacked the corruptrnpoliticians and the possible solutions the author suggested to curb corruption. The findingsrnvividly show that the major causes of corruption in Nigeria are poverty, attitudinalrnproblem/tribalism and greediness. But attitudinal problem of both the politicians and thernsociety at large could be taken as the major one. The sad aspect is, in Nigeria, corruption hasrnbecome cultural. The majority are involved in committing every type/form of corruption.rnHowever, electoral corruption is the dominant one. It has paralyzed democracy and has arndeleterious effect on social and economic spheres. Achebe tried to condemn the corruptrnpoliticians using the literary mediums of irony and exaggeration and in the end suggested couprnas the only solution to minimize corruption and/or deter the politicians from abusing theirrnpower. But the key solutions in fighting corruption lie on supporting and recognizing thernauthors who fight against corruption through their pens to induce society to change its attitudernand to strengthen civil society institutions including media and design a mechanism by whichrnthose who practice corruptors will be punished.

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