Arts/Literary
Peep Into Chinua Achebe’s Anthills Of The Savannah …An Epitome Of Absolute Power, Corruption
Professor Chinua Achebe’s celebrated novel, Anthills of The Savannah published in1987 is a bitter ironic novel by the renowned author of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, The Man of The People, among others. The novel presents a candid, trenchantly insightful view of contemporary African state fictitiously called Kangan with capital in Bassa.
“Anthills of The Savannah is a story of conflicts of interest and xrays the haunting theme of power, dictatorship and corruption as it mirrors the sordid reality and erosion of popular will which is akin to governance in contemporary African state, and provides a glimpse of african political unrest”.
Anthills of The Savannah is about three close friends trying to live together under an oppressive military regime. The story revolves around three friends, Sam, Chris Oriko and Ikem Osodi, described as “the three green bottles” who have now come into power in Kangan.
Sam is the defact to leader and President of the Republic of Kangan, he is a hard stern man, a career soldier, and has come into power. Sam began his rule with good intentions, but his hunger for power grows and knows no bounds. As soon as his power is challenged or questioned, he begins to silence those who doubt him and stand in his way including his longtime friends, Ikem and Chris.
It is clear that he does not have his people’s best interest at heart, to make matters worse, he has steadily become increasingly paranoid over time. Sam has change as he ascended to power, in the past, his friends thought he would be a good president, however, power makes him hunger for more power and more oppression of the people and willing to put down resistance with force.
Ikem on the other hand is the polar opposite of Sam, he is a scholarly fellow with and appreciation for arts and culture. He is quickly becoming Sam’s most vocal critics, voicing out his opinions regarding the need to make several government reforms through the nation’s newspaper, the National Gazette which he edits as the editor.
He is having a more difficult time coping with the power the friends have gained and uses the Newspaper, to criticise the government even though technically, the paper is working for the government.
Chris is the most level headed of the three and often plays the role of an arbiter between Sam and Ikem. He is the Commissioner for Information for Kangan. Though Ikem and Chris critical to Sam’s success, with matters taking a turn for the worst, both men came to regret their involvement and as such seek to restrain Sam by leveraging their positions, since they don’t all agree about the direction and methods of Kangan.
The three are vastly different in their political leaning and personal temperament. Chris, however, thinks things can be maintained if they hold the power and make Sam less radical. He tries to convince Ikem to work with him rather than against him, Chris tries to appease His Excellency and believes that there maybe an opportunity to operate from a place of reason.
As the novel progresses, it becomes clear how irrational His Excellency’s despotic behaviour is, there is no reasoning with it or tempering it , the government is corrupt. His Excellency, not only wants to exterminate the people who speak out, but also the ideas they are promoting and he does this in his attempts to discredit them after their death.
Sam in his desire to hang on to power decides that he wants to become president for life, a position unheard of in their nation’s history. This move requires a nationwide plebiscite, but Abazon, one of the regions in Kangan rejects the notion of putting Sam in power for the rest of his life.
In response to their refusal, Sam deprives the region of his support during a drought in the hope that this would break their spirit. His embargo forces the region to send representatives to the capital to plead their cause and get the necessary supplies. Sam however mistakenly suspects the mission of mercy to be a ruse, thinking that they might be planning a revolt. His paranoia fuels his imagination even further and he comesta the conclusion that the revolt may actually be funded and organised by some one privy to private details about his life, some one close to him.
His Excellency will do what he wants, Chris realises that he cannot negotiate with someone who behaves like this, but it takes the majority of the novel for him to accept the irrationality of his friend’s behaviour, there is no point in being reasonable or petrifying His Excellency as he will do as he pleases no matter what.
His Excellency is an example of the old adage, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, while he did not set out to have absolute power and initially shunned the idea of ruling for life, he soon ignores past statements, betrays his friends and ultimately lies to the public in order to advance his own agenda. He is willing to do anything to protect his power by silencing protesters, spreading misinformation and assassinating those who stand in his way. The drive for absolute power drives him to corruption.
The corruption of His Excellency dominates as an overreaching theme, but there is more time and attention dedicated to the ways in which the minions of the government perpetuate this corruption than the actual acts of His Excellency. The behaviour of His Excellency gets tone for the rest of the administration who has a more direct impact on the well being and experience of the citizens on Kangan.
The best example of this, is the behaviour of the police force, from accepting bribes from the bus drivers to the attempted rape. Ultimately, Ikem is fired from the newspaper for speaking out against the government and he is killed by the state police. When people say Ikem wants Sam to be beheaded, Ikem is killed because he spoke out and the government tries to cover up the murder by saying it occurred in struggle.
Chris tries to escape when they want to arrest him and he does get out of the city but he is later killed defending a woman he met while he was trying to get away from Kangan. His Excellency, Sam was killed by another group of coup plotters taking over his government in response to his lack of popularity, paranoia and bad choices.
Anthills Of The Savannah is Achebe’s most experimental novel, it may not be the best work of the Man Booker Award Winner, nevertheless it is an important contribution to world literature. According to Richard Dowden of the Independent, “Anyone ruling or aspiring of ruling an African state, should read this book, so should the rest of us”.
By: Jacob Obinna
A woman is a dynamic multifaceted individual who embodies resilience, courage and determination.
She is a game changer and a force to be reckon with, a confidant empowered, supportive, adaptable and inspirational.
Many had asked why women are being celebrated even as recorded in calendar so frequently unlike men and I said, a woman being multifaceted and embodies resilience and determination is worth being celebrated unlike in the 80s when women were meant to understand that their place was in the kitchen of their husbands’ houses.
What an amazing level of development where women can choose a career and work on themselves and know that there is more to life than being in the kitchen and ending up in a man’s house with nothing to show for it.
Women are the strongest versions of the gender of humans in the world even in their silence, women hold a depth of emotions, questions and unspoken thoughts. Their smiles often conceal their true feelings, masking their fears, doubts and desires.
Despite these challenges, women continue to rise above, shattering glass ceilings and pushing boundaries.
Today innovative, women are enterprenuers, leaders, and change agents. Inspiring women like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chimamanda Adichie and many others have paved the way for future generation, their achievements serve as testaments to women’s strength, resilience and capabilities.
The calendar tell us how unique the woman is and her significance in the home and society at large. As a woman, she holds power and I celebrate every woman out there in the world irrespective of how you may have fallen, you shall rise above the challenges, support one another and celebrate collective strength and resilience.
Woman as an icon of strength is not just about individual achievements but creating supportive networks, uplifting others and celebrating collective success, defying expectations and redefining what it means to be a strong woman.
The strength and bravery of women are worthy of celebration by the entire world as none is unique as the epitome of nation builders, character molders and pacesetters not just in their family but to the society at large.
A woman is a selfless mother, lover and care giver to her family, a daughter who supports her parents, as a sister’s unshakeable bond with her siblings and a friends unconditional empathy and understanding.
These acts of kindness and love are not most times talked about but hold families and communities together and bonding strong women are powerful beings who have impacted the society, shaping the foundation of the world from the 80s to date, I personally want to celebrate all the icons of strength who had fought and are still fighting , that our voices as women are heard even unto the ends of time.
I celebrate you all amazing women for standing strong and paving ways for the future generation for equality, justice and human rights. To the rising child, teenager and adults who happen to be a ‘woman’, I celebrate our collective efforts, our strength in helping one another to rise, irrespective of our differences in our backgrounds.
We are super humans, unique beings, no wonder the Bible acknowledges the importance of our strength. Therefore, let’s celebrate every woman out there.
Kate Chisom Isiocha
Isiocha, is a student of Temple Gate Polytechnic.
It is the idea of God that family should exit. Children form part of the family. God loves family so much that Jesus was born into the family of Joseph.
Everyone’s family is good and important. Children should not look down on their family whether they are rich or poor.
Children should respect and honour their family and foster love among their siblings. They should work together and make peace in the family. They should always stand in the gap. It is good for family members to carry all along since everyone may not be doing well.
The Christianity that children learn is practised in family. Faith-based organisations do a great job in moulding children’s character. Those are the behaviours that children exhibit towards siblings in family.
Every child born in a family is there for a purpose. A baby born into a family is supplying something. It may be joy, wealth and so on. Everyone is important in a family.
Adolescents who have graduated from school but may not be contributing financially can do one or two things at home. You can engage in preparing meals at home while parents are away for a job or business. Contributing in house chores will go a long way to relieve parents of stress after a day’s job.
What do you contribute to your family, especially during holidays both in nuclear and extended family?
The family you were born is constant but friends are temporary. You can decide not to continue in friendship but you cannot cut off your family. No matter how bad you think your family is and you decide to leave home, you must surely return. Your friends can harbour you for a while.
The child’s first identity comes from the family. What the child learns first comes from the family.
Family is the centre of love and care. People have started playing down on marriage because of neglect on basics of family. Marriage starts today and and the next few months, it is threatened. Respect for family plays a crucial role in marriage.
No child grows without parental control and influence. If a child refuses to grow without taking instructions from parents, he may grow up being wild. There are consequences when children do not obey their parents. There are those who want to be rebellious against their parents. They should know that their length of days are tied to their parents.
Your bioligical parents know you more than every other person. There is the wisdom and knowledge your parents have that you do not so it is proper to listen to them before choosing carriers both in academics and job. A young man or woman can choose who to get married to, but a greater role in the choice of who to marry and the marriage proper comes from the parents.
They know what is best for you. No matter how modern trends will influence you and prove it wrong, parent is the key. No one can love you more than your parents because they are your blood.
A lot of parents have been traumatised due to the fact that children they nurtured and trained turned their back on them at older age. Children should not abandon their parents for any reason.
As you grow up, situations may arise in marriage when you decide it is over with your spouse, but no matter the level of provocation with your parents, they will not despise you. Parents will also play a role in that regard. Problem arises in every family but how it is handled matters a lot.
Some children honour their mentors more than their parents. Although there are parents who shy away from their responsibilities. It is important that parents take full responsibility of their children. You cannot bring a child to the planet earth and refuse to perform roles as a parent. But parents may not quantify what they spent from childhood to adolescence. That is a blessing children cannot get from another person.
There are people who have attributed their failure in life to the fact that their parents, especially mothers are witchcraft. It is wrong to feel that your mother is instrumental to your failure in life. The only way to success is hardwork.
Let money not determine the level of love for your parents. Wherever a child goes, family is constant.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
Naturally, when a child is born, it is the role of the father and mother to decide a suitable name for the child. The husband and wife normally discuss and suggest the English or vernacular name of the baby.
But sometimes, when a baby comes into a family, grandparents hearts are usually filled with joy to the extent that they want to answer present, by giving their own names not minding the fact that the biological parents have given theirs.
This happens mostly when the marriage is an inter-tribal one. It also happens even in intra-tribal marriage. Grandparents want equal representation as far as naming a child is concerned. They also have special names as a result of circumstances surrounding the birth of the child.
This is still happening till date.
A lot of people have viewed this in different ways but there is nothing wrong about it. The most important thing is that the child bears as many names as he or she can. But one thing is certain, the child must bear one name in school.
Should circumstance determine a child’s name?
Women who are more emotional are always eager to name their children considering the circumstances surrounding the child’s conception and arrival.
The issue of grandparents naming a child comes up mostly when it is the first of the family.
In naming children by some parents in the olden days, they named their children according to the days in the week in which they were born, like Sunday, Monday, Friday and so on.
You may be shocked to hear that whether a child is given 10 names by parents or grandparents, when he or she grows up, will decide to change. There are several cases where some persons decided to change especially when they feel that the names given by their parents and grandparents do not give them joy. If they are not doing well in life, they may claim that their misfortune is caused by the name their parents.