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" not to buy the "patriotism" of the local leadership since they were not patriots by any measure. He repeatedly warned them that the new "patriots" will use whatever they could to sustain themselves in power by using catchy phrases like patriotism, nationalism, independence, cultural superiority, etc, "
For those who read Chinua Achebe's works, mainly his books on post-African independence, you must have seen that two themes run through his books: the sheer hypocrisy of the African leadership and the question of neocolonialism. Immediately after majority of the African states gained independence, Achebe warned the African people that they faced a new colonialism: the deceit and manipulation of "home-grown" leadership. He called on Africans not to buy the "patriotism" of the local leadership since they were not patriots by any measure. He repeatedly warned them that the new "patriots" will use whatever they could to sustain themselves in power by using catchy phrases like patriotism, nationalism, independence, cultural superiority, etc, [Ketuanan Melayu] while they rob them. A lot of these "patriotic" qualities can be seen in the kind of leadership he portrays in his book: The Trouble with Nigeria. When I read that book, I immediately recalled Najib Tun Razak's bizzare Glocalconcept.
In 2004, Achebe, one of Africa's leading writers has rejected a National Honours Award from his government in Nigeria in protest at the state of his motherland. "Nigeria's condition today under your watch is ... too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honour awarded me in the 2004 Honours List", he wrote to immediate former Nigerian President Oluṣẹgun Obasanjo.
In his satirical novel, A Man of the People, 1966, Chinua Achebe exposes the sheer hypocrisy of the "patriotic, religious and nationalist" African leadership ala Umno. One area he covers is the conduct of the leadership's children. A man is his children they say. And in the African and Eastern (Islamic) tradition, a man is measured by his family. There were times when certain Muslim leaders were rejected because of their children. It was argued that one who couldn't "help" guide his children couldn't shoulder the (Muslim) community's burdens. Continue Reading Here
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Let's wait for another showdown......as the clock ticks.....