The Problems With Prof. Achebe's Analysis of the African Condition

There is hardly anyone more familiar with the story of why Africa is where it is today than the Nigerian man of letters Prof. Chinua Achebe. His novels may be read as historical records of the developments that have taken place in the cultural life of the continent in at least the last one hundred years. He is well known as a major influence on the development of African literature, especially the novel. He has also been described as a political scientist. Prof. Achebe is so well known around the world, especially for his novel, Things Fall Apart, that when he talks many listen. I call him the wise man of Africa.

That is why Prof. Achebe's today's NYT op-ed titled "Nigeria's Promise, Africa's Hope," is so important. In the piece, Prof Achebe correctly touch on the nagging issues of corruption and ethnic politics that have bedevilled the well-being of the continent and point out some concrete actions that need to be taken in Nigeria if that country is to see a better day. There were however a couple of problems with his general analysis of the African condition. The first is the standard narrative he gives: Africa's problems stem from the historical interaction between the continent and the West, from the age of discovery to the slave trade and colonization. Decolonization put people who were not prepared for leadership in charge of whole countries. Without wanting to undermine the fact that the period of the slave trade exploited African resources for the benefit of the West, this standard narrative tend to portray Africans mostly as victims rather than as perpetrators of their own sufferings. Prof. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard's department of African and African American Studies has argued that African leaders should also be held responsible for the slave trade. From this it can be argued that the fact that African leaders messed up the nation-state could not be accounted for mostly by incompetence but also as a manifestation of their normal tendency to undermine the well-being of their own people when it suits their interests. In fact, that is the political thing to do - politicians all over the world mostly do things which suits their interests. What makes Africa different from other regions that have prospered is that while the interests of politicians in other places sometimes coincides with the interests of their people, the interests of African politicians hardly coincide with that of their people. The claim that at independence the leaders of African countries were incompetent should therefore be abandoned.

The second problem with Achebe's analysis is his claim that the West should be part of finding a solution to the African crisis because it contributed significantly in creating this condition. This claim fails to consider a basic tenet in international politics - national interest. Nations do not help others because it is the right thing to do but because it is of their national interest to do so. Now, given the story of Africa's encounter with the West which Prof. Achebe recounts well, it may be doubtful that Western nations have the well-being of Africa at heart. Unless, of course, the well-being of the continent coincides with the well being of the West. Currently, that is not the case. In August of 2010, some young Africans were invited to the White House for a forum with President Obama. One of them asked him if he were prepared to defend the interests of Africa but he honestly replied that his primary job is to defend American interests. There you have it. Power in international politics is not given, it must be taken. Africa must forge its way forward even without any contribution from the West. In fact, history suggests that seeing a flourishing Africa has not been a top priority of any Western nation - it will never be. All this is to say that the future of Africa is in the hands of Africans. When the West or Asians or Latin Americans come in, it should not be to help but to acknowledge and participate in the future which Africa is already crafting. One of the major problems of contemporary Africa is that it still depends on the West, and now Asia. None of these outside forces have the interest of Africa at heart. Period. Honest political scientists and economists know this. I suppose Prof. Achebe also knows this.