Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease, which is a work of fiction, and Dayo Olopade’s The Bright Continent, which was a work of reporting are very different, but they are similar. No Longer at Ease u ses fictional characters to portray how corrupt Nigeria and surrounding African colonies are. Achebe’s book also shows the effects of European colonialism on the traditions
and customs of Nigeria and the surrounding African colonies merely a few years before Nigeria is granted independence from colonial rule. The Bright Continent, on the other hand, uses the real world experiences of Olopade as she trekked across sub-Saharan Africa. It was used to portray how resilient and bright Africa was and to prove assumptions made about Africa wrong. Both books were effective in getting their purposes and points across. Therefore, despite being different types of writing and being written in different times, both books are used to portray the real truth about the countries that was unknown by outsiders before.
In the novel No Longer at Ease, written by Chinua Achebe, the purpose is to expose readers to the issues of corruption and the effects colonialism in not only Nigeria, but also in other African colonies. No Longer at Ease was set in the 1950s when colonial Nigeria was on the verge of independence from Great Britain, which according to Module 1A’s “Legacies of Colonialism,” it gained its in 1960, the same year the novel was published. Achebe uses the novel to show how two cultures, traditional and Western, clash due to colonialism. For example, Obi, the protagonist, grew up in Nigeria and was sent to attend school in England. Upon his return to Nigeria from England, Obi is caught between traditions and the ways of the West in his home near the end of Great Britain’s colonial reign. Achebe uses the novel to portray how Nigerians lost touch with their traditional cultures and values due to colonial intervention. Traditions were being buried and replaced with new ones from the Western world. While a lot of the traditions were disappearing, the Umuofians in Lagos attempt to preserve traditional unity through the Umofian Progressive Union. It is described in the novel as an urban jungle where the worst aspects of Western and traditional culture predominated. There was filth and crowding in Lagos due to urbanization, there was inefficiency and corruption due to the centralization of the government, and corruption was condoned in the Igbo society if it was done for the good of the group. Colonialism shattered the values and traditions of Nigerian culture. According to Module 1A’s “Legacies of Colonialism,” the colonized cultures were portrayed as inferior to to Western culture. The character Mr. Green is symbolic of this ideal. He believes that while some Africans may be intelligent, the culture of Africa is inferior to that of Europe, and he also believes that no African can ever escape the “curse” of his culture. Colonialism also led many citizens, such as those who received Western educations, to experience a “postcolonial identity.” The people who experience this “post-colonial identity” see problems with the culture they had before, but at the same time, they are not accepted by the Western culture they had tried to embrace. An example of this is how Obi goes to school in England, a place he is unaccustomed to. While in England, he feels like a stranger that does not belong, and he misses his home. Upon his return to Nigeria, Obi still feels like a stranger that does not belong. Once he returns, Obi is alienated from his friends and family due to his embracement of the Western values, which cause him to reject his own culture in a way. For example, he wears a short-sleeved shirt and causally speaks in English. Also blamed on colonialism in the novel is the corruption in Nigeria, who at first Obi is not a fan of, but eventually gives into the temptation of.
In the novel The Bright Continent, written by Dayo Olopade, the purpose is to challenge assumptions about Africa and expose readers to the truth about sub-Saharan Africa. The book is supposed to show that the portrayals of sub-Saharan Africa being chaotic and violent and in need of outside help are wrong. Olopade uses her book to shift the way people think and view Africa. In her trip across the sub-Saharan Africa to find out about how ordinary people deal with the challenges they face everyday, she discovers that the citizens of Africa are very innovative and resilient. One big concept that is mentioned in the book is that of kanju. Kanju is a term that suggests resilience and ingenuity. Kanju makes it possible for the people of Africa to get things done in the wake of things such as having a corrupt bureaucracy. This concept helps Olopade provide insight into how the people of Africa are changing their own situation. Everywhere she traveled, she witnessed kanju. Some examples of the use of kanju include Kenneth Nnebue and the Nollywood film industry, and Soyapi Mumba and the computers turned into databases for hospitals. The Bright Continent s hows how creative entrepreneurs have helped to improve people’s lives. Olopade also mentions that locals are the best people to solve problems because they are close to it, instead of outsiders. Also, as mentioned in Discussion 1 for The Bright Continent, Olopade critiques the formality bias by arguing that it is holding Africa back, and that the integrity of formal institutions is in doubt. Olopade also writes to persuade the audience for the need of a Western-style aid that allows for a combination of traditional and market-based solutions. She believes the aid will help address challenges in Africa such as the uneven distribution of resources. As mentioned in Discussion 2 of The Bright Continent, Olopade uses her maps to try to help bring the two publics, “the public of community, which is the governance at the community level that works for the people” and “modern-day Western government that pretends that this other governance does not exist,” together to change what is possible. The maps used by Olopade are to point out possibilities to help build wealth and aid those who are less fortunate. For example, as mentioned in Discussion 2 of The Bright Continent, two maps given are the Technology Map and the Commercial Map. The Technology Map underlines how adaptive technology is helping to transform African connectivity and productivity. It is a platform for self-direction. The Commercial Map spotlights market-based creativity in everything ranging from solar energy to health care and education.
Overall, while Achebe’s No Longer at Ease and Olopade’s The Bright Continent, are very different, they also have a few similarities. No Longer at Ease is a fiction story set in the 1950’s and was published in the 1960s. It was about colonialism and corruption in Nigeria and surrounding areas such as Lagos. The Bright Continent is a work of reporting that was published in 2014. It was about how Africa is often misconstrued as chaotic and violent, when in reality it is very bright and innovative. Both books were used to portray the truths of their country that many did not know beforehand. While Olopade’s book was used to show how Africa was actually bright instead of dark, Achebe’s book was used to show that it was actually dark.
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