POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND SYMBOLISM IN ADICHIE CHIMAMANDA NGOZIS HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

1.1 Introduction

Political corruption refers to a government official's illegal use of power for personal benefit. One of the hallmarks of a corrupt political system is the abuse of government power in order to target political opponents and the use of force by police. In developing nations like Nigeria, corruption is at the foundation of most economic, political, and social problems. Discrimination has also happened due to a lack of accountability as well as the transfer of public resources to private hands. Corruption in politics can stem from a variety of factors, including inefficient political systems, inadequate political funding, and a lack of resources. There is still a lot of secrecy in official documents, which is why the freedom of information and public engagement in government bills currently before Nigeria's National Assembly must be passed.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Political corruption is the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality is considered political corruption. Most economic political and social problems in under developed societies like Nigeria emanate from corruption. Some of these problems include lack of accountability, diversion of public resources to private ownership, different types of discriminations, ethnicity. There are many causes of political corruption such as ineffective political processes, ineffective political financing, and poverty. A lot of secrecy still pervades government document and this underlies the need for the passage of the freedom of information bill presently before Nigeria's National Assembly, also law public participation in Government to mention a few.

The pervasive corrupt practices have been blamed on the colonial masters. According to this view, the nation's colonial history may have restricted any early influences in an ethical revolution. Throughout the colonial period most Nigerians were struck in Ignorance and poverty. The level of corruption raised serious alarm that attracted the concern of both Nigerians and international community which rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries. Although, the government embarked upon anti-corruption measures but were not sincerely and properly implemented such that the expected objective and goal were not achieved; the problem was rather aggravated. Since then, corruption has continued to militate against national development.

In Nigeria corruption is a problem that has to be rooted out. Owusi (2002), however in his book, The Root Causes of Corruption in West Africa, was of the view that;

Corruption is made up of opportunist manipulation or branches of existing laws and regulation for advantages. He emphasized that; Our inordinate desire for wealth, power prestige and high status and its desirous consumption of scarce, expensive and prestigious import commodities is no doubt one of the roads to corruption in the society.

Over the years, the country has seen its wealth withered with little to show in living conditions of the average people. As with many other African nations, Nigeria was an artificial structure initiated by former colonial powers which had neglected to consider religious linguistic and ethnic differences.

The causes of Nigeria Civil War were diverse although, in his memoir, journalist Alex Mitchell blames involvement of the British, Dutch, French and Italian oil companies whose battles for the rich Nigerian oil fields started the Civil War and kept it going. Nigerian’s political problems also started from the manner in which the British took over power, administered and abandoned government and people of Nigeria. The British administrators did not make effort to weld the country together and unite the heterogenous group of people. Though many technologies we have today are due to their enlightenment.

Northern leaders however, fear that independence would mean political and economic domination by the more westernized elites in the south, preferred the perpetuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority.

The politicians and military rulers blame one another for a bad government no one agrees that the other is better than himself. Emeka Nwabueze is of the opinion that, the question is not whether we should wage war against corruption or not, my quarrel is that the fight should be waged within the context of the constitution. Several opinions hold that Nigerian political and economic underdevelopment since independence has been as a result of pervasive corrupt practices in both private and public fields: Nepotism which means favouratism granted in politics or business to relatives regardless of merit.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Political Corruption and Symbolism in Adichie Chimamanda Ngozis Half of a Yellow Sun.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that political corruption is the abuse of political powers by the government leaders to extract and accumulate for private gain. Corruption has eaten deep into the system and has destroyed lives and communities and undermines countries and institutions. The legacy and practices of corruption in different level of ethnic groups leads to war which leaves painful memory behind. The attempt to create a common understanding has led to the research of this study.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Political Corruption and Symbolism in Adichie Chimamanda Ngozis Half of a Yellow Sun. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the issues were readers find it difficult to identify the presence of symbols in Nigerian fiction;
2. To investigate the ways to prevent political corruption and effect the change;
3. To identify the cause of political corruption and its consequences; and
4. To proffer solution to the above stated problem of political corruption effect.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the ways to prevent political corruption and effect the change?
• What is the problem of political corruption effect?
• What is the cause of political corruption and its consequences?
• What are the issues were readers find it difficult to identify the presence of symbols in Nigerian fiction?

1.6 Significance of Study

This research paper will help inform readers who have interest in political corruption and symbolism with the help of using Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie Chimamanda and Okey Ndibe's Arrows of Rain. This work will expose how the governments corrupt the society, what happened before, during and after the Biafran War and military rule and how it affected the live of the masses.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Political Corruption and Symbolism in Adichie Chimamanda Ngozis Half of a Yellow Sun.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

1.10 Research Methodology

The main sources of this project are the factual analysis of the two novels Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie and Arrows of Rain by Okey Ndibe. Other sources of research are from the library, texts, the internet, Journal and reviews of related texts.