Corruption as a Consequence of Colonialism - as portrayed in Achebe’s T

Corruption as a Consequence of Colonialism - as portrayed in Achebes The African TrilogyAll quotations are interpreted from the 1988 Picador edition of Chinua Achebes The African Trilogy He has put a spit on all the things that held us together and we have fallen aside (Things Fall Apart, 145)The things that held the Igbo tribe together were their close bonds of clan kinship, unified homage to their gods, and their democratic society. These were the very things that the English set out to attack, to put a knife on. Once they began this process, Igbo society was never to be the uniform again. Chinua Achebes The African Trilogy, while an clear piece of lit ageture in its own right, can also be read as an excellent historical account of this process. This essay concerns the responses of Achebes fictional characters to the very existing actions taken by the British in their efforts to pacify Nigeria, focusing on one aspect of this effort - the policy of creating Warrant Chiefs and t he subsequent era of corruption. The instigation of Warrant Chiefs in Nigeria was a matter of necessity for the British and a source of bewilderment for the Nigerians. The British could not have governed in any other way - English officials demanded high salaries and frequent leave, and were emotionally and psychologically ill-equipped to deal with this new culture. The colonial budget could sole(prenominal) afford a limited number of them. The success of colonization depended to a large exten...