“That road to a remedy of Nigeria’s political problems will not come easily. The key, as I see it, lies in the manner in which the leadership of the country is selected. When I refer to leadership I am really talking about leaders at every level of government and sphere of society, from the local government council and governors right up to the presidency. What I am calling for is for Nigeria to develop a version of campaign election and campaign finance reform, so that the country can transform its political system from the grassroots level right through to the national party structures at the federal level. Nigerians will have to find a way to do away with the present system of godfatherism—an archaic, corrupt practice in which individuals with lots of money and time to spare (many of them half-baked, poorly educated thugs) sponsor their chosen candidates and push them right through to the desired political position, bribing, threatening, and, on occasion, murdering any opposition in the process.”
More from Chinua Achebe
“Even when there was strong disagreement, one had to remember to be discordant with…”
“Whether the rendezvous of separate histories will take place in a grand, harmonious…”
“In the end millions (some state upward of three million, mostly children) had died, mainly…”
“Our humanity is contingent on the humanity of our fellows. No person or group can be human…”