Forty years since its publication, Ernest Nweke believes that if there was ever a ‘right’ man to write any particular book, then Achebe is the man, and The Trouble with Nigeria is the book. What makes this book stand out is its boldness in speaking truth to power.
In 1983, after over 20 years of bloodshed, flagrant corruption, military rule and pockets of intertribal conflicts and massacres that drowned the progress of post-independence Nigeria, it was unequivocally clear there was something wrong with Nigeria. It was not something in her Niger or Benue rivers or any of her waters, neither was it something in the air cascading her rainforests and sprawling fields, because even in the chaos of the madness that was a troubled Nigeria, there were still patches of order and beauty in her topography and sanity in some of her people. Therefore, to answer the question, ‘What is really wrong with Nigeria?’ Nigerian writer and literary giant, Chinua Achebe, wrote a little book in 1983.
Published 40 years ago, The Trouble with Nigeria by Chinua Achebe recognizes the principal drawback Nigeria faces to be a failure in leadership. According to Achebe, Nigeria was the way it was because Nigerian leaders were unwilling or unable to lead by personal example...