ABSTRACT
This paper is focused on post-independence disillusionment in A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe. The aim of this research is to explore and showcase the squalor and the propensity to consume by the post- independence elites who took over political offices after the colonial masters had gone and the after math of their own style of leadership and the effects it has on the masses who put them there willingly believing that they would deliver on their promises. The objective of this study also is to portray how this cankerworm known as corruption is innate in man, both rich and poor. Everybody wants to eat from another in any slightest opportunity available. The problems of this study looked at how corruption, overzealousness, greediness and changes in the political system can cause post -independence disillusionment in the political acclaimed self-rulership from the colonial masters. The framework was on Karl Max’s Marvist theory which was very suitable for the study considering its political undertone. The research methodology included both primary and secondary sources. The primary data which was the text itself and the secondary was from scholarly works and internet sources and academic and personal libraries. It was discovered through our research that this novel written by Chinua Achebe was like a prophetic novel in the sense that after its publication, the Nigerian Biafra civil war took place due to bad leadership and in the novel, the post-independence leaders in the novel were overthrown due to the same reason mentioned above. The conclusion was able to bring out the overall thematic pre-occupation of the novel, which is the propensity to consume by the political elites and the erupt promises they made to the masses that voted them into power and the political tussle among the elites not forgetting man wickedness against his fellow man. The research went further to discuss corruption and its effect on the masses.
