CURRENTS IN AFRICAN LITERATURE 
AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 1 2020
CALEL
CURRENTS IN AFRICAN LITERATURE AND THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 1 
2020
ISSN 1597-3611
Copyrights © CALEL
Department of English and Literary Studies, 
University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
ISSN 1597-3611
Published by
University of Calabar Press 
Calabar -  Nigeria.
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CONTENTS
Editorial v
African Literature, the English language, and Emerging
Diasporas: A Keynote Address 1
Ogo A. Ofuani
The Diaspora and the Future of African Literature 22
Sule E. Egya
Anthropomorphism and Biblical Literacy: Aids to Conceptualizing 
the Nature of God 37
Sunday Tasen Okune & Godwin Oko Ushie
“I don’t send anybody”: Slang, Language Choice, and Resistance in 
Select Nigerian Novels 52
Daniel Udo
Memory in Selected Poems of Antjie Krog 68
Ifeyinwa Odimma
Expose Theatre: African-American Drama and Social Revolution in 
Bullms’ Clara’s Ole Man and in the Wine Time 80
Nwaiwu, Mishael C.
English Language Learning and the Challenges of Mechanical
Accuracy among Selected Secondary School Students in
Delta State, Nigeria 97
Daniel E. Ekoro & Michael Gunn
Modern African Child and Agency for Decolonisation in
Select Nigerian Novels 113
Akinsete, Charles Tolulope
“Don’t look at him down there”: Euphemism as Politeness
Strategies in Select Nigerian Novels 123
Vero-Ekpris Gladstone Urujzian
IV
MODERN AFRICAN CHILD AND AGENCY FOR DECOLONISATION 
IN SELECT NIGERIAN NOVELS
Akinsete, Charles Tolulope 
Department of English, University of Ibadan 
tolu304@gmail.com
Abstract
The paper extends beyond the portrayal of Chukwuemeka Ike’s The Bottle 
Leopard as the postcolonial text which describes the colonialised African society 
and Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus as feminist text. It interrogates the 
stronghold of colonial mentality and disillusionment that characterises the 
Modem African child in the quest for self-assertion and search for identity. Due 
to the colonial encounter, the indigenous identity of the African child has suffered 
disapproving retrogression, resulting into lack of confidence in African values. 
This paper, therefore, argues that the Modem African child today is still a victim 
of colonialism and remains at a crossroad in the unending search for self- 
discovery. It submits that the African child has been neglected and foregrounds 
Ike’s stance that Western education, as well as Adichie’s reflections on effects of 
Western religion, though part of the development phases of Modem African 
child, cannot continue to inhibit indigenous African ways of life.
Keywords: Modem African child, Decolonisation, Identity Reconstruction, Self- 
assertion, Postcolonialism
Introduction
The study of child characters in novels has underscored great significance across 
literatures from different cultures. From the perspective of first-person narrative 
technique, the child character has been known to generate convincing ambience 
of innocence, credibility and transparency in any given story. Also, the stylistic 
import of bildungsroman, whereby the story requires both physical and 
psychological growth on the part of the protagonist, would have been impossible 
without the child character. Hence, whether as a narrative technique or style, the 
use of child character has no doubt added legendary flavour to the literary 
expression of creative writers across the world.
However, the literary import of the African child goes beyond the above- 
mentioned categories. African writers have spawned out accurate reflections of 
African experiences as a result of colonisation. Ben Okri’s Famished Road is a 
quintessential specimen. Through the naive eyes of the young Ozoro, the novel 
presents a broad view about the socio-cultural, political and thematic
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preoccupations, prevalent in post-colonial Nigeria. It captures the historical 
moments, economic and political situation of the country. The narration 
continues with imageries of destruction, poverty, pain, sorrow, sickness, 
struggles, uncertainty, unemployment, worries, and finally, death.
Before Okri’s novel, there are other examples of novels across the world 
that portray child character for varied reasons. Examples include Camara Laye’s 
The African Child, Alex Haley’s Roots and in fact Charles Dicken’s renowned 
eponymous fiction, Oliver Twist. These novels’ successes today stem from the 
creative enterprise of the child character. Beyond style and technique, the child 
character is indeed “a powerful agent through which salient themes, such as 
poverty, brutality, alienation, religion and politics are surveyed” (John Mugubi, 
2012). This research, therefore, interrogates the disillusionment that characterizes 
the Modem African child in the unending quest for self-assertion and search for 
identity as a result of the overbearing influence of the colonial encounter. 
Through critical analysis, it engages two renowned texts, Chukwuemeka Ike’s 
The Bottle Leopard and Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus in portraying 
the need for continuous process of decolonisation through the eyes of the novels’ 
protagonists.
Modern African Child and De-colonising the Mind
Many critics have attested to the notion that the connubial association between 
African culture and Western civilisation indeed gave rise (and is still giving) to 
myriads of more complex socio-political problems and economic glitches that 
presently have adverse effect on contemporary African societies. Among these, 
some have indeed furiously argued out their points at deep structure levels of 
African cosmology, which encompass significant phases such religion, 
philosophy, governance, morality, arts and literature. In the aspect of literature, 
which is relevant to the objective of this paper, Simon Gikandi, for instance, 
laments this union which he labelled as “traumatic” (54), while insisting that the 
exclusivity of African literature have been shredded by the illusory benefit of 
colonialism. He states:
But what is now considered to be the heart of literary scholarship 
on the continent (Africa) could not have acquired its current 
identity or function if the traumatic encounter between Africa and 
Europe had not taken place. Not only were the founders of 
modem African literature colonial subjects, but colonialism was 
also to be the most important and enduring theme in their works. 
(54)
114
In other words, the blooming African literature (beginning from the twentieth 
century) is premised on the diverse experiences of colonialism, which many 
African authors are forcefully subjected to. Just like literature, other significant 
arrays of indigenous African presence have become grossly more of a shadow of 
themselves, while others, especially when considering the aspect of African 
languages, are fast dying out, given the overwhelming ascendency of European 
influence. Against this backdrop, Viswanathan opines that British colonial 
administrators provoked by missionaries on the one hand and afraid of native 
insubordination on the other, discovered an ally in English literature to support 
them in maintaining control of the natives under the guise of a liberal education. 
(17) Tyson also rightly affirms that, “colonial ideology, which is inherently 
Eurocentric, was a pervasive force ... to inculcate British culture and values in 
the indigenous peoples and thereby forestall rebellion.” (421)
Despite the fact that this claim is not geared towards discrediting Chinua 
Achebe’s rational assertion which allows syncretism of Western civilisation and 
the African culture, the point here is that much attention, perhaps too much, is 
still being paid to Western idiosyncrasy, much to the detriment of the African 
indigenous values. And the result, for several decades since the unhallowed 
amalgamation, has remained unalterable; as Tyson had subsequently reaffirmed 
that the plan was quite successful which led to the creation of colonial subjects. 
And as such, certain colonial individual did not resist colonial subjugation due to 
the fact that they were educated to believe in British supremacy. This 
consequentially promotes their own sense of inferiority. Suffice to say that the 
aftermath of postcolonialism remains the bedrock of African literature today and 
its tenacious grip on socio-political realities on the continent further entrenches 
the de-formation of African identity.
While sustaining the above-mentioned fact, Kehinde posits further that, 
“the present-day African society is one that has the dominance of Western 
influence in almost all the areas of her political life.” (301) It is however believed 
that the adjective “political” in this statement unduly assuaged the extent of the 
damage, or undermined the gravity of Western ‘corruption’ in almost every 
sphere of African worldview. Perhaps Kehinde realises this, and asserts in the 
following statement that “the indigenous traditions that existed before Western 
civilisation have now been relegated to the backstage, and their popularity which 
naturally ought to be the “home” of traditions has waned significantly.” (302) It 
is this cogent matter, among others* that Chukwuemeka Ike addresses in his well- 
known novel, The Bottled Leopard. On the other hand, it is the consequence of 
this oversight that Ike has subtly foregrounded in this novel, which invariably 
also becomes the thrust of this paper.
Reading through this novel, it is difficult to ignore the quagmire of 
postcolonial identity as emphasised in the characterisation of Ugochukwu Amobi.
115
Ike’s credibility as a writer is no doubt hinged on his distinct sensitivity to the 
identity crisis generated during the early postcolonial era in Africa, particularly 
from the position of postcolonial African child. His unflinching reflection of this 
societal problem buttresses the unquestionable belvedere of the writer. There is 
no doubt here that Eke has truly justified the words of Breyten Breytenbach, in his 
essay, “The Writer and Responsibility” (48) which underscores the point that “the 
writer’s basic commitment is to the integrity of his own work”. Ike’s integrity lies 
in his ability to recognise and voice out on the postcolonial identity challenges 
affecting the Modem Africa Child. The question is, why just the child?
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie is arguably one of the most 
popular literary texts in contemporary times due to its literary versatility as well 
as thematic veracity in relation to contemporary Nigerian sequence of events. 
While the novel exemplifies discourses on feminism, politics, oppression and 
disillusionment, family disintegration, religious hypocrisy and forces of 
colonialism, this essay focuses on trope of colonial identity, as earlier described 
by Tyson. Moreover, the presence/perspective of the children Kambili, the 
protagonist cum narrator and her brother Jaja, which draws parallel to Amobi, 
further presses home the notion of colonial identity in this essay. These young 
characters, in these respective narratives, are symbolic representations of the 
Modem African child and the challenges he/she faces as a result of continuous 
entrenchment of the colonial mentality.
It is surely important to note that different levels of African society, 
starting from families, communities, partisan groups to industries and multi-level 
organisations today are, directly or indirectly, facing and/or struggling with 
generational aftermaths of Western dominance. But of all these groups, the 
African child remains the ultimate victim. His/Her young existence reflects a 
mental imbalance that is often ignored or treated with pitiful levity. With the 
world getting warmer, the already weakened ice under his/her tired feet is getting 
thinner. Soon, he/she will be plunged into deep and cold waters of ignorance, 
with every trace of his/her inherent humanity replaced by an alien culture he/she 
would neither never understand nor boldly acknowledged.
Modern African Child, Colonial Mentality and Identity Reconstruction: A 
Critique of Selected Texts
Ugochukwu Amobi, the protagonist of the novel, serves as a quintessential 
representation of the identity quagmire of the African child, more as a result of 
objectionable regimentation of Eurocentric views over African beliefs. This is 
revealed in the early parts of the novel when Amobi’s unrelenting curiosity about 
his ancestral beliefs remains opaque. His lack of understanding about his 
indigenous society is so frustrating that he had to make a swift decision before he
116
is overhauled by his ignorance in a culture that birthed him, before he becomes a 
victim of himself. The text reveals: “He made a resolution. He would take 
advantage of his entry into Government College to get full facts about leopards 
and their ‘possessors’. From the little he had seen of the college, there could be 
no mystery beyond the powers of the learned masters... (6)”. Therefore, a critical 
analysis of the character, Amobi, is the premise of this paper, in his search for his 
place in a transcendental African cosmology.
In a similar vein, the novel, Purple Hisbiscus, opens with a negative 
profession of discord in the family by the protagonist, Kambili. “Things started 
falling apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa 
flung his heavy missal across the room.” (1) The conflict in the novel can be said 
to have begun between Jaja and his father, Papa Eugene. Immediately, the reader 
is drawn into the theme of religious hypocrisy and oppression. In fact, critics are 
outright on pinning Jaja’s rebellion as against Papa Eugene. This essay extends 
on that assertion, arguing that it is more of a rebellion against flaming embers of 
colonial mentality, in which Papa Eugene is simply a casualty. Therefore, the 
pervasive force of oppression is not the character Papa Eugene. After all, he is 
noted for his humanitarian gestures and also recognised as a role model in the 
community. He takes care of his people and is overly generous. While Papa 
Eugene remains demonised in many quarters, little attention is paid to the agency 
of colonialism as the key albatross to the deformation, disintegration and 
desecration of the family as an important part of the African society.
Two queries remain pertinent to the overall discourse of the Modem 
African child. First, what is the evidence that the Modem African child is 
considered to be the most affected when it comes to colonial indoctrination? The 
evidence lies in the process of learning, knowledge gained and/or experience 
garnered that would foster and/or improve on the survival of the said child, in 
whatever environment he or she inhabits. In an attempt to explicate further, the 
principal excerpt from Gikandi’s “African Literature and the Colonial Factor” 
would again be most beneficial.
But what is considered to be the heart of literary 
scholarship on the continent could not have acquired its 
current (unstable) identity or function if the traumatic 
encounter between Africa and Europe had not taken place. 
Not only were the founders of modem African literature 
colonial subjects, but colonialism was also to be the most 
important and enduring theme in their works... the 
colonial situation shaped what it meant to be an African 
writer (teacher), shaped the language of African writing, 
and over determined the culture of letters in Africa.
117
Simply put, the Modem African child now depends solely on Western 
literacy (alphabetic writing and reading) for the acquisition of knowledge about 
his immediate environment. With language comes the subjective interpretation of 
culture, philosophy, religion ideology and so on. But the real challenge lies in the 
teachers (founders and writers) who, according to Gikandi, were also slaves to 
the overwhelming colonial situation. In the attempt to adapt to the over exegesis 
of the Western civilisation, these African custodians of knowledge have chosen 
to ignore or, more succinctly, continually relegated to the background the African 
ideology and philosophy (as contained in its cultural practices) which remain the 
key to identity development for contemporary African Child.
The second query, which is probably more significant, questions the 
capacity level of the African child in upholding the native tenets of his/her root? 
This question would be first considered, with reference to the modest ideology 
that governs a well-known universal paradox which calmly states that “the egg is 
the father of the cock”. Simply put, the African Child ultimately becomes the 
custodian of the different levels of African society, reiterated thus: family, 
government, and so on. Given the initial irrationality accorded to paradoxes in 
general, one may argue choose to argue that the egg is always the by-product of 
the procreative actions of any given cock, hence the egg remains a lesser entity. 
Be that as it may, the argument here fervently buttresses the cyclical order in the 
relationship between the egg and the cock, whereby the egg naturally comes first 
before the cock! Against this backdrop, the Modem African child ought to come 
first, especially in relation to the internalisation of his customs and traditions, that 
are eventually transferred to successive generations.
Alex Haley, the African American writer of the renowned novel, Roots, 
recognises the import of this crucial step towards identity construction, as 
emphasised during the naming ceremony of the principal character, Kunta Kinte. 
The import of his writer pinpoints the significance of the African child and 
equally foregrounds the import of African values being essentially indoctrinated 
into the African youth right from infanthood. The text speaks;
Out under the moon and the stars, alone with his son that 
eighth night, Omoro completed the naming ritual. Carrying 
little Kunta in his strong arms, he walked to the edge of the 
village, lifted his baby up with his face to the heavens and 
said softly, “Fend filing dorong leh warrata ka iteh tee.” 
(behold -  the only thing greater than yourself) (3)
The confidence instilled in Kunta (right from his unconscious state as an 
infant) which lasted the period of his childhood until he was carried off by slave 
masters never left him. As a slave survivor, it was that identity consciousness that
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propelled his longevity amidst horrendous struggles. The point here is an 
immediate contrast to Amobi, who despite being close to home still lacked the 
capacity to understand his existence in a less harsh, complex world than the one 
Kunta faced. One way or the other, the Modem African Child lacks the 
propensity to understand his world, compared to the pre-literate African child 
(such an Kunta Kinte) who was properly ‘educated’ with essential Africa societal 
norms and values.
Ike’s The Bottle Leopard remains one of the sacrosanct African literary 
works which amplify the creed of colonialism. And so, it is typical to align the 
writer’s response with other postcolonial African writers, the likes of Ngugi wa 
Thiongo, Elechi Amadi, Mongo Beti, Frank Chipasula, Nadine Gordimer, Tsitsi 
Danarembga, and of course Chinua Achebe, to mention but a few. Majority of 
the works of these writers aptly replicate the collective theme of colonisation and 
its adverse effect. However, Chukwuemeka Ike’s choice of the African child as a 
direct recipient of colonial indoctrination remains the driving force of this study.
To begin with, the common tenet of double consciousness initiates the 
template for colonisation. This term is said to have been coined by W.E.B. 
DuBois, as reflected in his article “Strivings of the Negro People.” This essay 
was later republished and the title was changed to read “Of Our Spiritual 
Strivings”, the first essay among the collection of fourteen essays in his famed 
book, The Souls o f Black Folk. According to DuBois, “it is a peculiar sensation, 
this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the 
eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in 
amused contempt and pity.” (2) Here, DuBois predicts the birth of internally 
generated conflict as a result of a psychological imbalance in the status quo of 
identity construction.
Amobi clearly falls under this category. But not only him but the entire 
group of new students who witnessed a physically horrendous initiation 
ceremony at the Government College School. Apart from the new students being 
made to drink urine, they are coerced to address themselves publicly in a manner 
that it is deplorable by all standards. In fact, these denigrating recitations do much 
more than that. Amobi is made to publicly denounce himself, together with his 
indigenous ways of life, described as ‘stinking’, ‘rustic’ and ‘outlandish’. Clearly, 
these words are not far from Joseph Conrad’s description of Africa.
I come from the bush village of Onitsha, ...where people 
eat toads for supper. I am a fag, stinking fag. I am, like all 
fags, to be seen, not heard. As from this day, I promise to 
discard all my rustic and outlandish behavior and to 
become a worthy student of this great college. (10)
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These confessions, as detailed in the novel, foreground the premise for 
self-alienation, and displacement. They further deconstruct the formation of 
Africa’s home-grown identity and also irreparably retrogress the psychological 
and philosophical awareness of indigenous values and practices peculiar to their 
ancestral birth. Ike recognises this adversity in Amobi who “emerged from the 
ceremony totally dejected and confuse. Never in his life had he been made to feel 
so out of place for coming from a rural village”. (10) In the end, he rises to the 
occasion, even more determined to investigate one of the most intriguing 
indigenous African phenomena that does not just articulate his African history 
but further shapes his African personality.
Other critics have also attempted the definition of the notion ‘double 
consciousness. Tyson’s (1999) definition addresses this term as “a consciousness 
or a way of perceiving the world that is divided between two antagonistic 
cultures: that of the coloniser and that of the indigenous community”. Again, 
one’s mind cannot escape the instantaneous psychological delineation that these 
new boys experienced at the initiation ceremony. Although the words of the 
Fag’s Pledge from the master of ceremonies generate appreciable measure of 
comedy, it is expedient to expose the adverse effect of the colonial nuances in the 
words. The use of words such as “bush boy”, “fat pig” and other expletives do 
have a socio-cultural implication and as well deconstructs the very identity that 
roadmaps the African child more as a victim of his own circumstance, albeit his 
birthplace, language and race. These are the trails that mark the beginning of 
colonisation and the gradual rejection of African heritage in the consciousness of 
the modem African child.
In addition, Purple Hisbiscus introduces the quagmire of modem African 
children in foregrounding their sense of identity within the purview of colonial 
indoctrination. The novel begins with the reflection of colonial indoctrination, 
whereby the conundrums or conflicts in the narrative start with the unanticipated 
refusal of Jaja, the narrator’s brother, in succumbing to religious indoctrination 
borne out of sheer hypocrisy. Kambili’s description of Father Benedict’s open 
denigration of the Igbo language and duplicitous admiration of Bro Eugene could 
not have been missed by Jaja. His quietness in the novel is certainly not a 
coincidence. On the contrary, he is in fact a brilliant chap whose calm disposition 
is as a result of deep meditation and critical reasoning. And when Papa (Bro 
Eugene) demanded why he didn’t go to communion, his articulation reveals his 
disdain for Father Benedict’s colonial indoctrination. Jaja’s response was a 
reaction against colonial suppression; his unyielding resolution was a conscious 
effort towards decolonisation. “The wafer (holy communion) gives me bad 
breathe... And the priest keeps touching my mouth and it nauseates me (6).”
And when Papa Eugene responded, it was with the garment of a colonial 
ruler, who, according to Frantz Fanon, abuses his son with the privileges of
120
colonial power. He immediately threatens Jaja with the immediacy of death. But 
Jaja’s response to colonial pressure was emphatic. “Then, I will die... Then, I 
will die, Papa” (6/7). Here, Adichie strongly projects the absolute necessity for 
decolonisation for Africa, as seen through the eyes of Jaja. She toes the like of 
Ike in foregrounding the colonial victimisation of the modem African child who, 
at the cost of rejection of colonialism, sfruggle at the periphery of societal 
tolerability and acceptability.
Conclusion
The Modem African child today is still much of a victim of colonialism and 
remains at a crossroad in the unending search for self-discovery. This assertion 
remains the thrust in this paper, as the two colonial victims, Ugochukwu Amobi 
and Jaja, struggle to discern, comprehend and control themselves in a complex 
world that keeps them perpetually confused about truth and reality. The novel in 
a way pontificates at the overbearing influence of Western empiricism over 
sacrosanct phases of African philosophy. As exemplified in Amobi, many 
African children today not only disregard their native culture, but also lack 
enough capacity to understand their roots, given the complexities that besiege the 
Modem African societies. This paper submits that an insurrection of African 
values must serve as necessary extension to Western education. It is only then 
that Modem African Child can fully understand as well as retain the African 
identity in the face of globalisation.
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