CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Using the dual perspectives of post-colonial and neo-colonial studies, this paper portions the traumatizing impact of the neo-colonialist leadership on Africa and Africa’s creative writers, as a strand of the continent’s intellectual class striving for genuine independence. It shows the African writer as frequents site for the classless in the struggle by post-colonialist Africans, to wrest true independence from the grip of neo-colonialist leadership. It further traces this rift to the realities of Western capitalism’s predatory dominations of Africa, which began with the brutalizing commodification of Africans as slaves, was followed by the arbitrary creation of unworkable states, and now has reincarnated in neo-colonialism’s garb, and submits that the true and lasting peace and harmony can be achieved by the human race, only if Western capitalism and advances in science and technology are aligned with the pre-industrial, pre-capitalist and pre-racialist human values.

 The Concept of Neo-Colonialism- Definition of Terms

Concept

The term, “Concept” is traced back to 1550 – 1560, derived from a Latin word, conceptum, meaning something conceived. But what is today termed “Concepts” is used in mainstream cognitive science and philosophy of mind. It is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, sometimes defined as a unit of knowledge, built from other units which act as a concept’s characterizes.

 It can also be defined as a general idea derived or inferred from specific instances or occurrences something formed in the mind, a thought or notion.

Neo-Colonialism

Neo-Colonialism is a term which is commonly used in a variety of academic literature, dealing with the history of the capitalist system, its expansion and contemporary world affairs.

 The term is originally derived from a contrast made by V.I. Lenin in a pamphlet entitled “Imperialism”, which was originally published in 1939. His contrast was between direct political domination through force of arms and “domination by extra political means”. Early colonialism characterized the period from the beginnings of the age of European exploration and expansion to the gaining of granting independence to former colonies. It essentially involved the imposition of centralized political rule upon non-western peoples, using various means of direct political compulsion.

 Neocolonialism refers to the continued domination of former colonies using extra political or commercial means. In other words, though is a continuation of the same process of exploitation and assimilation, it operates not through the application of military might or legislative power, but through economic compulsion.

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