The residual effects of colonialism on transformation in Africa: A post-colonial study of Ayi Kwei Armah’s the Beautyful Ones are not yet Born

Abstract

The political transition from absolutism to democratization in African societies forced many countries on the continent to redress the past colonial rulership’s wrongs and destruction. After taking reigns from the colonialists, the democratic leadership in various parts of Africa set out to rebuild the continent. This initiative meant rehabilitating the African continent and liberating her from colonial identities. It is during the colonial period that severe conditions were imposed upon African natives and their aboriginal identities marginalized. Today, under autonomous incumbency, Africa is still menaced by colonial vestiges that hinder it from progressing socio-politically and economically. Thus, this qualitative paper aims to probe the colonial legacies in today’s Africa and their impact on the continent’s transformation from a literary perspective. This noted, Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born serves as a primary source of data and a lens through which the residual effects of colonialism on transformation in the African continent are scrutinized. The paper found that the continent is still grappling with socio-political and economic maladies such as inequality, poverty, unemployment and corruption due to the colonial influence that is still predominant in post-colonial Africa among other causes.