"All post-colonial societies are still subject in one way or another to overt or subtle forms of neo-colonial domination, and independence has not solved the problem" (Ashcroft 2).
After colonialism, new elites, often in the form of dictators, frequently rose and still rise to power in post-colonial countries. In Chinua Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah, Ikem complains about countrymen worse than thieves,
"leaders who openly looted our treasury, whose effrontery soiled our national soul" (Achebe 39).
Ikem refers not to the white strangers but rather to Africans who have ruled with policies similar to those of colonial oppression. With the British empire gone, African societies must look inward to find remnants of colonialism which continue to harm their nations, and perhaps, find those which are advantageous in the new world they have been thrust into. Ikem's speech directed to all Nigerians rather than to any particular class pleads,
"you must develop the habit of skepticism, not swallow every piece of superstition you are told by witch doctors and professors... When you rid yourself of these things your potentiality for assisting and directing this nation will be quadrupled" (Achebe 148).
Part of the danger of the term post-colonial stems from people's disregard of their responsibility for their situation. As Ikem notes in his speech, people prefer to blame other groups, perhaps even post-colonialism, for their problems and rarely comprehend that only they can help themselves.Too much has changed to simply revert to the old ways of life. New problems exist and will continue to do so unless one can learn to deal them in the modern context. Blaming post-colonial syndrome for the ills of developing countries sentences those countries to continue in their state of hardship. Rewinding the clock to prevent colonialism from occurring is impossible, so we must look at each issue now, in the modern context, as a separate problem ...
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