Treatment of corruption in Festus Iyayi's 'The Contract'

Academic Paper from the year 2008 in the subject Literature - Africa, , language: English, abstract: Corruption has been considered endemic to Nigeria. How do Nigerian literary artists depict this social illness in their literary works? This article examines the treatment of corruption in Iyayi's 'The Contract'. The discourse focuses on the social levels at which corruption is manifested and the effects of corruption on individuals and the society as depicted in the novel. The results will indicate that the novel exposes some identified social ills which become endemic when political and institutional leaders put aside their responsibilities of nation building and succumb to the lure of lucre. Specifically, the leaders depicted in this novel use the awards of contracts ostensibly for nation building as blinds for corrupt self-enrichment and embezzlements of public funds.

Brief Biography of Dr. Abdullahi Haruna (Ph.D) Dr. Abdullahi Haruna was born on 13th January, 1969 in the village of Wuyaku, Hawul Local Government Area of Borno state of Nigeria. He attended Wuyaku Primary School in 1975 and finished in 1981. He proceeded to the Comprehensive Secondary School Waka Biu in 1981 and completed in 1986. He went to the College of Education Gashua for his NCE (Nigeria Certificate in Education) in September, 1987 and completed in June 1990. He taught English in secondary schools between 1991 and 1995 before proceeding for his first degree in English between 1996 and 1999. He enrolled for his Master's Degree in English (African Literature) in 2000 and graduated in 2014. He took up an appointment with the Borno State House of Assembly as a Senior Legislative Officer and Personal Assistant to the Honourable Speaker in 2014. He left the House of Assembly in October 2015 when he was offered the post of an Assistant Lecturer with the Federal University of Technology, Yola (presently, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola). He obtained his PhD in English (African Literature) in 2014. Presently, Dr. Abdullahi Haruna is a Senior Lecturer of English in the Department of English, School of General Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria. He has published several poems and papers on African literature. He is married with a good number of children.