No Longer at Ease

As a university student in London, Obi had analyzed his arguments that Nigeria’s public service would remain corrupt until young, educated men assumed positions in administration.

During his job interview at the Public Service Commission, consisting of two Europeans and four Africans, Obi talks with the chairman, an Englishman, about literature. The fourth member, a Nigerian and the only representative of Nigeria’s third state, is asleep throughout Obi’s interview. At the end of the process, he asks Obi if he wants the job to receive bribes. Obi becomes furious and dismisses the question.

Joseph tells him he should not get angry, because he needs work. Obi calls this a “colonial mentality” (22). Joseph says he is getting married and has paid a “bride price.” Obi says he would never pay for a wife.

Obi travels to Umuofia. During the trip, a policeman stops the wagon and asks for the driver’s papers. The driver attempts to bribe him. Obi looks at the policeman who rejects the bribe, afraid he might be a government official. Obi tells the driver that the policeman had no right to take a bribe. He realizes that the driver’s partner had run back to the policeman to bribe him in private.