Arrow of God is a metaphor for the tension, animosity and disunity already beginning to divide the young nation. Signs of disunity manifested strongly in vices such as tribalism, nepotism, religious intolerance, abuse or misuse of power, bribery and corruption. It seemed that the young nation was already heading for trouble, following the acrimony visible in the way politics was played and the struggle to control the centre, for whoever controlled the centre controlled power in the parliamentary system that was operated. Nigeria needed leaders with vision to steer the ship of state out of rocky waters and direct it on the right course. Lyn Innes describes the time Arrow of God was written as a period “when the political rivalries in newly independent Nigeria made the question of responsible leadership an urgent one” (82). A similar drama seems to be re-enacted in the novel which is filled with political, religious, racial, personal, interpersonal and familial tensions that bring divisions, mental and psychological trauma and even tragedy to the different families, villages, communities and groups.

Achebe seems to imply that the struggle for power at different levels of individual and communal interaction by people of different beliefs, orientations and backgrounds would more often than not generate crisis and conflict which could cause a lot of physical, mental and spiritual harm to those concerned and even others who are under their authority. Arrow of God displays an array of powerful and relatively powerful people at different levels such as the family, the community, the towns and the British colonial administration.  These people who are in leadership positions at various locations and forums consciously or unconsciously try to exercise power and authority in what can be regarded as their spheres of influence.

Two key terms used in this paper are “power” and “leadership”. How are they related? Are they different? If yes, what is the difference between power and leadership? It is possible to think that power comes with leadership or that it is power that leads to leadership. It is also possible to equate one with the other and thus consider them as synonymous. We will attempt to differentiate them though.

Power manifests when you force someone into doing things even against their will. They are compelled to do it for the benefit of the one in power. This type of power is negative and derives from bad leadership. It is also a sign of negative leadership. It is the type of power exercised by some notorious past leaders such as Adolph Hitler of Germany, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Idi Amin of Uganda and Sanni Abacha of Nigeria.

Leadership and power are related but differ in some ways. John Maxwell defines leadership as influence. Leadership is getting people to do what is needed by gaining respect from followers without coercion. They do it because they believe that they are doing it for the good of all even if the leader who inspires them stands to gain personally from their action because they know he or she is sincere and is worth it. It can be positive or negative. Good leadership translates to power being used positively. Some individuals possess leadership qualities while others develop them with time by associating with others. Some of the world’s greatest leaders of the modern age include Winston Churchill of Britain, George Washington of the United States of America and particularly Mahatma Gandhi of India and Nelson Mandela of South Africa.  These are leaders who demonstrated to people that they were responsible and would do the right thing. Such leaders had integrity and their people were willing to do whatever they wanted willingly and voluntarily. Unlike the first set of leaders mentioned above who went beyond the boundary of decency, moderation, wisdom and common sense, the latter group was guided by high moral probity, the spirit of self-sacrifice for the common good and the virtue of tolerance and humane feeling. The difference between the two groups of leaders rests squarely on the type of power they wielded or commanded. The former used force to make people do what they wanted while the latter were obeyed willingly and voluntarily by their followers. In other words, the former lacked good leadership skills and abused power while the latter possessed positive leadership attributes that ensured they did not misuse power.

In Arrow of God, Achebe explores the idea of leadership and the levels of power devolution in a community under foreign rule but at the same time experiencing internal squabbles and communal conflict with its neighbour. He demonstrates his sustained interest in the leadership question and the roles individuals play in society and the performance of people who control power at the personal, interpersonal, communal and administrative levels. We will examine the various locations in the novel where issues relating to leadership and power are highlighted, including the family (Ezeulu’s household and others), the community (Umuaro and the villages that make up the town as well as Okperi, their neighbour) and the British colonial administration controlled by colonial administrators such as the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, Captain Winterbottom, Tony Clarke and John Wright as well as the local people that work for them. We will extend our analysis to the roles played by religious leaders and the supernatural powers and their impacts on human relationships and the society.

It is our intention to examine the use and abuse of power by individuals, authorities and groups in ways that create conflict, tension and disaffection in the various locations, leading to disruptions of social life and societal order (in Umuaro and Okperi); the divisions in communal life (among the villages in Umuaro); the loss of spiritual and mental stability (by Ezeulu); the loss of life (Akukalia’s and Obika’s); and finally the loss of respect and credibility on the part of the colonial administration. We would be able to show that Arrow of God provides deep insights into the negative effect of poor leadership and the abuse of power in society, that Achebe affirms his vision that good leadership and proper management of power are indispensable to the well-being and development of the family, the community, societal institutions and the nation as a whole. Later he pursues this theme to its logical conclusion in subsequent works. “In the two novels that dealt with the failure of leadership among the political and military class – A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987) – Achebe predicts and illuminates the corruption and abuse of power the two power blocks symbolized” (Ezeigbo, “Artistic Creativity…”,14).

Power and leadership in the family

Perhaps there is no better place to start the examination of the workings of power and the impact and influence of leadership in Arrow of God than the family set-up. The family is the smallest unit in a community or nation and so is very crucial to the nurturing of individuals that will become future leaders. The family as well as the larger units such as the extended family and villages that make up Umuaro are deeply rooted in patriarchy and so the responsibility of making decisions or guiding the people is entirely left to heads of families and titled men. Whereas in Things Fall Apart women like Chielo, the priestess of Oracle of the Hills, occupy leadership positions, no single woman in Arrow of Godenjoys this privilege or responsibility.  The novel is thus Achebe’s critique of Igbo patriarchy. Oyekanmi has argued that “The result of the devaluation of female roles is the marginalization of women in all spheres of the society” (94).

In Arrow of God, the men wielded power in their families with ruthless abandon. For example, Ezeulu is an imperious leader in his home where his word is law, especially where the women and children are concerned. He constantly misuses power as head of the family. Whenever he addresses his wives, Matefi and Ugoye, he shouts at them and uses offensive and contemptuous expressions. When Matefi serves his supper late, he threatens her: “If you want that madness of yours to be cured, bring my supper at this time next time” (9). And when Ugoye tries to persuade him against his decision to send Oduche, their son, to the white man’s school, Ezulu retorts, “How does it concern you what I do with my sons?” (46). Ezeulu’s treatment of his children is almost as harsh as that of his wives. They live in mortal fear of him.

Patriarchy ensures the marginalization of women and children. The speech habits of powerful people are often forceful, harsh, threatening and violent (Ezeigbo, “Discordant Tongues”, 298).  Ezeulu’s excessive control of power and domineering attitude are sometimes extended to his sons as can be seen in his treatment of Edogo, his first son whom he despises and refers to as “cold ash” (53) simply because he is not aggressive or combative as his younger stepbrother, Obika. One is put off by the ways Ezeulu and other powerful heads of families and titled men like Ezidemili, Nwaka and Akukalia exercise authority and power. It is excessive, immoderate, immoral and unwholesome and shows a high level of abuse of power and poor leadership skills. It is beyond the boundary of decency in human relations and interactions and only humiliates and dehumanizes the other person. It also leads to dysfunctional familial relationship as it could breed fear, disaffection, hatred, conflict and alienation. We see traces of all these negative emotions and attitudes in members of Ezeulu’s family. Ezeulu is not humane or patient and his leadership style is structured to terrorize his family and by extension his people in the course of the novel.

Power and leadership in the community

As stated earlier, titled men, heads of families and priests of the local gods wield enormous power and authority in Umuaro. Chinyelu Ojukwu observes that “In the world of Arrow of God women are completely excluded from the politics of the village. They have no influence on their husbands who are active participants in the politics and governance of their people” (284). While the men had total control of power and authority in their various homes, they experience conflicts and challenges in the larger community. Lyn Innes tells us that “One of the main differences between Arrow of God and Things Fall Apart is the stress on complex relationships and rivalries, the jealous concern for status which influences almost every social contact in Arrow of God” (71). The conflict that we see in Ezeulu’s family which causes anger and resentment is even worse in the larger community of Umuaro. Throughout the novel, there is rivalry between Nwaka and Ezeulu and between Ezidemili and Ezeulu, and even between the various villages. According to the omniscient narrator, “few people from the one village would touch palm wine or kolanut which had passed through the hands of a man from the other” (38).

By virtue of his position as the chief priest of the powerful deity, Ulu, Ezeulu is a symbol of power and authority in the entire Umuaro community made up of six villages. A major cause of conflict in the Umuaro community is the struggle to control power between Ezeulu and Ezidemili on the one hand and Nwaka (Ezidemili’s friend and protégé) and Ezeulu on the other hand. It is significant that the three men are the most important and influential individuals in Umuaro, and their quarrel and the tussle for power would automatically divide the people, especially those loyal to them as well as those that belong to the same village as they.

Michel Foucault asserts that “Social power operates through a regime of privileged speakers. The words of these speakers are taken seriously (as opposed to the discourse of often silenced speakers such as women, minorities, children, prisoners). For human societies of all kinds, moral consideration seems to fall only within a circle of speakers in communion with one another” (Quoted in Christopher Manes’ “Nature and Silence” 16). The words of persons in control of social powers are taken seriously, yet they are often insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the less privileged, the ordinary people. This is the case with Nwaka, Ezidemili and, to some extent, Ezeulu in Arrow of God. Comparable examples are the Generals in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Sozaboy (1984) and Chief Iyase and Chief Idehen in Tess Onwueme’s The Reign of Wazobia (1986).

The interplay of power and character presents a very interesting study of power and leadership in the experience of Ezeulu. Ezeulu’s tragedy is his mental and psychological make-up. He combines in himself certain irreconcilable traits – integrity and pride; intelligence and imprudence; and aggression and endurance. These traits find it difficult to co-exist harmoniously in Ezeulu. In the passage below, Achebe portrays Ezeulu as a man intoxicated with power, a man obsessed with his self-importance:

Whenever Ezeulu considered the immensity of his power over the year and the crops and, therefore, over the people he wondered if it was real. It was true he named the day for the feast of the Pumpkin Leaves and for the New Yam feast; but he did not choose it. He was merely a watchman. His power was no more that the power of a child over a goat that was said to be his. As long as the goat was alive it could be his; he would find it food and take care of it, But the day it was slaughtered he would know soon enough who the real owner was. No! The chief priest of Ulu was more than that, must be more than that. If he should refuse to name the day there would be no festival – no planting and no reaping. But could he refuse? No Chief Priest had ever refused. So it could not be done. He would not dare.  

Ezeulu was stung to anger by this as though his enemy had spoken it.

‘Take away that word dare,’ he replied to his enemy. ‘Yes I say take it away. No  man in all Umuaro can stand up and say that I dare not. The woman who will bear  the man who will say it has not been born yet.’ (3-4)

In the egalitarian community in which Ezeulu operates – ‘a democratic community that recognizes no king’ (Igbo ama eze), it is either madness or the height of foolishness to think and speak the way Ezeulu has done in this monologue. He is going beyond the boundary of good sense or rationality and heading for disaster as events will later show. He forgets he is only the Chief Priest of Ulu and arrogates more powers to himself. He creates a situation whereby he becomes the one and only person to decide the fate of a whole clan. The omniscient narrator does instruct Ezeulu and by implication Nigeria “that no man however great was greater than his people; that no man ever won judgement against his clan” (287).

Indeed, the cause of Ezeulu’s downfall is pride and the overriding desire for vengeance against his people, against perceived enemies. No leader who is burdened with these double negative emotions will succeed. The lives of Mandela and Gandhi prove the veracity of this claim. These were leaders who courted humility and learned to forgive. Today they are revered all over the world. Ezeulu’s bitterness as he suffers in detention in Okperi and as he is beaten and soaked to the skin by rain whets his appetite for revenge, and magnifies his desire to punish his people. He considers his forced absence from home enough justification not to eat the sacred yams outside the normal schedule of one yam per month even though his people want him to do so.

The opposing perspectives of Ezeulu on one side and Ezidemili and Nwaka on the other give rise to constant tensions and rivalries in the Umuaro community. Innes rightly states that “Arrow of God is about the problem of authority and the related questions of whom or what to believe and follow” (73). Nwaka with the support of his mentor, Ezidemili, opposes Ezeulu in the case of the land dispute between Umuaro and Okperi, their neighbour. Ezeulu’s testimony that the land belongs to Okperi and that even the god, Ogwugwu (who held sway before Ulu) was a gift to Umuaro from Okperi are viewed as an insult by Nwaka and many other Umuaro men. All this naturally intensifies the conflict. Umuaro’s loss of the war that breaks out between the two towns is a humiliation many including Nwaka find difficult to bear. This development increases Ezeulu’s ‘enemies’ and casts a shadow over his authority. When, therefore, Winterbottom summons Ezeulu and he is detained, Umuaro men neither accompany their chief priest on his journey nor do they take concrete steps to ensure his release or return home. This abandonment riles Ezeulu and is responsible for his strong desire to punish his people. The pettiness exhibited by these leaders against one another is unnerving and unbecoming.

Ezeulu returns to a people eagerly waiting for him to eat the remaining sacred yams to enable them harvest their yams. To spite them and punish them for abandoning him, Ezeulu refuses to eat the yams even when the emissaries of the six villages try to persuade him to abide by the wishes of the community. Ezeulu’s refusal to eat the yams to alleviate his people’s dilemma and suffering portrays him as a selfish, arrogant and unwise leader. His people’s collective desire ought to drive his action, for as Achebe writes, no one who fights against his community can hope to win. Achebe further reveals that “Ezeulu’s … fault was that he expected everyone – his wives, his kinsmen, his children, his friends and even his enemies – to think and act like himself. Anyone who dared to say no to him was an enemy” (92). What a bigot he is! Surely this is not the stuff that a responsible and sensitive leader is made of. This poor leadership ability and obsession with power spell doom for the Chief Priest of Ulu and cause him to play into the hands of his enemies and his critics. It also alienates his friends.

Ezeulu’s decision to send his son Oduche to the white man’s church and school is another area of conflict worsened by Oduche’s imprisonment of the sacred python in a box. Ezidemili, as priest of Idemili, the owner of the sacred python, challenges Ezeulu whose leadership and authority he undermines and derides. The battle of wits and supremacy between the two priests somewhat touches on the rivalry between the deities, especially as Ulu is seen as a ‘new’ god who has displaced others to attain supremacy over all other gods. Will there be a battle of the gods? Will there be a confrontation between Ulu and Idemili, for example, the type that engage their two priests?  Can it be that Ezeulu’s disgrace and abandonment by his god, Ulu, is a result of his interfering instead of allowing his god to fight his battle himself? Ezeulu gains this knowledge too late, and by the time awareness dawns on him, he is devastated and consequently loses his mind.

Power and leadership in the colonial
administration

Apart from exploring the relationships between the different villages of Umuaro and to some extent their conflicts with their neighbour, Okperi, Arrow of God also tells the interesting story of the interaction between the colonialists (represented by the British colonial administration) and the colonized (represented by Umuaro and Okperi communities). As the plot of the novel unfolds, we see the domineering and hegemonic power of the colonizer demonstrated by the tyranny and high-handedness of Captain Winterbottom, Tony Clarke, Mr Wright et al and their local collaborators, servants and agents. The colonizers act as if Umuaro is a territory defeated in a war and lord it over the people. The situation reminds one of a similar scenario in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s novel, The Last of the Strong Ones. One of the multiple narrators in the novel describes the colonizer and his attitude thus: “The coming of Kosiri (the white people) to Umuga was an entirely different threat. They were strangers who acted as if they owned the land. We had never seen anything like it” (44).

The colonizers’ use or abuse of power amounts to gross indiscipline and unmediated cruelty. Their humiliation of the local people is total. For instance, Ezeulu is arrested and imprisoned for several weeks because he refuses to be a warrant chief. Mr Wright forces Obika and his age-grade to build a new road without remuneration. And to worsen the insult, Obika is whipped simply because Mr Wright does not like his facial expression and his confidence.  The local servants and agents of the colonizers abuse the authority and privilege given them and defraud, cheat and exploit the people, their own people. Many African writers have explored the excessive abuse of power and maltreatment of colonized peoples by colonial administrators. A good example is the maltreatment of Toundi in Ferdinand Oyono’s Houseboy and the exploitation of the railway workers in Sembene Ousmane’s God’s Bits of Wood.

The Court Messengers and the new converts brought from outside Umuaro to work for the colonizers and to take care of the newly established church humiliate and intimidate the people and desecrate the land as well as disrespect the culture and tradition of Umuaro. The colonialists are unfortunately not able to control them. Consequently there is much corruption in the system. The colonizers’ agents demand bribes and freely engage in extortion, forcing the people to part with valuables like livestock, money and other items. A case in point is the Warrant Chief who uses his position to defraud the people of their property and money.

The colonialists have their own internal conflicts resulting in petty jealousies and rivalry which degenerate to more serious spiteful acts. For instance, the senior ones deny promotions to the younger or junior officers out of spite. Winterbottom is one such example. He has been in the colonial service for a long time yet he seems to have been bypassed in terms of elevation. The class structure of the motherland rears its head in the colony and becomes an instrument used by the colonialists to deride or belittle one another. At first, Clarke is conscious of the lowly position of Mr Wright, but after he gets to know him better, he likes him and respects his views and disposition.

The supremacy and the vulnerability of the gods 

There is a crisis of confidence and rivalry even among the deities, especially Ulu and Idemili just as it is between their Chief Priests. Ulu is supposed to be the most powerful deity in Umuaro, but Ezidemili, the Chief Priest of Idemili, and his loyal follower, Nwaka, speak disparagingly of Ulu and discourage other people from believing and trusting Ezeulu. They challenge the power and authority of Ulu constantly. Their bitter criticism of Ezeulu paves the way for the disunity in the clan that leads to the triumph of the Christian religion, culminating in the massive defection of Umuaro people to the foreign religion where they have been assured of protection by the Christian God. Thus they are able to harvest their yams and take their gifts to the Christian God, but at a huge cost – the loss of their religion and culture and a permanent crack that destroys their unity as a clan and exposes them to foreign influences. As for the god, Ulu, he loses both ways – his power and position in the community and the service and devotion of Ezeulu. In his bid to discipline his Chief Priest, Ulu ends up shooting himself in the leg. The Umuaro people believe that “Their god had taken sides with them against his headstrong and ambitious priest” (387.

Abuse of power and poor leadership: implications for nigeria

It is logical to argue that the disintegration and the collapse of the once united Umuaro clan are a result of some negative weaknesses identifiable in the individual characters and in the way clan is structured and organized. The colonialists’ intervention and interference in the affairs of Umuaro and the imposition of their own culture and religion on Umuaro contribute to the division and dislocation that destroy the clan. The negative developments create irreconcilable differences that result in tragic consequences. For example Umuaro’s conflict with Okperi over land is unnecessary and ill-fated and leads to the death of Akukalia and what can be described as “a war of blame”, to borrow an expression from Things Fall Apart.

There are two groups in the novel – the powerful and the powerless. On one side there the overbearing, exploitative and extremely powerful colonial authority while on the other side is Umuaro, the subjugated community of six villages. What we see is a conflict between two unequal forces.  There are many lessons contemporary Nigeria can learn from the tragic experience of Umuaro and its people. The issue of good leadership and proper use of power is crucial in the growth and development of a community. It is obvious that Umuaro lacks good and proactive leaders. Each conflict that arises in the community is poorly managed. The unjust patriarchal system of Umuaro oppresses women and denies them a voice in the community and in the affairs of the clan.  Leadership demands a humane and forgiving spirit in everyone that aspires to lead. In a speech delivered recently, the Oba of Ogbaland states, “Leaders must be humble and upright and servants leaders. They must come down to serve the people. A leader is never above his people” (in Saturday Sun, January 25, 2014, 70). This is a piece of advice I recommend to all who aspire to leadership positions in Nigeria today and in the future.

Corruption is not new in Nigeria. It existed in the society Achebe explores in Arrow of God and in some of his other works. The policemen sent to arrest Ezeulu are corrupt and violent. They extort a sizeable bribe from Ezeulu’s household. Achebe’s perceptive depiction of corruption in 1964 when the novel was written is a foreshadowing of Nigerian society which is today regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Corruption is responsible for Nigeria’s underdevelopment. Something has to be done to change the situation.

Conclusion

In Arrow of God, Achebe provides profound insights into the negative effect of poor leadership skills and the abuse of power. He affirms his vision that effective leadership combined with a responsible management of power will go a long way to enshrine a healthy and successful society. On the issue of gender and patriarchy, the oppression and the marginalization of women in the novel constitute Achebe’s critique of Nigeria’s male-dominated society. Nigeria and its people must realize that “the enhancement of women’s status in the society would not in any way reduce the social, economic and political standing of men. The whole society stands to gain if all of mankind therein enjoys enhanced welfare” ( Oyekanmi, 98). Nobody can deny that we live in an era of rapid and radical change which will inevitably affect the position and status of women, even in the darkest part or most backward corner of the globe. It is therefore in humanity’s interest to encourage rather than resist change (Ezeigbo, Gender Issues in Nigeria, 4).

If indeed, Arrow of God was written, according to Lyn Innes, when political rivalry in newly independent Nigeria made the question of responsible leadership an urgent one . . .“ then one can say it was timely and also a warning to Nigerians of the future to avoid rancour and embrace peace and harmony. But it does not seem that our people have heeded this advice or warning at any time. Consider, for instance, the numerous disasters that have overtaken the country – civil war, military dictatorship, continued marginalization and violation of women, militancy and terrorism in the form of political and religious violence and Boko Haram insurgency. It is not too late to heed Achebe’s wise advice and save Nigeria from disintegration. Some Nigerians see the present National Conference as a way out of the woods. As the conference gathers momentum, the delegates who represent the different zones of the country must see the exercise as a viable way to salvage the country.