The Crisis of Under-Development and the Failure of the Elite Class in Adebayo Williams’ <i>The Year of the Locusts</i>

Abstract

The crisis of under-development has been a source of concern to many scholars of different hues because of its devastating impact on the countries within the periphery. In the search for the explanation and resolution of this phenomenon in Nigeria, both social scientists and creative writers have been very active. This paper, using Adebayo Williams. The Year of the Locusts explores the issues of under-development and argues that the novel, instead of creating characters that can change their condition and by extension that of their people engages in a game of satire against the elite of the society. These characters are incapable of creating the needed change in their society. The essay concludes that in spite of the large cynicism that hallmarks The Year of the Locusts, it is still a genuine effort in addressing the spectre of under-development in Nigeria through the novelistic form.

Key words: Crisis, Under-development, Elite, Writers, Novelists, Individualism