I used Ayittey's book last semester in my course in Modern Africa and we
had him to campus for our Martin Luther King celebration. I have found his
book useful in several ways:
1) It is an illustration of a growing tendency among African
intellectuals to accept greater responsibility for their own
problems and to blame fewer of them directly on the colonial
experience or the world economy. In this connection it is a
little ironic that Crawford Young's new book on the colonial
state in Africa revives the notion that a uniquely difficult
colonial experience explaians much of Africa's post-independence
difficulties. In any event, the Ayittey book provides a jumping
off point for exploring the question of how to explain African
crises in recent years.
2) It is also useful in exploring the various ways African
"construct" the history of their continent. Ayittey finds in the
African past a foundation for democratic politics and argues
that contemporary African leaders have betrayed this tradition.
In doing so he actively contests the construction of Africn
history by such people as Senghor and Nyerere who found in it
the basis for socialist ideologies. It is a useful reminder that
Africans, as well as Europeans, construct histories useful for
their present agendas.
The book also has some limitations which need to be addressed in
class.
1) It is of course loaded with specific cases and examples, but I
found my self wishing he had focused more fully on fewer cases
rather than overwhelming us with example piled on example.
2) The book is vividly descriptive but offers few explanations as
to why African elites made the choices they did. Students need
to see that the book is a polemic , not primarily a scholarly
work, though it draws upon serious scholarship.
3) The book minimizes a number of factors in explaining African
crises, particularly the international economic circumstances in
which Africa finds itself.
Nonetheless I found it a useful, though somewhat lengthy, classroom
text. I used it in conjunction with Achebe's "Anthills of the Savannah",
which articulates a similar message though with added nuances.