The irony of Nigerian independence
The Nigerians deserved their independence from Britain, especially considering the historical mistreatment of Nigeria by British colonialism and capitalist interests. However, when they finally declare their independence, the struggle to establish a government. Ironically, their inter-tribal conflicts lead to tribal competition in the government. Their attempt to cooperate led to power games as each politician tried to gain more power for themselves and their people.
The irony of sacrifice
In Achebe's personal life, he tells us about back when he was offered a scholarship to go and study creative writing at a university, like he had always dreamed of. But instead, he decides to do the right thing for the woman he loves, and he marries her and they build a home and raise a family. Ironically, this doesn't stop Achebe from achieving high success in his writing. He ended up being a powerful author, so his sacrifice seems to have paid off, to say the least.
The irony of citizenship
This novel shows that there is a dilemma about humans relating to their governments. In Nigeria, there were also the added complications of financial poverty (since their resources were exploited), and inter-tribal politics. The irony is that in order to belong to "Nigeria" the nation, the people will have to put aside their tribal interests, considering "Nigeria" itself as their new tribe. This is an ironic betrayal of one loyalty in the establishment of another.
The irony of war
War is ironic because it is counter-intuitive to the greater interests of all parties involved, but alas, governments sometimes make terrible decisions, and humans have a tendency toward violence, so even something as unimportant as petty drama can often spiral into full-blown, bitter warfare. That is the case in the Biafran War, a.k.a. the Nigerian Civil War, which was doubly ironic, because they were trying to establish an independent nation.
The irony of world opinion
For some reason, it seems that many people, especially Western people, almost completely ignore African news, regardless of what's happening. Sometimes, charities will fight for better coverage, but some people wrongly associate Africa with a charity case.
First of all, Africa isn't one thing. As Nigeria proves, even at the local level, Africa is diverse. Then there is the issue that Africa is vast, with many nations. Each nation has its own history and cultural history, but for some reason, in the West, these things are misunderstood at the general population.
Achebe offers his life as a picture of African life. Interestingly, it's not that different than a Westerner's story: A somewhat underprivileged person has to sacrifice his personal desires for his family, but he works hard and becomes a well-known author.
