Abstract

      Corruption, a serious bottleneck for developing countries, is gaining field worldwide. It has several names depending on the areas. Bribery is qualified as chin hanchi (bribes), gôro (cola nut), gaisuwa (greetings) or aza dutsi (to put a stone on…) among the Hausa people; bribes or gratification in French and dash in some West African English speaking countries such as Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This phenomenon, according to the United Nations Economical Commission for Africa, is among the three national major problems after poverty and joblessness. It has been decried by organizations such as World Bank and Transparency International. My concern here is to prove the historical link existing between corruption, colonization and the traditional African culture, by using some African writers’ works such as Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease, Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Mahamadou Halilou Sabbo’s Abboki ou l’appel de la côte and Ferdinand Oyono’s The Old Man and the Medal.

Key words: Corruption, gôro, gift, colonization, African culture.