ABSTRACT
It is important to illuminate the politics of contemporary independent Africa, particularly in order to understand South Africa's political economy, since South Africa is an intrinsic part of Africa, even though many have been led to believe that South Africa is part of the West. Babangida encouraged the development of a political class that would support him in power, while he permitted its members to pilfer and accumulate wealth. In the face of the political events described above in many parts of Africa, one is compelled to raise the question as to whether Africans are living in more authentically democratic societies today. Even though many have been led to believe that most of Africa became independent from the European colonial powers in the 1960s, it is evident that dependency is the accurate way to describe most countries in Africa, with the possible exception of Libya.
