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The theme of corruption runs amongst the leadership and ordinary people alike. Successive governments come in with promises which end up as an opportunity for the leaders and their cohorts to enrich themselves. A new leadership creates its own cohort of collaborators both new and old. Old-new collaborators switch sides very quickly with a regime change, becoming the most public "praise singers" for the new regime. Of course the old top leadership has to go into hiding to avoid any negative repercussions from the new 'power barons'. Towards the end of the book, Ayi hopes that things will get better, although he confesses that there is no indication of any present efforts to help prepare for a better future for independent Africans. That tomorrow is yet to come 40 years on, although we mouth the word "independence", as if that is a satisfactory end in itself. Was Africa's independence a mere exchange between white exploiter and black exploiter? Why do the same patterns recur across the continent? Is this in fact the real face of African leadership? African tribal chieftains regularly sold their own people into slavery long before the transatlantic slave trade became the norm. So the idea of leaders exploiting their own people is nothing new. African peoples must begin addressing this leadership crisis at the community level. In particular, the collaborator culture that allows Africans to exploit their own people must be addressed if real change is to be achieved. Otherwise, the "beautiful ones" will remain an illusion. All over the world, it is peasants who have forced changes in their communities. In Africa, tribalism is used to divide the peasants so that they become collaborators even to very bad governments. The earlier mentioned cohort of collaborators are adept at engineering this situation. What is happening in Zimbabwe right now, for example, is a big shame. Mugabe has no new ideas for for the country; how could he at his age? In order to move forward, Zimbabweans must scrutinize those sycophants who support his government only for personal gain. Zimbabwean people must stop waiting for a 'savior' to deliver them from Mugabe. They have the power, if they want true change. The alternative is to inherit a 'savior ', after Mugabe dies, who will take them down the same garden path. Peasant power must arise across Africa to save the continent from these post-independence 'saviors'. less