A Man of the People MCQs

Author's Photo
Have a specific topic you'd like me to cover? Feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 12, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 19 min

A Man of the People MCQs

1. How did people describe Chief Nanga?

A. Unfriendly
B. Too busy
C. Most approachable
D. Too educated

C. Most approachable.
Chief Nanga, M.P., was widely known and praised as the most approachable politician in the entire country.

2. What was the political party Nanga belonged to?

A. P.A.P
B. C.P.C
C. P. O. P.
D. People’s Alliance

C. P. O. P..
Chief Nanga was a back-bencher in the governing People’s Organization Party (P. O. P.) before the major financial crisis.

3. What profession did Nanga hold when he was Odili’s teacher in 1948?

A. Headmaster
B. Scoutmaster
C. Farmer
D. Catechist

B. Scoutmaster.
Sixteen years earlier, Nanga was Odili’s teacher and an impressive scoutmaster, which was why the students admired him.

4. What motto was inscribed below the scoutmaster painting at the school?

A. My Nation, My Pride
B. What I do is my kingdom
C. Loyalty is everything
D. The people are my strength

B. What I do is my kingdom.
Below the painting of the impressive scoutmaster were the words: Not what I have but what I do is my kingdom.
5. What event caused Odili to become disillusioned with the P. O. P. in 1960?

A. Nanga’s election
B. The coffee market slump
C. Nanga’s bribes
D. The party’s loss

B. The coffee market slump.
Odili was disillusioned in 1960 after the international coffee market slumped, which caused a dangerous financial crisis for the government.

6. What action did the Prime Minister take that sparked the political crisis in 1960?

A. Raising coffee prices
B. Printing fifteen million pounds
C. Accepting foreign aid
D. Declaring war

B. Printing fifteen million pounds.
The Prime Minister decided not to cut prices for coffee planters and instead ordered the National Bank to print fifteen million pounds.

7. What insult did the Daily Chronicle editor shout at the dismissed Minister of Finance?

A. Traitor!
B. Coward!
C. Doctor of Fork your Mother
D. Thief!

C. Doctor of Fork your Mother.
The editor of the Daily Chronicle yelled, “Doctor of Fork your Mother,” at the dismissed Minister of Finance, which he later printed.

8. Odili realized Nanga was yapping shamelessly during the Parliament session to obtain what?

A. The ministerial prize
B. The people’s votes
C. Revenge on his critics
D. The Prime Minister’s favor

A. The ministerial prize.
Odili felt Nanga was yapping and snarling shamelessly in Parliament for the “meaty prize” of the newly vacant ministerial seats.

9. What was the popular nickname for the school principal, Mr. Nwege?

A. Nwege the Wise
B. Push me down and take my threepence
C. Anikilija
D. The Parrot

B. Push me down and take my threepence.
Mr. Nwege’s famous joke from his past was “Push me down and take my three pence,” which became his popular nickname.
10. Odili’s friend Andrew was delighted in Britain when a white man did what?

A. Called him “Sir” and carried his bag
B. Offered him free beer
C. Invited him to dinner
D. Praised his education

A. Called him “Sir” and carried his bag.
Andrew’s greatest delight was when a white taxi-driver carried his suitcase and called him “Sir,” so Andrew tipped him ten shillings.

11. What prestigious honor was Chief Nanga planning to receive in the United States?

A. A new ministry
B. A doctorate degree
C. A lifetime award
D. American citizenship

B. A doctorate degree.
Chief Nanga proudly announced that they were going to give him a doctorate degree, specifically Doctor of Laws (LL. D.).

12. The journalist who praised Nanga was known for his ability to produce what, seconds ahead of Odili’s thoughts?

A. Headlines
B. Catchy phrases
C. Impressive addresses/titles
D. Poems

C. Impressive addresses/titles.
The journalist was able to intone Chief Nanga’s impressive future title, “Chief the Honourable Doctor M.A. Nanga,” a second before Odili thought of it.

13. What did Mrs. John advise Odili to do regarding Nanga’s invitation?

A. Accept it quickly
B. Trust his kindness
C. Run away quickly
D. Ask for money

C. Run away quickly.
Mrs. John warned Odili that Nanga was a wicked soul and advised him, “If he tell you stand make you run.”

14. What action by his senior teacher displeased Mr. Nwege greatly at the reception?

A. Being rude to Nanga
B. Taking home free beer
C. Criticizing the food
D. Speaking poor English

B. Taking home free beer.
The Senior Tutor left the Lodge with one bottle of beer under each armpit, which was clearly against the wishes of the host, Mr. Nwege.
15. What did Andrew call the Minister that greatly annoyed Nanga?

A. M.A. Minus Opportunity
B. The Buffoon
C. The Imposter
D. The Politician

A. M.A. Minus Opportunity.
Andrew called the Minister his old nickname from teaching days: “M.A. Minus Opportunity,” which made Nanga angry.

16. What caused the near-fatal incident at Chief Koko’s house?

A. A gas leak
B. African poison
C. Local coffee
D. Bad whisky

C. Local coffee.
The cook admitted the usual coffee had run out and he had brewed some of his own “locally processed coffee,” causing the poisoning scare.

17. What was the popular name for the government campaign to promote local products?

A. OHMS (Our Home Made Stuff)
B. Buy Local Now
C. Kangan Goods
D. Proudly African

A. OHMS (Our Home Made Stuff).
The government campaign to promote local consumption was popularly known as OHMS, or “Our Home Made Stuff.” This was a national slogan.

18. What realization hit Odili as he admired the luxury of Nanga’s guest suite?

A. He needed more money
B. He wanted to be a teacher again
C. Wanted to remain a Minister forever
D. He needed a better car

C. Wanted to remain a Minister forever.
Lying in the luxurious bed, Odili confessed that if he were a minister then, he would be anxious to remain one forever.

19. Odili concluded that the problem with the nation was that people had not been “indoors” long enough to say what?

A. I am satisfied
B. To hell with it
C. I want a car
D. We need change

B. To hell with it.
Odili theorized that none of the newly rich had been indoors long enough to feel safe and be able to say “To hell with it.”
20. What did Nanga’s son, Micah, call his own grandmother?

A. Old witch
B. A dirty, bush woman
C. Mother of seven
D. Stúpid hag

B. A dirty, bush woman.
Mrs. Nanga recounted that her son, Micah, called his grandmother “a dirty, bush woman,” showing the negative effect of city life.

21. What did Odili read in the newspapers from his comfortable suite, contrasting his location with the item’s topic?

A. A report on violence
B. A notice on excrement pails
C. Nanga’s speech
D. A report on inflation

B. A notice on excrement pails.
Odili, in his seven-bathroom mansion, read a City Clerk’s notice warning the public about unauthorized increases in excrement pails.

22. Chief Nanga revealed he was planning to buy ten luxury buses using what financial arrangement?

A. Cash only
B. Never-never arrangement
C. Government loan
D. Foreign aid

B. Never-never arrangement.
Chief Nanga told Odili he was getting the ten luxury buses on a “never-never arrangement from the British Amalgamated.” This was a questionable financial deal.

23. Why was Odili shocked when Jean and John called Nanga “Micah”?

A. It was a secret name
B. It was disrespectful for Africans
C. It was his wife’s name
D. It was the name of a god

B. It was disrespectful for Africans.
Odili knew that if any of “our people” had called Nanga by his Christian name Micah, he would have been furiously angry.

24. What claim did the American expert John make about the USA’s history?

A. They avoided all wars
B. They never sought global power
C. They had power to conquer but didn’t
D. They were entirely perfect

C. They had power to conquer but didn’t.
John claimed America was “the only powerful country in the entire history of the world… which had the power to conquer others and didn’t do it.”
25. Why did Chief Nanga not hire the cook who could make steak and kidney pie?

A. He was too expensive
B. He couldn’t cook African food
C. He lacked proper papers
D. He was too rude

B. He couldn’t cook African food.
The cook admitted he could not cook African food, preferring to stick to foreign “concoctions,” so Nanga hired someone else.

26. What specific activity did Odili find “unmanly” when discussing the cook?

A. Cleaning
B. Washing clothes
C. Cooking African food
D. Shopping

C. Cooking African food.
The cook’s excuse implies that preparing African dishes like bitterleaf and egusi was viewed as unmanly for a man with a family.

27. What did the British woman say she loved about Nanga, which Odili suspected was sarcasm?

A. His handsomeness
B. His unpredictability
C. His pidgin English
D. His robes

C. His pidgin English.
A middle-aged British woman said, “I just love pidgin English,” which led Odili to suspect she was speaking sarcastically.

28. According to Odili, shaking the fist in his society is a sign of what?

A. Great disrespect
B. Great honor
C. Political anger
D. Confusion

B. Great honor.
Odili clarified that shaking the fist in his society is a sign of attributing power to the person or object, showing high respect.

29. What body part did Jean say Odili was shaking, which indicated he was desirous for a woman?

A. Hand
B. Head
C. Legs
D. Arms

C. Legs.
Jean noticed Odili shaking his legs and interpreted this body language as him wanting “so badly to go to bed with some woman.”
30. Why did Odili’s mother die, making him an “unlucky child”?

A. During a fire
B. In her first childbirth
C. From fever
D. During a famine

B. In her first childbirth.
Odili’s mother died in her first childbirth, leading others to call him a “Bad child that crunched his mother’s skull.”

31. Why did a man refuse to let young Odili stay in his house during a school holiday?

A. Odili was rude
B. The man feared Nanga
C. Odili’s father was an Interpreter
D. The house was too small

C. Odili’s father was an Interpreter.
The man, upon learning Odili was the son of Hezekiah Samalu, a retired District Interpreter, refused to shelter him due to old conflicts.

32. Odili’s most serious quarrel with his father was over the father’s plan to do what?

A. Spend his pension
B. Enter politics
C. Marry a fifth wife
D. Sell his land

C. Marry a fifth wife.
Odili and his father had a serious quarrel when Odili criticized his father for planning to marry his fifth wife, calling him crázy.

33. Mrs. Nanga confided that a woman who marries a Minister has married worse than a/an:

A. Elder
B. Soldier
C. Night-watchman
D. Teacher

C. Night-watchman.
Mrs. Nanga told Odili, “Any woman who marries a minister… has married worse than a night-watchman” due to the late nights.

34. Where was Edna, the intended parlour-wife, living in the Nanga household?

A. Odili’s guest suite
B. Mrs. Nanga’s bedroom
C. A servant’s quarter
D. In the lounge

B. Mrs. Nanga’s bedroom.
Chief Nanga had his steward take Edna’s bags to his absent wife’s room, showing he planned to take her as his second wife.
35. What caused Odili to be certain that Chief Nanga had slept with Elsie?

A. Nanga told him
B. Elsie confessed later
C. Heard Elsie call his name
D. Elsie refused to come downstairs

C. Heard Elsie call his name.
Odili was outside her door when he heard “Elsie deliriously screaming my name,” confirming the Chief’s betrayal.

36. What did Odili do to clear his nose after walking through Bori at night?

A. Used a handkerchief
B. Blew it into a drain
C. Asked for tissue paper
D. Wiped it on his clothes

B. Blew it into a drain.
Walking at dawn without a handkerchief, Odili blew his running nose into the roadside drain using his finger to close one nostril.

37. What political party did Odili and Max establish to fight corruption?

A. People’s Organization Party
B. Progressive Alliance Party
C. Common People’s Convention
D. National Front

C. Common People’s Convention.
Max and his friends established the Common People’s Convention (C. P. C.) to fight the corrupt politicians in power.

38. What did Max reveal was his real intention in forming the CPC?

A. To win the next election
B. To start something and wait for the blow-up
C. To organize trade unions
D. To educate the masses

B. To start something and wait for the blow-up.
Max admitted they would not win but needed to “get something going… and wait for the blow-up” because the current government was unstable.

39. What was Josiah the trader accused of stealing from the blind beggar, Azoge?

A. His money
B. His goat
C. His walking stick
D. His food

C. His walking stick.
The villagers accused Josiah of stealing Azoge’s stick to use in making “medicine for trade” to ensure his success.
40. What was the consequence for Josiah after the villagers condemned him?

A. He was jailed
B. His shop closed; he was ruined
C. He was forced to pay a fine
D. He became an official elder

B. His shop closed; he was ruined.
Within one week, no man, woman, or child went near Josiah’s shop, leading to its closure and Josiah’s ruin. This was total social exclusion.

41. Mrs. Nanga warned Odili that Edna, the parlour-wife, would smell of what after being in Bori?

A. Fish and meat
B. Cigarette smoke and white people
C. Perfume and powder
D. Beer and palm-wine

B. Cigarette smoke and white people.
Mrs. Nanga bitterly said that when Edna returns, her dress will be “smelling of cigarette smoke and white people.” This showed her contempt.

42. What was the occupation of Edna’s father, Odo?

A. A trader
B. A yam rope maker
C. A farmer
D. A politician

B. A yam rope maker.
When Odili visited, Odo was sitting in his front room making the rope used for tying yams onto poles in the barn. This was his traditional job.
43. What event caused Odili to lose his cool and crash his bicycle, ruining Edna’s food?

A. A passing lorry
B. A sheep and her lambs
C. Faulty brakes
D. A steep hill

B. A sheep and her lambs.
A “stúpid sheep and her four or five lambs” rushed out, causing Odili to brake sharply and crash the bicycle onto the road. This ruined the food.

44. What political event caused the government to split and chaos to erupt in the country?

A. Max’s resignation
B. A 20% rise in textile duties
C. Nanga’s new house
D. The Abazon drought

B. A 20% rise in textile duties.
The crisis began when the Minister of Foreign Trade announced a twenty per cent rise in import duties on specific textile goods. This caused the government split.
45. What did Nanga’s new four-storey building turn out to be?

A. A government loan
B. A “dash” from a European firm
C. A gift from the P.O.P
D. Odili’s old school

B. A “dash” from a European firm.
The building was revealed to be a “dash” or gift from Antonio and Sons, the European firm Nanga awarded a massive contract to. This showed deep corruption.

46. When Odili announced he would contest Nanga’s seat, what was the only person who did not laugh?

A. Mrs. Nanga
B. Josiah, the trader
C. Max Kulamo
D. Edna

B. Josiah, the trader.
When Odili first announced his candidacy, everyone laughed except the outlawed trader, Josiah, who offered to join the campaign. This showed real support.
47. How did Odili retaliate against Mr. Nwege after being dismissed from the school?

A. Cursed Nwege’s family
B. Laughed and called him “Mr. Push-me-down”
C. Slapped him
D. Set fire to the school

B. Laughed and called him “Mr. Push-me-down.”
After being dismissed, Odili laughed in Nwege’s face and called him “Mr Push-me-down,” using the old village joke. This was a verbal defeat.

48. What excuse did Nanga give for trying to offer Odili a scholarship and £250 to step down?

A. He was afraid of losing
B. To be elected unopposed
C. To save Odili money
D. Paying back old debts

B. To be elected unopposed.
Nanga claimed he wanted to be elected unopposed so his “detractors in Bori will know that I have my people solidly behind me.”

49. How did Max Kulamo die during the election?

A. Shot by a thug
B. Killed by a jeep at a polling station
C. Poisoned by Chief Koko
D. Died in a fire

B. Killed by a jeep at a polling station.
Max was killed when Chief Koko’s jeep swept up from behind and knocked him over while Max was investigating electoral fraud.
50. What action did Eunice take immediately after Max’s death?

A. Shot Chief Koko in the chest
B. Ran to the police
C. Committed suícide
D. Organized a riot

A. Shot Chief Koko in the chest.
Eunice opened her handbag, took out a pistol, and fired two bullets into Chief Koko’s chest before falling down to weep.

Brief Overview

A Man of the People is a novel by Chinua Achebe, first published in 1966. It is a sharp political satire that examines corruption, greed, and the failure of democracy in a newly independent African nation.

The story centers on Chief Nanga, the country’s most approachable politician, who belongs to the governing People’s Organization Party (P. O. P.). The narrator is Odili, a young, idealistic teacher who once respected Nanga, who had been his former school teacher.

Odili becomes disillusioned with the P. O. P. after a 1960 financial crisis. Nanga shouts fiercely in Parliament to gain a ministerial seat, and he invites Odili to his luxurious capital city house. Odili is shocked that Nanga’s American friends call him by his first name, Micah, which is disrespectful.

The betrayal that drives the plot occurs when Nanga sleeps with Odili’s casual girlfriend, Elsie, in the house. This violation fills Odili with great anger.

Odili immediately leaves the house and joins a new opposition party, the Common People’s Convention (C. P. C.), to oppose Nanga. Odili vows to take revenge by marrying Edna, a beautiful girl Nanga planned to take as a “parlour-wife.”

Nanga offers Odili a scholarship and money to stop his campaign, but Odili refuses the bribe. Nanga’s thugs later beat Odili badly at a political meeting. Odili is hospitalized. Max, the C. P. C. leader, is killed by an opposing politician’s jeep.

Max’s fiancée, Eunice, shoots the politician immediately after. The Army stages a coup and arrests Nanga, who was trying to escape dressed as a fisherman. Odili finally secures Edna as his wife.

Related Posts

Leave a comment

SpunkNotes

Typically replies within few hours

Hello, Welcome to the site. If you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact.