Congo was named by Europeans. Congo’s dictator Mobuto later changed the name of the country and the river to Zaire with the objective of Africanising names of persons and spaces

Q. Congo was named by Europeans. Congo’s dictator Mobuto later changed the name of the country and the river to Zaire with the objective of Africanising names of persons and spaces. However, the name Zaire was a Portuguese alteration of Nzadi o Nzere, a local African term meaning ‘River that swallows Rivers’. Zaire was the Portuguese name for the Congo river in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the paragraph above?

(A) Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising the name of his country

(B) The term Nzadi o Nzere was of Portuguese origin

(C) Mobuto’s desire to Africanise names was prevented by the Portuguese

(D) As a dictator Mobuto ordered the Portuguese to alter the name of the river to Zaire

Ans: Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising the name of his country

Solution:

As the paragraph states, dictator Mobuto wanted to Africanise the name of Congo but could not succeed as the new given name to the country was the Portuguese alteration of some other term.