Congo was named by Europeans. Its dictator Mobuto later renamed the country and river Zaire to Africanise names of people and places. However, Zaire was a Portuguese alteration of the African term “Nzadi o Nzere”, meaning “River that swallows Rivers”, and was the Portuguese name for the Congo river in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Which inference follows?
Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising his country’s name.
Nzadi o Nzere originated in Portuguese.
The Portuguese prevented Mobuto’s wish to Africanise names.
Mobuto ordered the Portuguese to change the river’s name to Zaire.
Correct answer: (A) Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising his country’s name.
Explanation
The adopted form “Zaire” had itself been altered by the Portuguese, so replacing the previous European name did not fully remove European influence. This supports A. The passage explicitly describes the underlying term as African and gives no evidence of Portuguese obstruction or an order by Mobuto.
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