While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.

Achebe contrasts immediate, well-intentioned “good works” with the deeper political and economic changes needed to eliminate the conditions that make charity necessary. The line implies that charity, while morally commendable, is ultimately a stopgap: it treats symptoms (poverty, deprivation, injustice) rather than the structures that produce them. In Achebe’s broader humanist and anti-colonial outlook, the “real solution” points toward a just social order—one in which people have rights, resources, and dignity secured by institutions rather than by the discretionary kindness of others. The quote thus urges readers to pair compassion with systemic reform and to measure progress by whether dependency on charity diminishes.