Adeniyi Temitope Olorunsomo
Department
of Theatre Arts,
College
of Education, Ikere-Ekiti
Ekiti
state. Nigeria.
Abstract
After
more than 40 years of Ola Rotimi’s presentation of the gods are not to blame
(1970) on the Nigerian stage, Nigerians are still battling with the problem of
blaming past leaders (Internal or External) for their economic and political
woes. This must have inspired Prof. Bakare, Ojo Rasaki to reproduce this play
in Ekiti State on 12th December, 2016, on the orders of the State
Government probably to douse the voice of accusations and counter-accusations
on the roles played by former leaders in the socio-economic woes of the State
in recent times. At the centre stage of Nigerian nationhood, the cacophonous
blubber is change. But can the
people really see the change? From the premise that Art itself cannot change
the society since it appeals to man’s emotion, this paper discusses the innate
power of Christian Drama as an art form to change the society through the
change of individuals that makes up that society. Using the Haunting Shadows
(2004), The gods are to blame (2009), both home videos as illustration, the
paper analyses the major characters in both plays in their socio-economic and
socio-political relationships and their quest for change, and the aftermath.
The paper concludes that change comes from inner part and radiates outwardly,
from a single individual to the collective, and that it is when the individual
has succeeded in managing the inner change successfully that he can transfer
the dynamics of it to the world around him.
Key Words: Theatre,
Social Change, Christian Drama
INTRODUCTION
Theatre
is reputed to e the most developed of all arts form and it is a social
institution where different aspects of human creativity interact.
Drama, music,
dance and fine arts are different raw materials for the theatre of these,
drama, which is a play in performance; in the most social since its subject
matter are often human beings in different social or cultural interaction. The
engaging dialogue in drama has been an externalization of the deep thought of
the playwrights represented by the actor and actress on the stage.
The
theatre stage then, has been a forum of varies cultural, economic, political,
social, artistic or aesthetic debates over the ages-all engaging different
people in intellectual; investigation of how to navigate the moral impasse
equated by living in our moral universe where immorality of different facets in
rather the rule rather than execution from antiquity when was used to validate
cultural validation of societal to convention to the modern day where theatre
is used for social and political development. For instance as Emman Dandaura
(1992) noted, the Greeks discovered early the inherent ability of theatre to
mould and moderate political behavior by encouraging theatrical contests during
the city Dionysian where playwright are encourage to enter the competition with
a trilogy of tragedy and a satyr drama. In this tragic contest, man is always
presented at the mercy of the gods. Hence, the rulers who are the
representative of the gods are held in awe and reverence. This clearly ensures
political conformism and social order. Closer home, Ghanaian Theatre, borrowing
from folklore, deploys Theatre to the services of social conventions and mores.
Ama Ata Aidio’s Anowa (1970) demonstrates the pliable belief that any
woman who tries to defy cultural prescriptions of morality and wisdom may end
up paying a bitter price for it. Early Nigerian drama too were deployed for
cultural validation-Wole Soyinka’s The
Lion and The Jewel (1963),The Strong
Breed (1964) and John Pepper- Clark Bekderemo’s Song Of A Goat (1964) and Ozidi (1965) are examples of this.
However, modern Nigerian drama swerved away from this predilection. The
emphasis is on social concerns of man in his society-Jero Plays (1973) by Wole Soyinka; Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again(1999) If… A Tragedy Of The Ruled (1983) and Hopes Of The Living Dead (1981) .These plays dramatize man’s
perennial search for survival in a world dominated by greed, insensitivity and
evil malfeasance.
Contemporary
drama in Nigeria is partly dominated by radical aesthetics of Femi Osofisan and
others- Morountodun (1983),
No More the Wasted Breed (1983); Red
is the Freedom Road (1983), Olu Obafemi Dark
Times Are Over? (2005) are examples of this. Their preoccupation is
providing an alternative theatre tradition that is more than entertaining but
that will jolt the status quo from centuries of inertia (Adegboyega,154).
On the other hand, silently occupying the
centre stage approach to the use of Theatre for conscientization and change-a
theatre that is both educational and entertainment in orientation. It is
programmed for social transformation
Arguably,
all drama could be used for this same purpose but the realities of the times we
live in call for urgent re-evaluation of the critical tools of the playwright
trade. From the seminal and almost classic D. Olu Olagoke’s Incorruptible Judge (1972) Olu
Obafemi’s Dark Times Are Over (2005) the issue of corruption has been debated
from every conceivable angle, yet the problem has refused to go, especially in
Nigeria. Today, Nigeria occupies the unenviable position of being the most
corrupt country of the world (Ajayi, 15) This corruption index of Nigera was highlighted
by Senator Remi Okunrinboye in a public forum at Akure, Ondo State recently. He
pontificated that as at 1960 when Europeans departed the shores of Nigeia,
corruption was below one digit. As at 1979, when Shehu Shagari was president
corruption has reached one digit. Nigerians talk about corruption in thousands
of naira. By the time Ibrahim Babangida left office by stepping aside in
1998,corruption has become the acceptable currency in official transactions,
the index jumped to billions of Naira. Today the index is in the trillions of
Naira. One wonders what will become of Nigeria in the next 10 years if the
issue is not drastically addressed. Of the plethora of plays Nigerian Theatre
has produced on the issue of corruption,the problem has become rather endemic
rather than abate. The focus of this paper is not self conscious flagellation
or blame sharing but take a holistic look at the underlying principles and proffer
an alternative Theatre tradition that may offer a way out.
Although
there are, many varied problems besetting the Nigerian Nation, corruption is
the most basic and it is the foundation for all other problems. If there is one
thing history teaches us, it is that corruption was imported to Nigeria through
the civilizing missions of the colonists, either as trade voyagers or
evangelists (Osae & Nwabara, 3). They all bribed the unwary citizens with
pedestrian gifts and drafted them to church go away with their agricultural
products. There and then the seed has been sown- you can always get what you
need if you know whom to see and what to give. In Nigeria political parlance
popularized by Ibrahim Babangida,
everyman has his own price. Corruption became a directive policy of State
Administration. The phenomenal growth of this ‘mustard seed’ has continued to
amaze the naïve ideologue who still thinks things could be otherwise.
For
instance, all levels of the educational system has been bastardised by this
warped morality. Public examinations in primary and secondary school are now
teachers’ examination. Tertiary Institutions are a little different. The difference
being that more of the academics are still put off the bandwagon probably
because of their training and exposure. But the practice of ‘you can determine
your own grade in any examination’ is fast gaining ground. Can the present war
against corruption affect these “grassroots’ saplings” in the Educational
system?
Corruption
defined by Websters Comprehensive Dictionary English Language (2013) as a destruction of fidelity or integrity of
a person through bribery. (Dong cited in Ajayi) sees corruption as any use of official position, resources or facilities for
personal benefit.(33) It is so bad that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo remarked in
his Independence Day Anniversary celebration speech at Abuja in the year 2000
that…
Corruption is the greatest single impediment to our
national aspiration to enter into a new millennium with confidence… it is not
only illegal but bad because it corrupts the very soul of our community ... It
makes nonsense of all budgeting and
wastefully depletes our resources. It breeds cynicism and promotes inequality… (Obasanjo, 2000).
One wonders what the elder statesman would
say of the present dispensation.
Ironically,
Nigerian possesses a tremendous potential to be a world power with her
population of 186M which places her 7th largest nation of the world.
Yet, Britain with a meager population of 65.2M and Japan with a population of
126.3M are world powers. North Korea with a population of 24.7M and South Korea
with a population of 48.9M have made themselves a force to reckon with in world
economy. The only thing Nigeria can boast of is that the world richest pastor
is a Nigerian with net assets of $200M.
This
is equally in a country where a significant part of the population claims to be
either Christians or Muslims and yet they could sit down and allocate to the
National Assembly 37% of the total annual budget of the country; the rest of
the citizenry should ‘manage’ the rest. For graphic details: 109 members of
Senate and the 360 members of House of Representatives allocate to themselves
37% of national resources while 185 million others compete for 63.7%. If only
the Christian members could cry ‘foul’ and object to that arrangement, maybe
Nigeria will not find herself in the kind of scenario at hand. Wilbur, O’
Donovan provided clues when he observed that majority of the so-called
Christians are either ‘Nominal Christians’ or ‘backslidden Christians’ (O’
Donovan,12). The implication of this is that corruption that has retarded
Nigerian progress has even blinded Christians to their duty, probably because
of the need for self/ class survival. Where else do we go?
However
much Nigerian political leadership has tried to checkmate this rampaging social
evil in our national life, they have failed woefully. This may be because the
average Nigerian on the street could see the disparity between the political
speeches of these leaders and their private lives. This must have led Bunmi
Adeyemo to surmise that …’ it will take God’s intervention to solve the problem
of corruption in Nigeria’(3).
Synopsis of the
Plays
Haunting Shadows by Mike Bamiloye
Haunting Shadow is
the story of an average Christian family that falls apart because of the
activities of the ‘Second Woman’. The father, an Engineer simply known as ‘Dad’
in the play, sends his wife (Mum) and their two children –Stella and Segun
packing. The major conflict in the play begins when Stella gains admission to
the University of Port-Harcourt to study Architecture. The mother refuses to
continue to shoulder Stella’s responsibilities because she has gone to see her
father against her mother wishes. Unfortunately, the father too refuses to
contribute towards Stella’s education. As a result of this, on getting to the University,
Stella got involved in what can be termed as campus prostitution in order to
meet her financial obligations in school. After completing her National Youth
Service, she meets a dandy playboy named Kenny and moves in with him. After six
months of living together Stella becomes pregnant. However Kenny denies being
responsible for the pregnancy and this leads to a serious quarrel which finally
tears the relationship apart. Since Stella cannot cope with the stigma of being
a single parent, she terminates the pregnancy and her womb is destroyed in the
process.
After
the discovery of this bitter fact, Stella decided to go back to Lagos and is
accepted by both estranged parents though she opts to live with her mother. She
finds employment in an Architectural firm and proceeds to start a new life.
With time, she meets Richard, a young Christian accountant who works in her
father’s office and they eventually decided to get married. As the wedding
draws nearer, Stella becomes apprehensive as she consider her sordid past;
after some inner struggle, she decided to damn the consequences and tell her fiancé
the whole truth. After a night of agonizing, Richard finally decides to go ahead
with the wedding.
While arrangements are in top gear, Stella meets an old
friend, Laide, who is now married to Kenny, Stella’s former lover. Laide has
tested positive to HIV causing a lot of ripples because she has always been
known to be a chaste, innocent girl. As a result of this, Kenny also goes for
the HIV test and his result is positive too. True to type, Kenny assumes that
it is Stella that is the genesis of his present plight and tries to make life
miserable for her; in her bid to clear her name, Stella likewise goes for an HIV
test and luckily for her she tests negative. Stunned by the discovery, Kenny
now begins to live under the fear that Laide will discover details about his escapades
while he was resident in Port-Harcourt. Not too long after this another of Stella
associates comes to Lagos and meets Laide and her husband. Knowing of Kenny’s
past, and feeling a strong pity for Laide, she tells her about her husband’s
past and the shock of this discovery lands Laide in the hospital where she
later delivers a baby boy. Kenny is forced to accept his guilt; he begs for
forgiveness and is reconciled to both his wife and Stella’s family.
The story could have ended happily there if not for the
fact that Stella, now married, is childless and faces rejection from her
husband’s family. However Stella and Richard are undaunted in their love for
one another and refuse to be bothered by the present state as they opt for
adoption. It is at this point that Liberians refugee in Richard home church
dies at child birth leaving behind a set of twins. The childless couple adopts
the twins; dad and mum are reconciled to the detriment of Patricia, the strange
woman who repents of her sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Lord
and Savior. As a result of this conversion, she realizes the havoc she has
caused in the family and seeks forgiveness from Dad, Mum and Stella. This done,
the play ends on a note of harmony with everybody ‘living happily ever after’.
The Gods Are to Blame by Kolade Segun-Okeowo
The Gods Are To Blame
dramatizes a man’s confrontation with his fate. Prince Adeoye, a lecturer and Head
of the Department of African Studies, University of Lagos, sets out to war
against the tragic fate befalling the kings in his home town of Ejiworo, by
becoming the fourth Elejio in 10years-inspite of all protestations from his
wife, mother and the head prince. The last Elejio who lived longest of the
rulers before Adeoye, reigned for 7 years, begged his wife to warn all his
children to steer clear of the throne of Elejio. Adeoye, confident of his
education and exposure, decided to take on the throne. He went through the
coronation rituals except one without knowing the cause of the previous king’s
death. After the coronation, problem started.
Adeoye
was visited nightly by a pregnant woman who whipped him sore. Vexed, he sought
the advice of the head prince who upbraided him for not taking advice when
offered freely. However, the head prince intimated him that the nightly visit
of the pregnant woman might not be unconnected with the ritual sacrifice of pregnant
women made by Awonbiagbon, the first Elejio of Ejiworo. Awonbiagbon had done
this as a ritual of appeasement to the gods who aided him in his war efforts.
But the pregnant women now deified came to trouble the occupant of the throne of
Elejio. Every sacrifice or ritual made to appease the women availed nothing and
the gods could not help the kings either. Adeoye, first tried to connect his
illness with the uncompleted ritual of Itakose which was to be the final ritual
connecting him with the lineage of Awonbiagbon. He went through it. But in tragic
twist, the visits became more frequent and three women, instead of one, visited
every other night to accuse Elejio of blood guilt.
Here, a Youth Corps member who was a former student in Adeoye’s
department came to visit in the company of other Corps Members and he was
invited for further visits. In one of these visits, the Corper led his former
lecturer to Christ. Adeoye now had a dramatic visitation in the night by a
divine being who introduced himself as Adimula, and a king whom is also the son
of a king. This visitation changed Adeoye. Upon the next visit of the pregnant
women, he confronted them with the claims of Christ’s sacrifice as atonement
for all misdemeanors of men. He countered their accusation of blood guilt with
a counter accusation that the human race as a whole is guilty of the death of
Christ. Yet, God has forgiven us freely. This encounter ended the spirit-women
nightly visit to the palace of Elejio.
However, the story in a tragic twist of tradition, the
high priest in council with other chiefs, accused Adeoye of untraditional
practices which could spell a doom for the land. Adeoye upbraided him to leave
the gods to fight for themselves. The high priest at this point insulted the
king by calling him his name. This angered the gods and Jalaruru, the high
priest died on the spot.
Theoretical Framework
The
theoretical paradigm for the study is Utilitarianism of Arts. This posits that Art,
relevant Art, should perform a function in the society. J.W Kalrushe (quoted in
Bamidele, 8) states that a working art
should provide us with a counter-image and model rather than a mirror image of
the society. Berthold Brecht posits further that drama should be an affair for philosophers who wish to change the world.
However,
Art itself, according to Olu Obafemi (23-24)
cannot change society…. (But may produce)
the kind of awareness which may be cultivated through the medium of Art.
This surmises that drama, through which theatre holds a mirror to the society
and makes necessary adjustments, cannot provide a lasting change but ignites a
desire for change through the awareness created.
However,
Christian drama which Foluke Ogunleye (106) describes as “dramatic sermons on a
silver screen” may possess that ability to, not only sensitize the people for
change, but also provides a platform to effect change. The purpose of this kind
of drama, according to Mike Bamiloye, originally the chief exponent, is Evangentainment (Bamiloye, (3). Victor Turner
(1989), as well as Bamidele believes that audience reaction should be channeled
towards positive action to redress the ugliness of their experience. Brecht’s The Good Woman Of Setzuan (1961), dramatizes
the humanistic view of man’s essential goodness as well as his powerlessness to
remain good in the face of conflicting circumstances. This is the epitome of prophet Jeremiah’s enigmatic
question “can a leopard change its own spots” (Holy Bible, Jer. 13:23) in this
wise, volitional change which can promote attitudinal change in the society
becomes elusive. This incapacitation of man to change of his own volition in
the midst of prevailing evil is the central message of Christianity. Christian
Drama tends to preach that it is the knowledge of the truth that can provide
the enabling environment for change. Ogunleye, (17) calls this ‘propaganda’
which is a mode of persuasive communication used to influence the thoughts of a
target audience.
Theatre and Society
Drama
has been accepted as imitation of real life situations Ogunleye, (20). Yet, it
cannot occur in a vacuum. It usually reflects the conditions of the society
that produces it. Biodun Jeyifo opines that:
...drama
deals at a highly concentrated… intense level with the contradictions of social
existence. A dramatic piece which does not, in one form or the other, deploy as
its organizing structural criteria, a physical or emotional conflict, a moral
or spiritual contest of will, a confrontation between contending principles, is
almost inconceivable. (Jeyifo, 7)
Drama
is then the vehicle through which Theatre mirrors the society. Through Drama,
any society can view its strengths and weaknesses through the lenses of the
playwright whom Aristotle describes as philosophers wishing to change the
world. While Theatre reflects societal ordering through its arts; the society
receives education, entertainment, instruction and correction through the
theatre. Both exist in a symbiotic relationship. The artists of the Theatre,
especially the playwrights, owe it a duty to society to alert it of steps being
taken, inimical to its wellbeing for the simple of reason of self survival.
Society
could be viewed as a community of people with shared interest and institutions
with corporate responsibility for its survival. Nigeria, with her 186M people
from diverse ethnic and cultural background has this composite picture of what
a society looks like. What Obasanjo (2000) said earlier carries enormous weight
considering the population and the status of Nigeria in world affairs. Where then
can we begin to change? Since, a society consists of both the micro and the
macro components, Nigerian 180M peoples belong to some homesteads across the
land within the four geographical spaces commonly associated with her. Each
home constitutes the individuals in that home. Then, for changes to begin
effectually, it must begin with the individual. Prophet J.O Obadare, one of the
foremost religious leaders Nigeria has produced was reported to have said “if
every individual should wake up each day and sweep his/her house stead,
evidently the whole country will be clean”. This, according to the late fiery
preacher, means that corruption in the country starts from the homes where
individuals come from. If it is then true that the home before any other
institution is the primary agent of socialization, then for this change to be
true and meaningful, it must begin in every home. The parents must realize that
their every action has a cumulative effect on their children and that the
children left untaught eventually brings destruction to the well-ordered home.
A popular saying among the Yoruba says if we have a well ordered homestead, it
is because the bastard there is yet to grow up. All the thieves of whatever
levels we have today come from different homes. The parents, who steal public
money and provide unusual luxury for the home, if queried, will eventually
suffer the backlash. The children, likewise, who use what they have to get what
they need (Efua T. Sutherland’s Marriage
of Anansewa) while the parents look on without complaining, are all accomplices
in the programmed self-destruct of the whole nation. If changes could come from
the homes as evidenced in the home of Stella’s parents in Haunting Shadows or in the lives of individuals that make up that
home, then there is hope. Anything less is a mirage.
Moreover,
political leaders need an encounter with the god of truth which Archbishop
Desmond Tutu describes as an open wound, their action will be tele-guided by
this god of truth. This is the message of the drama used for this study.
The Society of the Plays
The
engineer’s family is a microcosm of the average Nigerian homes where the
society starts. The misbehavior of the larger society is as reflected in the
fragmented home. It started just with a minor infraction that finally ended up
in a conflagration that only succeeded in destroying the shops of the second
woman. It was the woman that organized the arson yet pretended otherwise. These
are the images of the various groups in the Niger Delta fighting for equitable
access to resources from their region. It was only until every principal member
of the family met with Jesus Christ that the conflict was resolved.
The Gods Are To Blame
on its own zeroes in on the chequered political history of Nigeria
vis-à-vis-death in the palace. This mirrors the Nigerian society of the
pre-civil war to the death of Alhaji Musa Yaradua in 2008, Chief M.K.O. Abiola
(1998), and general Sanni Abacha. This trio may represent the three Elejios
(kings of Ejiworo) that died within the last 10 years in the play. This
political history is the immediate reference of the play. The Jesus-persona
offers his blood as a compensation for the ravaging pregnant women’s cry of
revenge and hence breaks the power of blood guilt upon the throne of Elejio.
The Plays and Social Change in Nigeria
Change
presupposes attitudinal disposition favourable to progress. Change comes from
inward to outwards. It starts with the thought process. Attitudinal change is
the most important. It affects all other areas of public life-politics, public
service, religion, economics and social relations. ‘Change’ from Webster’s
Comprehensive Dictionary of The English Language means to alter, transmute or make different; to alter ones attitude or
principles or religious conversion- a passage from one phase to another.
Social
change implies attitudinal changes in our day to day activities in the society
starting from the home front to public/ political offices. This of necessity
must reflect in our individual and communal relationship. It affects a sort of
shift in a new direction; a turning around from the status quo. Change also
represents dissatisfaction with the status quo. This is evident in the present
political dispensation avowed commitment to change in public morality; in fact
in every area of Nigerian life.
Analysis of the Plays and Social Change in Nigeria
The
relevance of Haunting Shadows lies in
its haunting indictment of Nigeria middle class homes. The engineer father of Stella
was the focal point of the corruption virus- the other woman. He left his family
for her and everything falls apart, the home front could no longer holds Mummy
jettisoned her responsibilities to her children as well because of the hatred.
Stella was hit by the corruption virus and became a prostitute to pay her way
through University education. But she lost her womb in the process. This womb
is a symbol of her creative and development abilities. Even though a graduate
and a pretty lady, she is just a signpost of expired woman, a continual sorry
reminder of what she could be but cannot because of the misuse of her youth and
body. Laide, Kenny’s avowed bride that was infected with HIV as a result of
Kenny, a deacon’s promiscuity, became a living symbol of wasted opportunity as
she spent her days in agony of the incurable disease.
The
turning point came when Stella, the pivot became ‘born again’, her turn around
affected her parents who re-dedicated their lives to Christ and reconcile to
each other and committed themselves to rebuilding the home that has been
scattered. The many efforts that were wasted in the process of finding a cure
to both the damaged womb of Stella and Kenny and Laide’s illness are symbolic
of the several fruitless efforts to rebuild the moral psyche of the Nigerian Nation
after tasting the forbidden fruit offered by the rampaging Europeans in the
guise of civilization mission to Africa. The virus of corruption so released
has blossomed to become a big tree hiding the country from the gaze of the true
sun (civilization and development). Though Kenny repented and confessed his
sins to God, he and his family had to live with the bitter fruit of their sin,
a life cut short, socially and financially by the dreaded HIV virus, and a baby
mercifully spared from the disease. This parallels Nigerian transition to
democratic rule with high hopes for development as if it is the magic wand. It
may be working elsewhere but Nigeria appears to be cursed down by the evil fruit
of corruption everywhere. This must have promtpted Isaac Oni to comment long
ago that:
The political class has usually been
much better concerned with what it wants for itself from the national purse,
without the love concern and self identification with the masses, most of whom
are suffering from hand to mouth. This basic self centredness and aparthy to
the state of the masses has been made manifest in the ignoble activities of our
democratically elected law-makers and decision takers both at the National and
State levels.(35)
Patricia,
the other woman, used and abandoned by the engineer’s family, became a thorn in
their flesh. She is the epitome of the Niger Delta, the crucible of Nigerian wealth,
yet abandoned through decades of exploitation and neglect. The region, like Patricia,
became very angry and vents her anger in tormenting the family, hence, the
implacable fratricidal wars against the Nigerian community because of their perceived
grievance against the Nation State.
But,
the history of the Nigerian Nation State parallels the story of this play in a
symbolic form. The civil war ended in 1970 with ‘no victor no vanquished’ but
the effects haunt the Nigeria Nation still. Even though, the Federal Government
pronounced a total pardon for the vanquished, stillborn Biafra, yet the
mistrusts could be perceived in political appointment in the centre. The
disenchanted Igbo people have been agitating again for Igbo Nationhood vision
in the old Biafra cause. This has led to a bitter feud in the nation since the
end of the war till now. It was until Patricia was ready to come out of her
shadows and face the reality of her existence that she experienced true
forgiveness, reconciliation and harmony. The truth of the infraticide war must
be told without undue emotional involvement from the living actors.
The Gods
Are To Blame
Kolade-Segun
Okeowo’s play The Gods Are to Blame here
is a response to the seminal Gods Are Not
to Blame by Ola Rotimi. Whereas, Rotimi in his classic adaptation concluded that the gods should not be blamed
because he was the one that allowed the gods to use him (Rotimi, 77). Okeowo
disagreed. To Okeowo the gods are the real culprit for the rampaging problems
of the town of Ejiworo. But the difference is in the gods the two are referring
to. To Ola Rotimi, the gods refer to the Almighty God, ‘Olodumare’ in Yoruba
culture who is responsible for the destiny and passage of man in this life,
while to Okeowo, the gods are the Yoruba divinities who were human beings who
in their life time were powerful beings and who at their deaths are deified.
But according to Yoruba cosmology, they are lesser gods called ‘orisa’(Oso, 6).
These Orisas is the literary focus of the play. But social reference is
different. The Orisas are the man-made gods that direct human affairs. In the socio-
politico context of the play, they are the finite beings entrusted with
political power because of one social achievement or the other in the
community. They are people entrusted with position of responsibilities that are
now using these positions to compromise the commonwealth in their own selfish
quest for power, affluence and fame. They are represented with ‘gods’ in (HB,
psalm 82vs 6). In this context, they are to see to the welfare of the others
but they are more interested in their own welfare. This is represented in the King
Awonbiagbon’s ritual of appeasement for the continual success of his war
efforts. But this ritual compromised the seat of authority which is a symbol of
the people’s collective wealth and wholeness. Awonbiagbon thus represents in a
symbolic form the corrupt leaders in different spheres of life that deployed State
resources for private use at the expense of the common good- the corrupt enrichment of a few priviledge ones at the
detriment of the entire populace. The present Nigeria experience wherein even
judges are accused of corruption, makes an ugly scenario for the survival of
the Nation State. But in the mould of socialist-critical realist of drama,
Okeowo provides a way out of this dilemma in the extra- terrestrial resolution
of the conflict through the intervention of the priest-king (Jesus Christ) who
offered his blood for redemptive purposes from the curses of the pregnant
women. By this, Okeowo suggests that the way out of this moral quagmire that
Nigeria has find herself in, which has plunged the nation into economic,
physical and social desertification- a
situation when nothing works- is through a turnaround humbling
experience of acknowledging all wrong-doings through asking of forgiveness from
the Christ-persona. This can lead to a moral turn- around as evidenced by the
King Adeoye who put a stop to the perennial deaths in the palace.
Conclusion
Christian
Drama offers an alternative for resolution of societal problems related to
morality and development. The under developed state of the Nigerian economy in
spite of the oil wealth that has been flowing for more than 50 years is a
direct result of the corruption in the system. While, one may not make religion
a directive aspect of state policy, it is obvious that the only way to get out
of this moral quagmire that has plagued and continues to plague the Nigerian State
is a drastic turning around which can only be achieved though a spiritual
operation of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. The moral universe
envisaged in Olu Olagoke’s Incorruptible
Judge can only remain a mirage. Otherwise every leader- political, public
service, judiciary, military, economy and business-needs to have an encounter
with the Jesus-persona who alone can redeem humanity. With the encounter of
these leaders with this persona, there could be a moral shift in the nation that
may engender development. We have tried almost every available theoretical,
artistic, epistemological and pedagogical approach to Nigeria’s problem; we may
as well try the simple approach of Christian drama.
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