ART AND POLITICS IN WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY AND OLA

ROTIMI’S OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

ABSTRACT

This study has been able to show how Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi have treated

politics artistically in their various texts. This study aims at examining the adventure of

the military into politics and the playwrights have shown how unaccomplished the

military has been in their governance. In the study, we have seen that art and politics go

hand in hand and the two are inseparable. At the end of this study it has been deduced

that military intrusion into the politics of a state especially Africa countries is negative.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Purpose of the Study

1.3. Scopes of the Study

1.4. Justification

1.5. Research Methodology

2. CHAPTER TWO

2.1. Background of the study

2.2. Literature review

2.3. Endnotes

CHAPTER THREE

ART AND POLITICS IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

CHAPTER FOUR

ART AND POLITICS IN OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

CHAPTER FIVE

Comparative Study/Summary

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Bibliography

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Wole Soyinka hails from the Yoruba land in the Southern part of Nigeria. He

is a nobel laureate and has written in all genres of literature(prose, poetry, and drama).

He uses his works as an instrument for social mobilization and change.

Wole Soyinka as a democrat believes in an egalitarian society that is a society where

everybody should be answerable to the law and justice is met out without considering

the class of the individual. In fact, he believes in a society where there should be no

class at all. Everybody should have equal rights in all ramifications.

Although, Soyinka is not much of a politician but those years in his country

when absolute power was in the hands of the military he was not at ease because his

dream society was not guaranteed under such leadership.

Soyinka abhors the intrusion of military into politics of a country. He finds

military in politics contrary to the constitutional duty and argues that the provision of

security for the nation as a whole is their duty. He sees the military as leaders without a

mandate and as a threat to personal essence and his dream society. He wants changes

during the reign of the military and employs his writing toward this end. Soyinka uses

satire to bring out the ills of the society and his ideas to bring a desired change.

Ola rotimi hails from the Yoruba land in the Southern part of Nigeria. He has

written a great deal of work whose thematic preoccupations are of tremendous literary
4
social significance. He has contributed immensely to the development of African

literature especially in the areas of African drama and theatre and a lot of critical

attention has been paid to his works by both African and European critics. Ola Rotimi’s

mode of assessing a socio-political system,the people’s attitude e.t.c. in a society is

satire- a form of writing which makes fun of the evil or foolish behaviour of people,

institutions or society in general. The Nigerian society for him is obviously a chaotic one

where dreams and aspirations of people remain unrealized. He has seen with shock and

disbelief the endemic corruption, moral decay and political morass that have become

part and parcel of the society.

Ola Rotimi,Wole Soyinka and other artists are committed as writers to

restore order in the society through their various works respectively.

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This research work will aim at examining the adventure of the military into

the politics of a country and how Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi have presented this

artfully intheir works respectively.

This study focuses on the artistic presentation of the military in politics and it examines

Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad

Again respectively.

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1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on the artistic presentation of the military in politics and it examines

Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad

Againrespectively.

1.4 JUSTIFICATION

This research work is done to advance scholarship on art and politics. It

enables one in understanding the relationship between the two variables.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The approach to the research work is descriptive.The Beatification of Area

Boy and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again will be the primary texts while works on the

internet and related books will be consulted.The primary texts are described in the light

of their preoccupation with politics.

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 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

“Art” and “Politics” are the two main terms in this research work and have to

be defined to give the study a perspective.

According to Zulu Sofola:

Art can be defined as an artistic realization or manifestation of

powerful stirring in the divine essence within the artist in reaction to

the disequilibrum created in the universal order of the negative force

in the cosmos which threatens existence, particularly human

existence.1

She also defines art as:

A creative experience, which is nearest to God because it is in that

experience that man shares very clearly in the most enduring and

significant attribute of the supreme Deity, God as a creator, the

Supreme Artist.2

The above definitions show that there is a divine attribute in the artist, which places him

in a position related to that of the supreme creator “God”. In this position, the artist

sometimes reacts to the negative and positive forces within his environment and comes

up with something which hitherto never existed that is a discourse of both literary and

aesthetic interest .To most artists, the direction of their creativity is determined by the

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manner or way in which orderliness is elevated, their thematic preoccupation is to

praise and consolidate the status quo, but orderliness is threatened, they step in for its

restoration.

According to the Encyclopedia Americana:

art comes from a latin word “Ars” meaning skill.3

This original meaning is still relevant as we have such saying as art of coming or art of

dancing. But in the general sense, art embraces all the creative disciplines such as

literature, poetry, drama, music and visual arts. In this study, art will be examined as the

“creative skill”

According to Zulu Sofola earlier quoted:

This creative skill is not only used to heal and restore the lives of the sick and

battered humanity, it is also used to create new vision for growth renewal

generation and edification of man for a wholesome life and better

community.4

In doing all these works, the artist therefore acts as a seer, a visionary, a thinker, a

creator, a prophet and above all, the conscience of the people.

Politics according to The Dictionary of American Politics:

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 Is the art and science of organizing the state and managing its affairs both

internal and external. It is also the act of controlling, protecting, assisting

and governing individuals and groups in a society.5

This simply means that politics is the day to day running of the government of a country

by the politicians for the betterment of the citizenry. It is normally done by the civilians

through systems of government such as democracy, monarchy, socialization, etc.

Politics is definitely not a familiar terrain for the military but they sometimes get

involved in it.

Military has to do with soldiers, armies or warfare. It is the part of government

invested with the responsibility of territorial security of a nation. Under normal

circumstances, they are not allowed to seize or form the government of a country.

However, if ever they should do that, it should be over a conquered territory.

The Dictionary of American Politics defines military government as:

A temporary government maintained by the military forces over a conquered

or occupied territory, under which regulations of the military commander

supersedes the civil law.6

The performance of the military when they get involved in government is the focus of

this study.

LITERATURE REVIEW
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 Art and Politics in Nigeria: A relationship has always existed between art and

politics in all societies. Art, both visual and performing has always reflected the

happenings of the times the artist lived in and produced them. For instance, during the

renaissance period in Europe, the art forms depicted the social, political, cultural and

even economic settings of the time. A stool carved with a king sitting on a subject for

instance depicts oppression and illustrates the idea that a picture is worth a thousand

words. On the other hand, in the Benin kingdom or Yoruba land, one might find a stool

also carved but with the subject prostrating fully on the ground signifying reverence for

monarchs.

Art, it has often been argued, should be for art’s sake. This is good if art were

like arithmetic where one and one in everyday arithmetic is two, but art is a very

subjective matter and this is why our taste for literature is different and our concepts of

beauty varies. This is responsible for varying interpretation, innuendos and metaphors

that collectively make art in all its forms impossible to divorce from all other aspects of

life and society like politics and government.

Since the colonial times in Nigeria, the role and significance of art in politics has

been tremendous. The dramatist, Hubert Ogunde used his works to make political

statements both before and after the colonial era. In 1946, his play Strike and Hunger

which dramatizes the general strike of 1945 made him quite popular. Most of his early

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plays were attacks on colonialism while his later works dealing with political themes

deplore inter-party strife’s and Government within Nigeria.

Fela Anikulapo Ransome Kuti was one of the political singers (musicians). From

the late 1960’s, he employed his music to protest the aggression of the masses by the

Nigerian military government. He sang in pidgin and Yoruba and was quite popular

among the unemployed, disadvantaged and the suppressed.

Fela’s music is a vehicle for political change. His politically inciting songs popular

among the masses often prompted the military junta to routinely raid him at the

slightest excuses looking for reasons to jail him because they feared the influence his

music had on the people.

Ken-Saro Wiwa was a very notable writer in the mid 1980’s. He hails from Ogoni

land part of the oil rich territory that was claimed initially by the Igbo as part of Biafra.

His work Soza Boy subtitled a Rotten English novel (1985) presents a view of the

tribulations of war by a writer who belongs to a “micro nation” whose fragile eco-

system had been arranged to fill the federal coffers and was fought over by “ignorant

armies”. Soza Boy is a leading contender for the title of a “great war novel”. Terrible

events sometimes produce profound literature. The Nigerian civil war produces Soza

Boy.

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 Saro Wiwa later authored an important history of the civil war. In 1995, Saro

Wiwa who had been branded a secessionist was executed on the orders of the brutal

military regime as a grim postscript to the civil war.

Many other Nigerian writers in the above vein and depicted politics in their

country. Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi are among such writers. This study will go further

to examine Soyinka and Rotimi, their works and portrayal of military in politics.

Soyinka’s deep involvement in the criticism of military intrusion in government is

a common knowledge. His unique approach to and unwavering position against the

development attracts comments from both literary critics and political analysts. He

fulfils one role Oyin Ogunba says is meant for a writer.

In Ogunba’s words:

In a neo-colonial situation where the black bourgeois and the military

simply step into the shoes of receding colonizers, the writer should always

stand by the down-trodden.7

Ogunba further speaks on the writer:

Satire is one of the Soyinka’s chief artistic weapons and he uses it

consistently to expose the crudities and sufferings of a society in state of

transition.8

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The features of Soyinka’s style are his means. Therefore, there is no doubt that

Soyinka’s hallmark is his need to expose and subsequently correct all the social and

moral decadence that tend to stagnate our growth as a people. It does not matter

where this decadence exists, whether within the military or the civil populace.

The effect of Soyinka’s resolution on the military’s way of thinking and their manner of

perceiving issues should be that they fall in line with the societal values. Politically,

according to the writer, they should not be dictating for the people, as they lack both

political training and democratic instinct. He states that the military messianic role in

government is nothing but a sham.

Soyinka’s art has exposed different levels of lawlessness and hardship inflicted

on the nation and its citizens by the military. The psyche of the nation has been bruised,

while a lot of people have suffered as groups or as individuals. Soyinka comments on yet

another military junta’s ascendance to power on an occasion and puts his perception of

military in politics in clear words;

Under yet another military regime, society had degenerated into a corrupt,

violent and alienating space that demanded its own space of excoriation

and exorcism in the performance arena. Armed robbery was now

accompanied by numbling sadism. The economy was crumbling but the

regime remained indifferent.9

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The effect of Soyinka’s work is one thing that draws the military attention to him. His

freedom as a citizen suffered enormously. His international passport was seized and he

even went to prison for preaching against the military in politics.

The military dose of tyranny was not limited to individuals, as in the case of

Soyinka. The people of Maroko were evicted in 1990. The eviction attracted the

attention of Wole Soyinka, who condemned it as “a naked crime against humanity”. The

incidence later became a sub-theme in his latest play, The Beatification of Area Boy, one

of the plays to be used in this study.

According to him:

The themes in The Beatification of Area Boy is built around the sadistic

susceptibility of Nigeria’s contemporary society, a collective hysteria that

has resulted in an epidemic of public lynching for imaginary crimes and the

erasure of Maroko from the face of the earth.10

The injustice suffered by the entire citizens of a nation under military leadership is

obvious and most critics therefore, are of the opinion that the military should be

stopped. The taming of the military should not be left in the hands of a single individual;

otherwise it will not be successful. It calls for the presentation of a common front

against a common enemy. Its removal from the political scene should not be a one-man

suicidal attempt, but a collective and safe one. History is replete with situations where
14
the arms bowed to the will of the people, and until men in uniform are recognized as

ordinary mortals with limitations like the civilians, the gun will continue to hold sway.

Ola Rotimi is a well known writer who used satire to correct and point out the ills

of the society just like Soyinka. He on the other hand suggests taking over from the

military in a subtle way unlike Soyinka whose idea of taking over is radical.

Ola Rotimi is a visionary writer who perceived what the political scene in Nigeria

and other African nations would be in the nearest future and he therefore decided to

take a comic swipe at ideological misfits and opportunists who flood the ever-

accommodating political landscape of contemporary Africa.

In order to realize his objective of ridiculing the opportunistic attitude and

ignorance of the avant-garde African politicians, Ola Rotimi creates characters that

portray the unpatriotic attitude of the politicians through Lekoja-Brown, who was once

a military man and a cocoa farmer.

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again by Ola Rotimi is a comedy and depicts the current

political structure of the African nations. In the book, Ola Rotimi depicts the naivety and

ignorance of a former military Major-Rahman Taslim Lekoja-Brown in his bid to go into

politics with little or no understanding of what it takes to become a politician. His

motives and actions were misplaced and his unpatriotic motives make it difficult to

succeed as a politician or even win any party primaries. His attempt to adapt to a

15
situation he barely comprehends produces high comic effects and results. He attempts

to use military tactics in place of political strategies. This inexperience coupled with his

domestic problems and misdirected political ambition ruined him as a politician and

almost wrecked his matrimonial home as well.

One of the major themes in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is the issue of

women in politics. With little information and instruction from Lekoja-Brown’s American

wife, Sikira an illiterate wife of Lekoja abandons her husband and takes to politics, which

she feels, will loosen her from the grips of oppression and get her the dividends of

democracy and popularity. Surprisingly enough, towards the end of the play she is seen

as the party’s gubernatorial candidate campaigning and canvassing for votes. That men

and women are created equal, in contemporary Africa, women are gradually finding

their feet more and more in politics and this is a welcome development in world politics.

This is a form of satire where Ola Rotimi ridicules the effort of men because women

have taken over.

Not only contemporary writers employ satire. In traditional African societies, the

people use satire to attack people who show negative tendencies in their characters.

The society as a whole, ridicule people through songs, proverbs, folktales and other

verbal arts. Contemporary writers continue in the same use of this mode just as it would

be found in the plays used for this study.

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Jack .A. Vaughan’s view:

In general, satire is that mode of writing that utilizes wit and humor to

criticize or ridicule human institutions and behavior with a view to correction

or improvement.11

Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi treat politics especially that in contemporary Nigeria. They

depict the intrusion of the military into politics and Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area

Boy and Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again illustrate this concern.

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 END NOTES

1. Zulu Sofola, The Artist and the Tragedy of a Nation, Ibadan: Caltep

Publications Ltd, 1994,p.2.

2. Ibid, p.2

3. The Encyclopedia Americana, vol.2, p.382.

4. Zulu Sofola, The Artist and the Tragedy of a Nation, Ibadan: Caltep

Publications ltd, 1994, p.5.

5. The Dictionary of American Politics, (second edition) p.289.

6. Ibid, p.289.

7. Oyin Ogunba, The Movement of Transition. A Study of The Plays of

Wole Soyinka. Ibadan: University Press, 1975, p.2.

8. Ibid, p.2.

9. Wole Soyinka, From Ghetto to Garrison. AChronic Case of ‘Orisunists’,

In Research in African Literature, vol.30, N.4.

10. Ibid, vol.30, N.4.

18
11. Jack .A. Vaughan, Drama A-Z. A Handbook, New York: Fredrick Ungar

Publishing co.1935, p.174.

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 CHAPTER THREE: ART AND POLITICS IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

The Beatification of Area boy (1995) is the latest of Soyinka’s unrelenting but critical

attack on the military regime. All subsequent references to the play are to this edition

and appear in the text.

The theme of failed military leadership of quite obvious in the play. To establish

this theme, Soyinka likens the activities of the soldiersto that of the “Area Boys”. In fact,

the image of the military represented before the end of the play is worse than that of

the “Area Boy’s”.

In Nigerian context, an “Area Boy” is synonymous with a social miscreant and

the philosophy associated with “Area Boyism” is lawlessness and gangsterism. Soyinka

captures the real picture of the “Area Boy” on Miseyi’s comments

Those bullies? Enforcers and extortionists? Thugs, yes, sheer thugs.

Ready to serve the highest bidder. They make potholes on the middle of

the road, then extract money from unionists for their spirited service in

filling them up. The break your windscreen if you don’t pay up or slash

your tyre.They rip necklace off your neck in a traffic holdup snatch your

watch. They are robbers. Daylight robbers. No better than armed

robbers. That’s the kind of people you consort with?Or is it

worse…………………….(102)
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It is the acquisition of the “Area Boy” traits by the military on the play that first makes

the title relevant to the play. In other words, the “Area Boy” concept has been

‘elevated’ through the military who themselves are “Area Boys” in uniform controlling

the affairs of a state. The military become a kind of honored and glorified “Area Boys”.

They are “Area Boys” in practice, the only difference that they wear uniforms. The

lawlessness of the adultery is presented through the words of the military officer to his

ADC;

I ought to have you court-martialed. I ordered you to stay and handle it

personally! And you want to take him to a police station where he will

intimidate them and regain his freedom? The fool interfered with my

uniforms. He touched it-do you understand that? He pulled my sleeve; he

placed his bloody civilian hands on my uniform. And all you want to do is

take him to the police station? Didn’t you hear me say he was to be

given the special treatment? (77)

In the play, Soyinka uses this concept to further satirize the military who have failed

woefully in governance. To achieve his aim, Soyinka creates two parallel societies which

are that of “Area Boys” led by ”Sanda” and the larger society led by the military.

Sanda’s leadership in the “Area Boy” community is people-oriented. His concern

for and commitment to his people is not in doubt. Consider his comments;

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 … I am sorry, but I’m used to being practical. I have become used to

having. Many people in my charge and their welfare come first. The

heavier issues of the nation must wait for now, there’ll be plenty of fire

to discuss them. Let’sjoin the others in the banqueting hall. (103)

Sanda’s is an “Area Boy” but he has a positive approach to leadership. He is not

selfish; he is concerned about the condition of his people and their standard of living. All

these attributes bring honour and respect to him. Thus, he has beatified the “Area Boys”

philosophy and hence at another level makes The Beatification of Area Boy appropriate

as the title of the play.

In Soyinka’s perspective, Sanda may be on “Area Boy”, but he offers a better

government than that offered by the military, the self acclaimed messiahs. Soyinka

contrast Sanda’s government with that of the military and the comparison also enables

Soyinka to highlight the extent to which the socio-political and economic idle of the

people have suffered under military leadership. He achieves this through allusion as

seen in Sanda’s comment;

So they did it after all. They wiped Maroko settlement off the surface of the

earth…There is no more Maroko. It’s in this evening paper. (56)

22
The playwright employs a direct allusion to Maroko experience to show how human ego

is bruised and brutalized by the military government. This episode has in reality once

attracted Soyinka’s anger:

The centerpiece of the regime, criminality, however-on with which I

remained frankly obsessed was the act of acting nearly a millions

inhabitants of a seaside Lagos “shanty town” as Maroko1

In the play, the military comes up with a humanitarian history. It claims that Maroko is a

disaster area, and for the people to remain safe and alive, Maroko has to go. A military

officer’s comment bears that out:

Oh, we know of those rumours. No not a drop of black gold in that area.

But it’s prime presidential area, right on the lagoon. Oh yes, and that

was something else the sea could have risen anytime and overwhelmed

those stupid residents in their tin and wooden shacks. Think of the scale

of disaster! I mean, they’re human after all. And some families have

lived there over three generations. They deserve something better than a

water grave (81)

The plan by the military to avert disaster and make life sate of the Maroko inhabitants

appears laudable and sounds humanitarian, but the manner in which the project is

executed leaves much to be desired. It takes hypocrisy to an unimaginable height, and

23
presents an unperceivedposture of man’s inhuman treatment of his fellow

man.Considerthe military officers comments on the manner of eviction;

Didn’t you see the bonfire? We didn’t?Merely bulldoze it, we dynamited

every stubborn wall, then set fire to the rubber. That place was disease

disease ridden ! ho points developing. It for decent citizens only to have

them die of some lingering viruses from way back (80).

Thus, Maroko inhabitants are forcefully evicted but not relocated, for no crime of their

but to make way for the military and their cronies to acquire the arena. This intention is

verified through the military officers’ comments;

…Those squatter might be immune to anything but we have to think of

the future residents. We took them by surprise. They woke up as usual

but found themselves staring into nuzzle of guns. Few of them had any

time to pick up their belongings. (80)

However, it is important to note that the government policy on Maroko is aimed

at benefiting the rich rather than the masses. The trumpeted plan to make life safe to

the Maroko people is a fraud. There is no sincere intention to provide a better home for

them. The underlying intention is to get rid of them at any cost. In one contest, Soyinka

understates this position;

24
 Maroko inhabitants had the misfortune of occupying a view on the

lagoon, coveted for luxury, mansions and condominiums by the military,

their business friends, and other high placed conies. 2

In the play, the intensity of the urge by the military to acquire Maroko at any cost is so

great that they would stop at nothing to achieve this goal. Their approach is systematic;

their sadistic act starts with the eviction, but they do not stop there. They destroy what

is left of the properties belonging to inhabitants, and even threaten to destroy what is

left of their lives. Hear an officer commands how Maroko and its inhabitants are

treated;

… those miserable items that they managed to salvage-smash them up.

Pile them up and make a bonfire of them. If there’s any resistance, don’t

be stingy with the bullets. I want a bonfire sunset here to rival the

sunrise are donated to Maroko this morning let them know the army’s

fully in charge. (85)

The threat of bullets is incompatible with the military’s avowed goal to change the

destiny of the inhabitants for better. One cannot avert one disaster with another.

Bullets are used to threaten criminals or enemies during wartime. But Maroko people

are threaten in peace time. Soyinka is indirectly questioning the use of arms on

25
harmless and defenseless citizens. He considers it a war on the people. He makes this

positions clear through Mama put’s comments;

Even that is war then. Its war of a different kind. It’s a war of a kind

government declare against their people for no reason. We‘re too soft. We

have to learn to be part of this thing here. (war between the people and

the government). If I had my way, I’d make my girl take one to school is

her school bag. We all need something like this lodged in our innocence.

(76-77)

Thus, the Maroko inhabitants are rendered refugees. Not by any natural disaster

or by an enemy country, but by a government that swears to protect them. It does not

prick the conscience of the military to see the suffering throng of law-abiding citizens

along the road. In the midst of this hopeless situation, the Maroko people are still

bounded like animals or criminals. The military questioned their stop over under the

bridge to catch some rest after exhaustion. A rest under the bridge becomes such a big

luxury that the military cannot afford these citizens and they are pursued instantly. They

are pursued because a wedding involving one of the military stooges will spread to the

area. The picture of this sadistic man-hunt is captured by one of the offices;

… I come here to supervise the arrangement and what do I meet? A

bunch of Maroko refugees and filthy loads clogging the place. So I

26
 ordered them to move on. They are stretched out all the way to the

marina they must have come up the marina through Victoria island-it

would take at leastan hour at the slow pace they ‘re moving and some

already thinking of camping under the flyaway. (78)

In The Beatification, Soyinka dwells extensively on Maroko experience to establish the

theme of man’s in humanity to man. Various forms of human rights abuses suffered by

the people at different locations and at different times are delineated. Maroko

inhabitants now, become symbolic of the oppressed and deprived under the military

leadership and elsewhere in Sanda’s words;

… but the real work will be with Maroko, not just that Maroko, but the

Maroko all around the external nightmare of a Maroko in which one

wakes everyday. (103)

Sanda is an inspirational leader, a motivator and a selfless servant of the people. As

Soyinka’s rallying point for social struggle in the play, he now carries his leadership role

beyond the “Area Boys” enclave. He intends to identify with Maroko evictees to enable

him to fight for their cause and seek redress for the injustice done to them. His

proposition to Miseyi reveals this position:

… We could settle down with the Maroko people in one of the new

locations. It will be cheap, and we would be among the founding

27
 members there will be a lot of demand on us. We could work with them,

take up their case, maybe get them compensation that at least….. (103)

Sanda’s idea of working towards a compensation for Maroko people is a good one.

To further lampoon the military the military. Soyinka therefore uses the Maroko

experience to present them as a bunch of uncivilized and lawless men who treat the

laws of the land with levity.

The Maroko inhabitants who could even be regarded as the dregs of the society, are

civilized enough to seek redress in the count of law. They won their case, and the count

ordered the military government to steer clear of Maroko. But out of arrogance and lack

of respect for the law, the military does not. Mama put’s comments reveals the

military’s disregarded of a court ruling;

It’s a military government, isn’t it? That means they can defy even God’s

commandments (56)

Lawlessness as the hallmark of the military knows no bounds. It is not limited to

rejecting count rulings but it extended to the military’s trampling upon the

social, spiritual and economic beings of the people. The road is sealed for the

sake of a wedding ceremony and the action receives state support under the

military. Sanda’s satirically captures this:

28
…Big wedding ceremony. Broad Street is closed to traffic- from seven o’clock all

the way from the junction to Balogun Street to that flyover. Never happened

before. The military governor himself signed the permit.(15-16)

TheBeatification of Area Boy paints a picture of a paradox in our minds. “Beatification”

means to give a dead person a special honour by stating officially that he/she is very

holy3

Therefore the question arises: for what purpose should an Area Boy be honoured? This

paradox is deliberately used by the playwright to canonize the social struggle of Sanda,

the protagonist, a supposed “Area Boy” and his group while desecrating the hitherto

canonized concept of military leadership in the Nigerian terrestrial. The concept of

“Area Boyism” is borrowed from the contemporary Lagos setting where some youths

constitute themselves into groups, feeding on marijuana and alcohol to arouse a high

spirit with which they perpetuate such vicious acts of extortion from motorists, cyclists

and innocent passers-by and engage in brutality, arson, oppression and homicides as a

mean of their survival. These social miscreants, “Area Boys” as they are called in Lagos

see their illicitly constituted caucuses as an escapist approach to their deprivation by the

government. Their nocturnal activities, though negative in the sense, are forms of

protest against the oppression of the ruling government.

29
 Sanda and his folks, who are termed “Area Boy”co-ordinate themselves

properly, “extort money from shoppers who park their vehicles under their supervision

and inject the money back into the society for human development. Boyko and the

prisoners among others directly benefit from this scheme. The “taxation scheme” of

Sanda and his group could be likened to the normal taxes collected from the masses by

the government which are supposed to be ploughed back into the society for human

and infrastructural developments.People’s taxes are looted by the government agents

but Sanda and his group deployed the monies they collect gainfully. Sanda’s society is

seen to be a peaceful one, devoid of quarrels, brutality and any form of social injustice,

but an example of a good government. On the other hand, the military officers

demonstrate attitudes such as oppression, brutality exploitation and homicides.

The military officers’ evacuation of the residents of the Maroko market typifies

the illicit activities of the “Area Boys”. Furthermore, the closure of the high way by the

state for Miseyi’s wedding at the expense of motorists and the innocent citizens

constitutes another of the unacceptable activities of the military. There is juxtaposition

in the play between the “Area Boys” and the military agents. The military agents are

perceived as the real socio-political miscreants who have no plans for the progress and

well-being of the masses; Sanda and his group, are agents of progress and good

governance and the author canonizes or beatifies them.

30
 SOCIOLOGICAL INDICIES IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

CLASS STRATIFICATION: The archetypal concept class stratification in African drama

finds ample expressions in Wole Soyinka’s.The Beatification of Area Boy; the physical

setting of this play, opulent shopping complex along side make shift stalls, informs our

senses of this issue of class stratification. The characters of Barber, Trader, and Mama

put, Boy and judge constitute the lower classes that are restricted to such degrading

human environments, while Big Man shopper and the military Agents who enjoy the

pleasure of the shopping complex constitute the upper class. The military officers and

types of the big man shoppers belong to the class who are known for their affluence.

The lower class society is relegated to the background because they are “no

forces to reckon with” both politically and socially. The narrow separation between the

make shift stalls and the shopping complex implies that this oppressive gap can be

bridged to allow a fair co-habitation of these groups of people but the upper class is also

identified in the intended marriage between the two wealthy families (Miseyi’s and her

fiancé’s). The relationship is not out of love but a sacrifice to maintain the ties between

two families in the upper class.

OPPRESSION: The forceful ejection of the Maroko by the military officers, clearly

exemplifies the oppressive intents of the ruling military officers. Furthermore, the

brutality experienced by Judge from the military officers is another form of oppression.
31
The closure of the high way by the military Governor for the intended marriage between

the Bridegroom and Miseyi’s is in the line of self gratifying intent of the military and the

leaders in general even at the expense of the poor masses. Soyinka indirectly here,

lampoons such leaders who abuse their offices. A governor should serve as the

embodiment of law and the people’s last resort for all round protection. But here, the

governor signs the permit to seal off the road. Sealing the road therefore amounts to

restricting other people’s movement to their offices, places of worship and other social

engagements. Soyinka here frowns at the sadistic and flagrant display of power by a few

at the expenses of the majority’s comfort. To him, it is an affront to the people’s

freedom of movement.

DRAMATIC ELEMENTS IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY.

CHARACTERISATION IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

This will be discussed in two aspects which are according to the major and minor

characters. Characters are the people that performed the actions in the play. The

conflict in this play is mainly built around Sanda who is the symbol of social agitation

and revolution and set against the military government. He is the protagonist and he

32
leads the other “Area Boys” in their comic struggle for the needed change in the society

in Sanda’s comments:

… I am sorry, but I’m used to being practical. I have become used to

having many people in my charge, their welfare comes first. The heavier

issues of the nation must wait for now, there’ll be plenty of time to

discuss them….(103)

The judge is also one of the very important characters in this play. He does not feel

comfortable with the political situation in the play, and he does not agree that the

nation has “its soul”, judge talks of his missions.

… Yes, my journey to the kingdom of souls begins today. People say the

nation has lost its soul but that is nonsense. It’s all a matter of finding

out where it’s hidden. Unless it never had any?.....(10)

Another reason why judge is an important character is because he is emblematic of a

form of resistance. An officer instructs that judge should be locked in a car boot

andtaken to the barracks when the officer suspects a streak of resistance in judge. Other

characters in the play include the likes of Barbers, Trader, Boyko, Mama put who

together with Sandar are able to rescue their people from the military’s maltreatment.

33
ALLUSSION: This is literary technique used in a work to make reference to literary,

historical and biblical events in literaryworks in order to develop certain issues in it.

In TheBeatification of Area of Boy, Soyinka alludes to the contemporary events is

evident in the reference to the missing genitals. The disappearance of genitals is a

contemporary issue in our society. And Soyinka effectively uses it to explain the

relationship between bibliographical impotence and political impotence. Barber

introduces the idea of missing genitals;

… But these things happen that’s all I can tell you. You see all these

corpses with their vital organs missing-breasts in the case of women,

the entire region of the vagina neatly scooped out. And sometimes just

the public chair is shaved off for their devilish mixture. And pregnant

one with their foetus ripped out. Male corpses without their genitals or

eyes…..(14)

The genitals are a symbol of manhood and its removal or disappearance amount to the

disappearance of what makes one a man. Soyinka metaphorically uses the episode to

comment on the military and it’s operations. The military wants to rule and keep the

citizenry in perpetual oppressive conditions. The oppressed is the emasculated and is

just like a man without genitals.

34
 Soyinka alludes to the oil boom era, a very important period in the history of our

contemporary Nigeria. Historically, the period was between 1970and 1980 and the

military were in control of affairs in the country. The oil boom which was supposed to

be a blessing to our country, eventually became an “oil doom”. Soyinka uses this

allusion to further expose the ineptitude of the military. He presents the military as a

bunch of greedy men who lack vision and leaders whose stock in trade is

squandermania. Trader hints on the poor handling of the oil boom, which led to the

“doom”.

… den oil boom come. Government dash everybody salary increase,

salary advance, salary arrears, motor car advance, motor car incentive,

motorcycle advance, all kind vehicle allowance, any kind incentive. (27)

Soyinka employs literary allusion in particular in Sanda’s comments about judge

behaviour:

There may be a method in his madness that’s what William Shakespeare

says on the subject(13)

This is a clear reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet in the play of that title feigns

madness to unravel his father’s murderer. By implication, judge’s situation of half

35
normalcy and lunacy may be aimed at pronouncing the military government’s

irresponsiveness while he is taken for granted as a lunatic.

In Sanda’s reference to Mama put as “Mother courage” resides another literary allusion

in the play. Sanda tells the woman:

You really are some kind of mother courage, you know even right down

to the superstitious bit (20)

Mother Courage and Her Children is one of Brecht’s best known works. Mama put in

Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy is referred to as Mother Courage because of her

resilience and strength in the face of the fragic effect the war caused her.

Soyinka deploys biblical allusion in some instances in the play.

An instance is Barbers reference in the following words:

“You are the original doubting Thomas” (14)

Sanda’s refusal to agree with the superstition of people being used for ritual by some

people for money leads to this comment and he is presented the Archetype Skeptic.

Thomas we remember was the biblical one who doubted some things about Christ.

36
 HUMOUR IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

This is one of the primary instruments of comedy and it is used to reduce the tension

that mounted in the audience or readers of a piece of literary text. It entertains and

bringsabout relaxation after experiencing tension.

The rate of power struggle and the speed, with which coup-plot is initiated, is

sarcastically and humorously presented by Barber:

I am known for my lighting clippers, even the soldier know me. I

canShave the head of an entire battalion between one coup and the next

(31)

Coup-plotting is an organized way of looting and sharing the national treasury and it is

forceful.

This act of forcefully taking over the national treasury leaves the generality of the

people impoverished and hungry. Even the young and innocent ones in the army are

indirectly given a wrong orientation, as they now see their career as business venture in

which on can enrich himself before or after retirement.

Judge is a character deliberately created by Soyinka to bring humour to the play.

Judges search for the nations “lost soul” makes him look as if he is really mad. This task

37
brings him face to face with the military brutality.He is punished for interfering with the

military officer’s uniform. Even, the military officer could not figure out judge’s state of

mind and that is why he comments thus about judges:

He leaves his count and tries to interfere.Maybe he thought I would be

impressed by his wig and robes. Dirty robes I must say. Says a lot about

the qualify of judges we have on the bench these days(78)

SONGS IN THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

Soyinka does not restrict himself to one particular artistic style, he also deploys songs.

He refers to the Nigerian civil war in one part of the minstrel’s song;

Make you no worry, both nations be friends

When they fight, the soon make amends.

When one black dey itch, de other go scratch.

One go lay eggs, de other go hatch

eggs are eggs, and plenty don rotten

bet make I tell you, some are golden

38
I tell you my country be one

I mean, no to yesterdayI born.

I love this Lagos etc.

One turn go slap, the other go turn cheek

And soon they playing hide –and- seek

Sixteen billions dollars or more

We be windfall from Saddam’s war

Vanish for air like harmattan dust

Twin seek cry, haba, this country go bust

Brother hide stay cool, he set up commission

Of enquiry with prompt decision,

Seek from Turkey to China sea.

The more you look, the less you see.

I love this Lagos etc.

39
 The other day, I lie for my bed

And the radio suggest sing I seek for my head

Cause the government say a get no option

But to wage war against corruption.

I pinch myself to be sure I wake

Then I laugh so tey, my body ache

Pot tell calabash your belle de show,

Snail tell tortoise, how come you so slow

Monkey go market, baboon day cook

You think one chop, de other siddon look

Before battle start, the war don lost.

Plus billions den go say the battle cost

I love this Lagos etc

The playwright shows in the song that he finds it difficult to agree with the military’s

idea of one nation; he sees two-one for the oppressed and the other for the oppressors.
40
 Finally, the demystification of the military does not come cheap. It is a victory

which should be guarded at all costs. From judges comments we should make use of our

“sunrise”, we should nurture new hopes and keep the military off the system, for history

“shall never forgive them”

41
 CHAPTER FOUR

ART AND POLITICS IN OLA ROTIMI’S OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

Femi Osofisan (2001), quoted by Ademola, D. (2003), emphasizing the need for a more

artistic relevance in the political landscape of Nigeria maintains:

History has trapped us and not only by the force of tradition,

also by the kind of government we have been saddled with

since independent by the treachery and travesties of the

ruling class which have succeeded the colonial powers and

continued to hold our people under siege and by the crying

needs of the suffering majority of the populace… if we must

change our societies of the theatre (indeed, all generic forms

of literature, oral and written) must fulfill its vocation as an

agent of progress, writers who create them have option but

to pitch their camp on the side of the common people and

against the formidable agent of the ruling class.1

The above submission of Osofisan is what Ola Rotimi has accomplished in Our

Husband Has Gone Mad Again. In the play, Ola Rotimi critically examines and x-rays

political landscape of Nigeria representing the ideological misfit and pursuits for

42
economic gains of politicians in an artistic way. Therefore political issues are central to

the play.

Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is the second of the playwright’s

plays, produced in 1966 and published on 1977. The epoch of this play is of great

importance to the political and historical development of the Nigerian society. At this

time, Nigeria’s colonial master (Britain) had just handed over political power to the

civilian government. However the civilians were waylaid by spirals of military ambushes,

economic bastardization and political misrules of various military sectors.

The presence of the military in the Nigerian politics caused some kind of socio-

political unrest, and harder economics situations. As a quick reaction to this artist like

Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi among others quickly stepped into the scene to arrest the

situation. It was within this situation that Ola Rotimi produced Our Husband Has Gone

Mad Again. The thrust of this literary piece is to correct the abnormalities of the Nigeria

politics spearheaded by the military and generally to contribute the growth of the

Nigeria literary community. In the play, Ola Rotimi artistically pictures the leadership

misfit of the military and their negative motif at the helm of affair basically for

exploitation and material gains.

43
PLOT

Lejoka-Brown a retired military officer, dabbles in cocoa business and later politics for

the purpose of getting richer. From dialogues and happenings in the play, it is evident

that Lejoka-Brown is not a patriot and has the least intention of service to the Nigerian

society. Lejoka-Brown inherited a wife, mama Rashida and later marries Sikira as part of

his plans to achieve his political motive, hoping to exploit the relationship between

Sikira’s mother and the market women in order to get the needed vote from the market

women. Though, Liza is the one he legally married during his time in Congo as a military

man.

Liza came home (Nigeria) unannounced and her arrival disturbed Lejoka-Brown’s

political ambition. After Sikira left Lejoka-Brown, mama Rashida also interest on the

sales of her chicken, Lejoka-Brown and Liza corrected all their differences and became

like a normal husband and wife should be.

SOCIOLOGICAL INDICES IN OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

EXPLOITATION

The issue of exploitation is such an undesirable but recurrent issue in the pre-

colonial, colonial and post colonial Nigerian society. It has become a common place for

African and Nigeria leaders to exploit and impoverish their subjects. This has also

44
dominated the post colonial Nigerian politics. Hence, the art of this epoch outrightly

frowns at and protests against exploitation.

The issue of exploitation is amply established in the text under review, Our

Husband Has Gone Mad Again. In this text, Lejoka-Brown represents the exploiters who

prey on their subjects to achieve their selfish gains. In the statement below, Lejoka

exposes his exploitative desires and intentions;

… Politics is the thing now in Nigeria, mate. You want to be

famous? Politics. You want to chop life? – No, no – you

want to chop a big slice of the National cake?-Na politic.

(5)

From the above statement by Lejoka, he identifies the political landscape of the

country as a veritable field to perpetrate his obnoxious desire for financial gains. He

further says;

…Gentlemen. Just you wait! Once we get elected to the

top,”wallahi” we shall stuff ourselves with huge mouthfuls

of the National chin chin. (4)

45
 The position of Lejoka-Brown here, explains the continuing evil trend of

politicians in Nigeria who exploit the National treasury for their selfish purposes and

intentions.

ECONOMIC GAINS AND PURSUITS

There may be certain similarities between this sub-heading and the previously

treated one. However, a great difference lies therein. It is evident that Lekoja’s ultimate

pursuit is to be on a better economic platform.

Firstly, his career with the military was systematically but on the financial and

economic gains attached to the office. His service at Congo during the war equally

yielded better economic gains for him and presumably his third wife Liza. Secondly,

Lejoka’s resignation from the military to take over the father’s falling cocoa empire was

equally beneficial on the financial gains of that business venture.

Lekoja-Brown is excited about money. When he attests to the economic gains of his

cocoa-business, this is evident;

Money-wise, I did very well. Cocoa business na money, o!

(p6)

Furthermore, Lejoka ventures into politics for no better reason than to strengthen his

economic empire. As quoted earlier, Lejoka saysthat life can be “chopped” very well in

46
politics because of access to public fund and state treasury. Among other indictments

against the contemporary African leaders, their lust for economic gains is a glaring and

undeniable one. Therefore, it can be safely advocated that Lejoka’s venture into politics

is not for service to the nation but for economic gains.

Further more, Lejoka-Brown’s marriage to Sikira is equally systematically

purported for financial and economic gains. Sikira’s mother is the president of market

women and Lejoka-Brown’s contracted marriage with Sikira is intended to help Lejoka-

Brown get the votes of the market women.

By implication, the marriage will position him to gain total control of that economy that

will strengthen his exploitative intent. From all indications, Lejoka’s moves are expected

to yield financial gains and position him in a better economic stand.

Contemporary politicians in Africa and Nigeria in particular have often made

economic gains and pursuits their central ambitions. This is what Lejoka has

demonstrated in the main: However, artist like Ola Rotimi, have also chronicled these

anomalies for an effective charge.

47
 CLASS STRATIFICATION

The concentration of wealth in the hand of a minority and its lack by the

majority continually widen the gap between people of a given society. This is the issue

and focus of class stratification in the politics of any given society.

The terrain, we are presented in the play under review is a stratified one. It is a

common place for African leaders and politicians who have enriched themselves with

the public fund to create this class barrier. According to the Marxist description, there

are the bourgeois and the proletariats in any given society and there exist class

struggle.This exists in various forms and one is that shown in the play under study.

Lejoka-Brown‘s political pursuit is intended to help him boost his class position in order

to match that of his returning wife, Liza. This pursuit of class status is usually the cause

of various forms of evils perpetrated by politicians and this is demonstrated in Lejoka-

Brown’s plans and schemes to acquire more money to himself and exploit the people.

The class difference between Liza, mama Rashida and Sikira is also obvious and

undeniable. Liza undoubtedly represents the bourgeois; she calls Sikira kitchen-maid,

want to continually exploit her. She scolds her not to peep into her master’s bedroom

like that.

Different social classes are represented in Lejoka’s household. Take polycarp as

an example, he is Lejoka’s errand boy and bid to assist Lejoka achieve his goals. Equally
48
in Lejoka-Brown’s political space are boys he uses for errands and campaign for the

purpose of achieving his political goals.

PROLETERIAN REVOLUTION

Proletarian revolution has continued to be the radical response of the

proletariats to their oppression by the politicians. This move finds ample expressions in

the market women’s revolt against the dreams of Lejoka-Brown and their choice of

Sikira in his stead. Therefore, it can be implied that the decision of the market women

headed by Sikira’s mother is the proletarian revolution, employed by Ole Rotimi in the

play for the total liberation of the mass.

In the opinion of Karl Marx, in any human society confronted with issues of

social inequality and class segregation, the revolution by the lower class must occur to

balance the inequality especially in the political networks is the eventual instruments of

the people’s liberation.

The relationship between art and politics on this cannot be over-emphasized

because Ola Rotimi has glaringly used the medium of art to present a kind of social

revolution against the bourgeois and oppressors of the masses. Art has painstakingly

chronicled the chain of political mishaps in the Nigerian society and consequently

proffered a way forward in the politics by instituting the people’s revolution.

49
 It is imperative to point out at this point that the position of the author here-

pitching his artistic tent with the masses or proletariats validates his profession and the

recommendation of Femi Osofisan citied earlier that;

“The artist who creates them must continually pitch their

tent with the masses against the oppressor’s (3)

OPPRESSION

Any human society that continually suffers from the ends of class stratification,

exploitation or any ant antecedent must have been oppressed by certain individuals.

This is made evident in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.The play depicts some

individuals purposely oppressing and using other members of the society for economic

and material gains and ladders for socio-economic/political growth.

With a closer reference to politics, oppression is one of the schemes politicians

make those people less effective. As the politicians do so by exploiting the wealth that is

meant for everybody.

In the play, Lejoka-Brown, both as a retired military man and a politician, puts

this device of oppression into action intimidating friends and foes around him and

ultimately achieves his political ambition. In the text, Lejoka-Brown continues to

50
intimidate his house-hold by exploiting the family relationship and by inference the

larger society to always conform to his desires and interest.

In most conversations between him and his wives (Mama Rashida and sikira), there is

always an impression of boss/ward relationship and which is “beneficiary in the former

and the victim in the latter.

The conversation below depicts the boss/ward relationship:

Lekoja-Brown : ( indicating both women again) I said:

wives… o (cleared his throat) wives…

He is a lawyer now. (Okonkwo)

Sikira and Mama Rashida: E-he-n

Lejoka-Brown: H-en-en just returned from… (Hiccups) from

England, Are you there…? So you take good care of

him whenever he comes here.

Sikira and mama Rashida: We will my lord. (5-6)

The above dialogue is very suggestive of a conversation between a boss and his

subject. It is not a conversation between friends or colleagues. The oppressive intent

and potentials that exist between the African men and their wives is amply put to play.

51
 Another trace of oppression is seen in the relationship between Lejoka and

polycarp. Polycarp is Lejoka’s house boy. However, Polycarp’s social status further

damages his chances of total freedom and liberation. Throughout their conversation,

polycarp is treated like an animal without any iota of respect from Lejoka-Brown. In the

dialogue below Lejoka-Brown insults and oppresses the personality of Polycarp.

Lejoka-Brown; Ehen? I see… Ha so your papa dey take shit? Huuh?

Answer. When yourpapa wan go latrine, he go take shokoto

put for nyash; he carry damask agbada cover body, take

knock for head finish…( )

The oppressive potentials expressed by Lejoka-Brown in his family explain an intending

oppression in the larger society.

MORAL DECADENCE

The setting of the play under review is a typology of a morally diseased society

marred by the ungodly exploitation and oppressions of the military and the politicians in

power. The physical setting and political landscape of the setting under which Lejoka-

Brown plans his political adventure is already diseased and stained by basic immoral

52
values. Hence, Lejoka-Brown intent is to venture into the scene, have a piece of the

“national cake” and worsen the bad situation of the nation.

One of the out burst of Liza clearly pictures the moral decadence of the society

she has come to reside in. thus she says;

Liza ;… I cannot and will never surrender my person to be devoured in this

blatantly decadent, third rated domestic circus… (26)

DRAMATIC DEVICES IN THE TEXTOUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

Ola Rotimi can be described by all artistic yardsticks as an accomplished scholar

and a successful dramatist judging by his mastery of the subject matter in the play. The

play is characterized by numerous comic and dramatic devices. The following will be

discussed in this section. Humour, characterization, song and language.

CHARACTERIZATION

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again Is a play built around the personalities of many

characters. It is necessary to mention now, that if certain characters are removed from

the play, it may lose its meaning and sociological bearing. The circumstance of the title

53
of the play is humorous and it relates to Lejoka-Brown, the protagonist of the play. All

the events in the play are built around his personality. He is presented as a retired

military officer and a cocoa merchant with an uninformed or unguided interest in

politics. He is married three wives under different circumstance which are unavoidable

to him. He married his legitimate wife Liza in the course of his military services in Congo.

He inherited Mama Rashida his late elder brother’s wife as custom demands and

contracts Sikira’s marriage as one of his unguided political strategies towards achieving

his political ambition.

Lejoka-Brown is a symbol of the bourgeoisie, the capitalists and the continued

threat to the proletarian struggle for emancipation. He represents the post-colonial

military incursion into politics. He is also the unfortunate victim of the proletarian

revolution orchestrated by Sikira’s political cabal.

Mama Rashida: She became Lejoka-Brown’s wife by Virtue of her husband’s

death. She represents the long-standing African cultural sediments that have continued

to linger and show dominant expression in all African works. Apart from her

representation of the African cultural value, she is also a symbol of the older African

generation equipped with wisdom and understanding to handle issues. Those attributes

are demonstrated at different times.

54
 It is evident how she handled Liza at her arrival. Even though Lejoka-brown is not

around, she is also able to arrest the unavoidable rift between Sikira and Liza. She

represents the African culture because her marriage to Lejoka-Brown is an event of

African culture.

LIZA; she is the legitimate wife of Lejoka-Brown. She was a medical student in America

before her visit to Nigeria. However they got married in Congo while Lejoka-Brown was

in the military service. She is the symbol of the cultural conflict that plays out in the

drama. Because her ethnic, geographical and ideological perceptions are in conflict with

the Africa world view, her part in the play generates conflicts and tension. One of such

conflicts is the revelation of the polygamous life style of Lejoka-Brown being married to

three ladies under three different circumstances. She equally represents the upper class

that prey on the likes of Sikira.

SIKIRA: is a symbol of revolution against the capitalist industry of Lejoka-Brown.

Originally, she is contracted as a means to an end in Lejoka-Brown’s political ambitions.

In the play, Sikira is later elevated and voted in as the partyaspirant instead of

her husband Lejoka-Brown who is said to have chased Sikira out of his house and

insulted her mother. Sikira represents women liberation or emancipation. She is lifted

from the position of a common house wife who knows nothing and an illiterate to being

the leader of a political party.

55
Ola Rotimi’s use of language in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is very unique,

straight forward and humorous. The choice of language befits the intended purpose and

message of the text.

The use of language gives enough room to accommodate the classes of people

represented in the text. For instance, Liza speaks an impeccable English Language in

comforting to her social status as a medical student studying in America. Her use of

English language shows a great divergence from that language used by Sikira.

Sikira’s se of Pidgin English clearly expresses her poor exposure to English

Language and improper education. It equally puts her on the lane of the lower class

usually known as the proletarians. Lejoka-Brown maintains the balance of the upper and

lower classes. His use of language equally shows him as an illiterate and un-education

man.

SONG

Song is equally employed in the text by Ola Rotimi to communicate certain

didactic essence and message to the audience as well as some characters in the play.

For example, let us examine some of the songs used in the play.

The song;

Ai remembah when I was a solja (3)

56
 Serve as an allusion to the military career of Lejoka-Brown.

Another song;

Freedom, freedom everywhere, there must be freedom (VIII)

This is used as a revolutionary song against politicians like Lejoka-Brown. The

proclamation of the freedom song is the proletariats’ pursuance of their emancipation

from the oppressive strings of the politicians.

HUMOUR

Humour is an aspect of language. It is the primary instrument of comedy and

other satirical works. It is used to create amusement among the characters and the

audience. However, it is also a veritable tool for the comic writers to pass an important

didactic essence to the audience. In the text under study there are very many humorous

and comic scenes and statements emanating from the protagonist, Lejoka-Brown and

his house boy Polycarp. Homours generally fulfill dual purpose of sensual entertainment

as well as medium for didactic communication.

At the opening of the play, the introduction of the song;

Ai remember when u was a soljar (3)

57
This has a lot of humorous implications because of the defect in the articulation of the

words. This wrong production is deliberately used as against the right pronunciation to

cause hilarious laughter and owe relaxation.

Also humorous is the statement by Lejoka-Brown to his friend Okwonkwo;

Wallahi kalahi! If they put on auction right now- you, your

degree, your coat-everything… I can buy you ten times, and still

have plenty money left to buy you all over again! But I’m

pumping a lot of money into this election… (6)

The author simply employs this humorous statement to show how much money Lejoka-

brown had made from the cocoa –business before he ventured into politics.

Furthermore, the campaign strategy of Lejoka-Brown [“surprise and attack”] and

the manner in which it is presented is equally humorous; the strategy is his application

of a military concept into the political landscape and it is a laughable situation and a

clear indication of the political ignorance of Lejoka-Brown.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF

AREA BOY AND OLA ROTIMI’S OUR HUSBAN HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

From the issues raised in the preceding chapters, it is obvious that Soyinka and

Rotimi have successfully and artistically presented the performances of military in

government. Their presentations are indictment of and an assault on the military.

In Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Ola Rotimi has succeeded in inspiring the masses

to rise above their limitation by challenging the conditions of oppression and

championing the cause of struggle for a better life. This can be illustrated in the dialogue

below:

Crowd: freedom, freedom,

Everywhere there must

Be freedom

Sikira: Rise up! All women of our land, Rise up and vote for freedom, or

forever be slaves.

Vote… vote for me! It is time I am a woman, but that does not

matter. It does not matter, because why? Because…..

Men And Women Are Created Equal! (76)

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As in the case of Lekoja-Brown, he gave up politics as he sees that there is no way for

him with the party members again because of has manner of approach. This can be

found in his speech with Okwonko:

Lekoja-Brown: Aahh…. I’m through with politics, brother

The Beatification of Area Boy is an explicit treatment of military in politics. Soyinka

focuses on the military and their operations. The presence of the military and their

actions are revealed through their encounter with Mama put

… Those who did this thing focus, those who turned our fields of

garden eggs and price tomatoes into wish, pulp and putrid flesh

… My husband among them, My brothers. One of them they

stabbed to death with this?

After the massacre of our youth came the plague of out rigs the

new death on the farmland……..(21)

Rotimi uses Our Husband…….to mirror the society and reflects on the activities of the

politicians. Lejoka-Brown marries Sikira not out of love but in order to use the influence

of his mother in-law to win the election.

In The Beatification…, Soyinka also depicts a kind of relationship not based on love but

in political benefits. Miseyi and her husband are to be married on political ground and
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not based on love. The marriage is to keep the families wealth within. That is why the

rich want to marry the rich even if they do not have an iota of love for the other.

SUMMARY

In summary, Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy and Ola Rotimi Our

Husband Has Gone Mad Again have treated the issue of military in politics artistically

and the playwrights have told the story about a society governed by the military. The

governance in each case is portrayed in a negative light because in both plays, military

governance has failed. One resigns to fate as in the case of Lejoka-Brown in Ola Rotimi’s

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again and the other takes his fate in his hands and

confronts the situation as Sanda does in The Beatification of Area Boy.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY TEXTS

1. Rotimi, Ola Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Ibadan: University Press

PLC, 2007.

2. Soyinka Wole, The Beatification of Area Boy, Ibadan: Spectrum Book, Ltd.

1995.

SECONDARY TEXTS

1. Ademola.D. The writer and Ph(f)aces of Conflicts in Africa, In Lekan O. and

Moji O. (eds) Readings in Language and Literature. Nigeria:

Obafemi Awolowo University Press Ltd., 2001

2. Ogunba. O. The Movement of Tragedy of a Nation, Ibadan Press, 1975

3. Sofola.Z, The Artist and The Tragedy of a Nation, Ibadan: Caltep

Publications Ltd. 1994

4. Soyinka. W, Ghetto to Gamison. A Chronic Case of “Orisunists” in Research

in Africa Literature, Vol 30, H.4

5. The Dictionary of American Politics, (second edition)

6. The Encyclopedia Americana, vol 2

7. Vaughan J.A Drama A.Z.A. Handbook, New York:

Fredrick Ungar Publishing co. 1935

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