POLITICAL 

LEADERSHIP LOOPHOLES IN BOSE AFOLAYAN’S ONCE UPON

AN ELEPHANT AND HOPE EGHAGHA’S ONOWAWI SHALL RISE AGAIN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

In a culture like Nigeria, the people look to their leaders to supply them with certain services.

As a result, there is a link between leadership and service delivery. The leader’s principal task

is to provide services that are considered essential to the citizens. In Nigeria, the

government’s ability to properly tax and manage its citizens is based on its ability to provide

a range of services that no other player can supply (Adamolekun, 2002). However, there is a

high frequency of political, economic, religious, and social anomalies in our society. It is so

damaging that it has an impact on all aspects of social life, resulting in moral degeneration in

society. The sophisticated nature of these societal ills necessitates a concerted effort to

combat them (Okafor, 2015). This role is sometimes played by literature, particularly

sarcastic literature.

Political systems are known to create different kinds of loopholes that ultimately affect or

influence the quality of leadership either in a good or bad way in a society. Leaders are often

bound by the laws of their societies and most times are unwillingly to operate outside of those

systems. Therefore, the level to which the system enables or provides fresh leverage will

determine the extent to which a leader is deemed efficient, compassionate, and good. Making

use of Bose Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant and Hope Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise

Again as primary texts, the researcher examines political leadership loopholes, looking into

the subject matter of leadership, its effects in the setting of the plays (a society that is

characterized by bad leadership). Although the key intention of the study is the phenomenon
or concept of leadership, as portrayed in Afolayan’s Upon an Elephant and Eghagha’s

Ononawi Shall Rise Again, at the end of the analysis, it is generalized as a picturesque of real

life situations in Nigeria or Africa at large.

1.2 Background to the Study

According to Urim (2009), leadership has always been viewed as an exclusive activity

associated with power and hierarchy. It was thought to be primarily a top-down, charismatic,

and individualistic procedure. Leadership was viewed as an inbred and congenital trait

carried by a small percentage of the population. He claims that today, whether in industry,

government, or not-for-profits, it is widely accepted that leadership is required at all levels of

organizations if they are to effectively respond to societal or market issues. As a result,

leadership resembles a dynamic process through which individuals come together to pursue

changes and, in the process, collectively form a common vision of what the world (or some

part of it) should be like, generating meaning of their experiences and molding their thinking

and behaviors.

Several African countries, including Nigeria, have been unable to develop strong and

effective leadership that benefits society as a result of the sheer wickedness of political

leaders who would rather fill their pockets than see the society improve. Other times, it is due

to the country's high illiteracy rate, or a tough structure of "god-fatherism"—a structure of

people who capture power and hand it over to their puppets—or a variety of other factors. In

any case, most people are unaware of their leaders' poor judgments and behaviors until they

experience the consequences. Following the outcry over the violation of fundamental rights

and the mistreatment of humans, literary artists, among others, have used works of literature

as a weapon to satirize the sickening situation and speak out against socio-political issues

such as bad governance and leadership, bribery and corruption, and ineffective government.
As a result, it is critical that the substance of African literary works narrate Africans' socio-

political struggles.

Nigeria’s leadership has been letting the country down for a long time. Evidence suggests

that corruption in Nigeria stretches back to 1954, according to a report (ACBF, 2007). The

severity of accusations of corruption in the public sector, for instance, resulted in the

formation of the first corruption-related commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of

misuse of office leveled against Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was at the time the leader of

government business and subsequently voted into office as the first premier of what was then

Nigeria's Eastern Region. The Chief Whip of that region's House of Assembly accused him of

abusing his office to divert public finances to the African Continental Bank, in which he

reportedly had a significant personal stake.

According to Ike (2010), previous Nigerian governments looted or misappropriated $407

billion (225 billion pounds) by 1999. This sum is equivalent to the total sum of Western aid

to Africa. He also claimed that the immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Economic and

Financial Crimes Commission revealed that 220 billion pounds was spent between the

country's independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and its restoration to democracy in

1999. This lost treasure corresponds to the 220 billion pounds in Western aid to Africa from

1960 to 1997. This was six fold the value of aid provided by the United States to postwar

Europe under the Marshall Plan for Reconstruction of Europe. Ike also highlighted a list of

Nigerian funds provided to the then-President of Nigeria by the World Bank in 1999, which

included depositors from four Western countries. The country's seemingly unbeatable

corruption problem has resulted in a catastrophic socio-political dynamic between leaders and

the people they lead.

Nigeria is a victim of bad leadership and complicated systemic corruption, which has spread

throughout the country and grown malignant. Scholars and writers who have highlighted the

inseparable correlation between leadership instability and corruption in the country as the

continued explanation for Nigeria’s embarrassing economic tribulations, political

convolutions, and national underdevelopment have supported this viewpoint. The conclusion

of current arguments is that Nigerian leadership suffers from extreme moral depravity and

attitudinal decadence (Agbor, 2012; Ezirim, 2010; Ebegbulem, 2009; Ogbunwezeh, 2007).

Ebegbulem (2009), in particular, argues that greedy, incompetent tribal leaders and cunning

small money-minded persons posing as leaders have tended to regenerate through time while

evaluating the variety of leaders who have bestrode the country’s political scene. The

leadership crisis in Nigeria has lasted from Tafawa Balewa (1960–1966) through Olusegun

Obasanjo (1999–2007).

Many scholars practicing Leadership Studies in pedagogical endeavors have been drawn to

the tendency of incorporating literary materials. For example, James G. March (2005)

contributes to the field of Organizational Research in a novel way. He uses classic works

such as War and Peace (1869) and Don Quixote to analyze the challenges inherent in leading

and leadership in a leadership course at Stanford University (1605). His book examined

leadership qualities and issues such as ambition and purpose in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall

Apart (1958), faith versus reason in Bertolt Brecht’s The Life of Galileo (1937-39),

awakening the human spirit in Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan (1924), authenticity in Girish

Karnad’s Tughlaq (1964), and Mudrarakshasa (4th or 5th century) by Visakhadat.

Most times, imitation of human society is found in literature, especially in particular

preoccupation, settings, and characterization. The African people have witnessed experiences

(socio-political, economic and religious) that form their perspectives, which literary writers
draw from as sources for the content of literature. In Africa, we suffer from so many things

one of which is bad governance, leaders, ignorance and so on One of major issues that

literary composers draw from which plague the African societies is political leadership. For

instance, African countries have had leaders such as Idi Amin of Uganda, Robert Mugabe of

Zimbabwe, King Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, General Ibrahim Babaginda and General Sanni

Abacha of Nigeria. All these leaders or head of states were once ascribed as tyrants or

dictators.

Consequently, it is of importance that the content of literary works produced by literary

writers of Nigeria narrate the political ordeals of these rulers’ regimes. Louis James in “The

Protest Tradition” notes this fact when he states that “in situations as explosive as that of

Africa today there can be no creative literature that is not in some way political, in some way

protest. In a situation as fraught with conflict as Africa, literature achieves a peculiar

significance and importance…it inevitably becomes a form of protest.

The subject matter of “political leadership loophole” imply a failure or a contrariness in the

idea of true leadership to something that has become tainted, that is, almost unrecognizable as

a form of leadership. Here, the term “leadership” is at the center of the discourse and the

opinion held in this research is that leadership is firstly a societal framework before it is

anything. This is because, society has always been purely a disorganized structure without the

framework of leadership; (not necessarily positive in this light) essentially a form of co-

ordination, a form of direction by a superior designated chief. That is to say, the concept of

leadership has always been present in society for a very long time because through it, society

is able to achieve a structure that allows for it to survive for long. Judging by these definition,

one may hastily conclude that leadership connotes excellent coordination and direction of a

society or any sect of it. However, leadership is bigger than this. As a matter of fact, the more
this section exposes the term leadership, one would only find out that the word is so

subjective that it almost avoids a particular definition.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

A lot of papers with contrasting ideas have been written on the issue of leadership loopholes,

especially in African literature, there is little examination of this issue in Afolayan’s Once

upon an Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again. This is because the texts of

discourse are relatively new. Political leadership loopholes is a grave issue in any society, it

is, therefore, on this basis that this research attempts to fill the void which is yet to receive

immediate and adequate attention.

1.4 Research Objectives

1. To identify the causes of political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’s Once upon an

Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again;

2. To examine instances of political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’s Once upon an

Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again;

3. To interrogate patterns of political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’s Once upon an

Elephant and Eghagha’sOnowawi Shall Rise Again.

4. To show the impact of political leadership loopholes on cultural, economic and

political life in Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall

Rise Again.

1.5 Research Questions

1. What are the causes of political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’sOnce Upon an

Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again?

 2. What are the instances of political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’s Once upon an

Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again?;

3. What are the patterns of political leadership loopholes evident in Afolayan’s Once

upon an Elephant and Hope Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again?

4. What are the impacts of political leadership loopholes on cultural, economic and

political life in Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant and Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall

Rise Again?

1.6 Methodological Framework

The researcher, in an examination of the subject of political leadership loopholes and its

effects as evident in selected African literature will be making use of Bosede Afolayan’s

Once upon an Elephant and Hope Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again as primary texts of

discourse. Also, the researcher cite other scholarly papers, online materials, and related texts

found in the library that treat similar subject to the matter, especially in the chapter two of the

research.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This research is an attempt to underpin the idea that literature gives a critical understanding

of the human society, and it does so with a focused reading of literature supporting its

premise. While there are a range of themes inherent in the primary texts of this research, the

focus is on the instances and patterns of political leadership loopholes. This study also

captures the causes, as well as the impacts of political leadership loopholes. Hence, this

research is predicated on a Marxist reading of the primary texts.

1.8 Theoretical Framework

This research examines political leadership loopholes in Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant

and Hope Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again from a Marxist perspective. Marxism is a

political, economic, and social theory of Karl Marx. Marxism is a theory that embraces the

belief of the struggle between social classes. It can also be defined as a theory and practice of

socialism including the labor theory of value, dialectical materialism, class struggle, and

dictatorship of the proletariat. The major aim in the history of Marxism is that there should

eventually be a society in which there are no classes. It is aimed at explaining the political,

social, and economic contradiction inherent in capitalism. The theory holds that the human

society develops through social stratification and class struggle. This manifests itself in the

conflict between the ruling classes and the lower classes. The ruling class, otherwise called

the upper class or bourgeoisie are people who control the means of production while the

lower class on the other hand are the exploited. In simpler terms, the lower class are those

that enables the means (mentioned above) by selling their labor for wages. This class of

people are also referred to as the proletariat. Marx maintains that social life is based on

conflicts of interest; one’s social class dictates one’s social life. As mentioned earlier, two

classes of people exist in the society-the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. They are also

referred to as the ‘haves’ and ‘haves-not’.

Marxist literary theory, according to Newton (1988), begins with the notion that literature

must be comprehended in connection to historical and social events as viewed from a Marxist

perspective. The basic Marxist assumption is that a society’s economic basis affects the type

and pattern of the ideology, institutions, and practices (such as literature) that make up its

superstructure. The most explicit kind of Marxist criticism, dubbed “vulgar” Marxism, holds

that there is a simple predictable relationship between the base and the superstructure, and

that literary writings are causally determined by the economic base. The Hungarian scholar

Georg Lukacs (1962), a Marxist in the Hegelian tradition, considers literature as reflecting
socio-economic realities as well, but he rejects the idea that the two are inextricably linked.

He claims that the finest works of literature do not simply repeat popular beliefs of their day,

but also include a critique of these ideologies in their composition.

According to Balogun (2007), Marxism is a dominant critical theory that was born in the

middle of the nineteenth century and flourished tremendously throughout the twentieth

century. It is fundamentally based on Karl Marx's work. According to Marxism, social and

economic variables are critical denominators of societal relationships. Writers have

frequently battled for the oppressed's cause through their writings, based on the Marxist

ideology. He claimed that a society ruled by capitalism could not thrive socially or

emotionally. He also observes: “The interest of Marxist literature is to defend the cause of the

oppressed. Marxism, like every other modern theory of writing, is universal and since it can

be used in quest of freeing society from corrupt practices. Its concern which emerged out of

the need to find a lasting solution to class stratification and a society free of oppression

consists of the rise of a tradition of radical thinking in general, and with the strongest

ideological alignment. Marxist writers usually paint the harrowing experiences of social

injustice and the suffering of the common masses at the hands of the elites. They expose the

ills and wrongs of society in the sense of how the rich or elites that belong to the upper class

subjugate the poor through various activities that can be considered social injustice.

Lois Tyson posits in Critical Theory Today that:

…differences in the socio-economic class divide people in ways that are much more

significant than differences in religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For the real battle

lines are drawn, to put the matter simply, between the “haves” and the “have-nots,”

between the bourgeoisie - those who control the world’s natural, economic and human

resources - and the proletariat… (54)

Marxist theory has concepts such as alienation, revolution, exploitation, class struggle,

relations of production, commodification fetishism, materialism, capitalism vs socialism,

social inequality, cultural hegemony, and reification. The Marxist theory is one of the most

convenient theory to examine the identified texts because the two selected texts share the

same ideological approach which is Marxism.

1.9 Significance of the Study

It is believed that this study will impact subsequent readings of the selected texts, and while

both plays offer entertainment on the surface, much insight can also be read into the more

fundamental issues they demonstrate. While the subject matter of this study is based on the

patterns, cause and impacts of political leadership loopholes portrayed in the primary texts, it

is a mirror and a critical reflection of our immediate society. Understanding of the causes of a

problem often bares with it the possible approaches to address such problem. The study is,

therefore, as crucial to readers of drama as it is to our society at large.

1.10 Limitation of the Study

Literature on the subject matter of research are inexhaustible. Thus, this study is limited to

the selected literature and the reading of only two plays: Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant

and Hope Eghagha’s Onowawi Shall Rise Again. Also, the findings are limited to the texts

captured in the study.

1.11 Operational Definition of Terms

Political: The word “political” is an adjective of the noun “politics”. Magstadt and Schotenin

define politics as the science of government. As a science, they view it as “a systematic body

of knowledge…that deals with the government and regulation, maintenance and

development, defence and augmentation of the state”.

Leadership is the capacity of someone to lead others. It is a process by which an executive

can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards accomplishment of

specific goals in a given situation…the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to

work with confidence and zeal.

Loophole can be defined as a method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a

rule or law that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect. Loophole in this study is

explained to mean that although the leaders’ true and utmost duty should be the concerns of

the people they govern, they sometimes dodge these concerns and focus on personal

concerns; how to use the power given to them to obtain personal cravings.

1.12 Summary of Chapters

Chapter One of this project is a general introduction of the paper. Chapter Two is a review of

literature and scholarly works as it relates to political leadership loopholes. Chapter Three

and Four contain examination of Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant and Hope Eghagha’s

Onowawi Shall Rise Again respectively. Chapter Five is a general conclusion of the essay.

1.13 Conclusion

This chapter gives a general introduction to the subject matter of the research. The

background of the study, statement of the problem, research objectives and questions, the

scope of the study and theoretical framework of the thesis are explained here.