FOLLOWERSHIP AND POST-INDEPENDENCE DISILLUSIONMENT IN SELECTED PLAYS OF FEMI OSOFISAN

Abstract

Post-independence disillusionment, a condition whereby people are disappointed as a result of socio-political failure in post-independence Africa, is one of the motifs that preoccupy contemporary Nigerian drama. Existing studies on Femi Osofisan’s literary works have approached this concern with a bias for scapegoating colonial and neo-colonial leaders as the cause of Africa’s underdevelopment, while neglecting the role of the followership in the collective predicaments. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the representation of the complicity of followership in post-independence disillusionment in selected plays of Femi Osofisan and the dramaturgical devices employed to enhance the representation. This is with a view to establishing the contribution of the followers to their collective predicaments. Robert Young’s version of Postcolonial Theory was adopted as framework, while interpretive design was used. Nine plays of Osofisan were purposively selected for their representations of post-independence disillusionment from the perspective of the ruled. The selected texts were Fires Burn and Die Hard (Fires), Birthdays Are Not for Dying (Birthdays), Love’s Unlike Lading (Love’s), Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels (Esu), Farewell to a Cannibal Rage (Farewell), Aringindin and the Nightwatchmen (Aringindin), Altine’s Wrath (Altine’s), The Inspector and the Hero (Inspector) and One Legend, Many Seasons (Legend). The texts were subjected to critical analysis. Actions and inactions of the followers in the selected plays demonstrate that ordinary people contribute significantly to post-independence disillusionment and underdevelopment. Lawal (Altine’s), Ereniyi (Inspector) and Alowolodu (Legend), who are hitherto common people, are shown to behave and perform worse in leadership position than their predecessors. Esu and Farewell depict how relatively privileged few, who should champion the cause of the voiceless, betray their kinsmen through sycophancy and treachery, while Aringindin depicts the high handedness of vigilante groups whose victims are equally commoners. In Fires, setting ablaze of the market by Alhaja in order to conceal her dealing in contraband goods throws the rest of the market women in untold hardship. The corrupt practices of the business associates of Kunle Aremo’s father in Birthdays also project the followers as being as corrupt as their leaders. Bassey’s usury practices in Love’s depict the exploitation of the masses, while other characters’ political apathy foregrounds insensitivity to their own predicaments. Dramaturgical devices are used in the plays to enhance the playwright’s innovative representations of the dysfunctionality of post-independence Nigeria. In Fires, Birthdays, Love’s and Inspector, aesthetics of masking, Orunmila motif and symbolism are deployed to expose the followers. Satire, paradox and irony are used in Esu, Farewell, Aringindin, Altine’s and Legend to lampoon the followers for being as guilty as the leaders they accuse. Femi Osofisan deploys satire, paradox, irony, among others, to portray the followers as complicit in post-independence disillusionment in Nigeria. These plays point attention to followership as a significant factor in post-independence development in Nigeria.