THE CONCEPT OF AUTOCRATIC AND DESPOTIC LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA: A STUDY OF A PLAY OF GIANTS WHO IS AFRAID OF SOLARIN? AND FOREST OF PALM TREES

ABSTRACT

Leadership and governance are among the most observed and least understood phenomenon on earth. A call for a focus on leadership and governance is timely, important and no doubt topical, reflecting the world wide thrust towards political and economic liberalization. Throughout the whole world, there has been an urgent desire among various people and government for unity, justice, peace and stability. The resurgence of this desire is not only explicable through their political policies alone; but also it is reflected in the social and economic policies. In fact, most governments in Africa have been undergoing serious and deepening politico-economic crisis. These problems generated by political, social and economic instability and the prevalence of ethnic, communal and religious crises, call our attention to the concepts of leadership and governance  in  the  continent.  In  other  words,  the  staggering  wave  of  violence,  insecurity, economic recession, tyranny, autocracy, despotism, religious extremism, and non adherence to court orders are the attributes to the concepts of leadership and governance in Africa. Therefore, the quest for good leadership is a sine-qua-non for governance and sustainable development. This research is a critical analysis of the concept of autocratic and despotic leadership in Africa. Works  by  playwrights  that  addresses the  subject  of study are  selected  to  highlight  issues threatening leadership and good governance in Africa. The plays portray Africa’s failures to have come about largely as a result of frequent leadership change, lack of ideology, policy reversal and weak institutional patterns. The research also examines the leadership selection process in Africa and that  leadership selection process in Africa takes the imposition pattern and that African leaders have frequently come to their position forcefully with limited experience. Hence, the decline in moral and discipline caused by bad policies, eroded professional standards, ethics and weakened the system of governance. The research lays emphasis on leadership and governance in some African countries using selected Nigerian plays that highlight different dimensions and approaches of leadership and governance in Africa. Through its critical examination of the selected plays, this study will stir up critical debate in the area of discourse and encourage would-be leaders in Africa to embrace good leadership that will impact positively on Africans.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

The advent of democracy is often heralded as a progressive development in most countries, especially in a developing country like Nigeria. In our case however, there appears to be an uncomfortable correlation between “democracy” and an increasing divorce from purpose and logic on a national scale. The African system of government is largely populated by thugs and criminals in disguise, and characterized by all manner of perfidy; nepotism, factionalism, clique and line-ups which could also be called cabal. They operate in circle because when they succeed in putting one of their own in power, they all benefit from that government.

How does one appeal to the conscience of a man who is impervious to disgrace? This is a trait that characterizes not just our political system, but even average citizens, and that is why most of the citizens do not see anything wrong in applauding and glorifying our political leaders who are after looting our treasury and diverting public funds into their own private accounts. They come back to us with the same funds during campaign or election; giving out money, material things and food stuffs.

In spite of all these individual and collective failings, we are very quick to point fingers at our leadership, forgetting our own complicity in the matter. Like in Nigeria, the almighty naira rains supreme and we sing the praise of anyone who can throw a few coins our way, never mind that they stole it from us to begin with. Social mores and codes have been turned on their heads to the extent that the only shameful thing in our continent today is poverty.

Given that our police and Judicial institutions are completely ineffective in arresting the decay, the last effective tool of punishment we have is social exclusion and even that is fast slipping out of our grips. And the last bastions of that: our press our religious leaders, our parents and elders, fail when they rent themselves as praise-singers it the delinquents that hold an entire nation hostage.

We fail ourselves with the small daily acts of shamelessness that we subscribe to. We have turned into a world where a good name no longer has any value; the children of the criminals are being groomed to turn political office into criminal dynasties. This is one of the reasons why Chinenye Amonyeze in his play Glorifying Folly posits;

Folly stares us in the face each time we engage in unwholesome attitudes like selfishness, nepotism, indiscipline, bribery, unsanitary habits and cheating, to a few; erroneously assuming ourselves sagacious while in fact the inglorious act is pure buffoonery of the highest order. Folly inhabits every human being in this country and until it is identified and expunged, we will remain slaves to its wiles and caprices (iv).

Until that day when nepotism, shamelessness, factionalism and cabals are removed and or done away with in our political system, Africa as a continent may remain on the road to perdition.

1.2      Statement of Problem

Social development in Africa from prehistoric times up till now has been inhibited by bad leadership principles from African leaders. The need to address this rot tagged bad leadership in recent times has been a very demanding one. Several writers in Africa have over the years written a lot on leadership in others to address the rot ‘bad leadership’ and the consequences that

come with it. This has invariably and consistently produced slow results but this study in its unusual approach attempts a critical examination on African leadership principles with close reference to the selected plays chosen for discourse. This as a result will stir up critical debate(s) in such a sensitive area like leadership.

1.3      Research Questions

The study hinges on the following research questions:

1.    How does the study stir up critical debate in relation to the selected plays?

2.    What the implications of bad leadership are as portrayed in the selected plays?

3.    What the relevance of good leadership in government is as relayed in the selected plays?

1.4      Objective of the Study

Having in mind the above mentioned facts, this research would discuss in critical terms the sad and shameful nature of our political system where our leaders tune into fraudsters and cheats after winning elections; only for the masses to realize that their sweet and promising manifestos were mere speech making designed for show or public applause by mainly people who are in the same faction, choice or cabal with these public office holders, Aspirants and or leaders.

The objective of this study is therefore –

1.  To highlight the role of leadership in good governance in Nigeria

2.  To highlight the effects of bad leadership as portrayed in the selected plays

3.  To stir up a critical debate in the area of leadership using the selected plays.

1.5      Scope of the Study

A lot of African dramatists and playwrights have also put up performances and written plays  discouraging bad  leadership  in Nigeria and  Africa  in general.  There are  a  lot  to  be discussed with regards to bad leadership, and or insincerity in governance in most African Countries especially Nigeria. This study tends to delimit its scope to the critical analysis of the African political space through the study of three (3) Nigerian plays. A Play of Giants, Who’s Afraid of Solarin? and Forest of Palm Trees. This is perhaps why this study decides to go on this journey logically in critical terms using three prominent and unique Nigerian plays. This study is delimited to the critical analysis of Wole Soyinka’s A Play of Giants (1st  pioneer generation), Femi Osofisan’s Who is Afraid of Solarin? (2nd post-war generation) and Tracy Utoh’s Forest of Palm trees (4th post-millennial generation). These are well written African plays that focus on the political ills in some African Societies. They expose the manner in which leadership is abused and are perpetrated in Nigeria and some other African countries.

1.6      Significance of the Study

There are a lot of round pegs in square holes in African government where citizens do not consider the leadership quality of a political aspirant before adopting him/her as a candidate. The electorates are more concerned about the region or geo-political zone the candidate is coming from, and will only support the candidate if he/she satisfies a quest of specific zones. When elections are inconclusive, marred by violence and irregularities, results are still being announced and upheld in a typical African political space especially Nigeria.

This study is significant as it  exposes and advocates against such political practices through its application of Juvenal satire in the critical analysis of the selected plays. The African populace  may  be  enlightened about  the  dangers and  hazards associated with such  heinous

practices from our leaders who we have trusted with our mandates but they sabotage our future in return. By literary satirizing the activities of our political leaders, the people are informed and enlightened about the fundamentals of good leadership qualities. The negative effect of bad leadership as portrayed will serve as a warning to future would-be-leaders and also an insurance for a better African political space. The study will spur future researches and also provide references for future researches into this area of study.

1.7      Research Methodology

The  nature of a  study determines the  research methodology it  employs.  This study employs Qualitative research methodology in analyzing and critically interpreting data used in the work. Due to the historical nature of the study, the discourse will employ the historical methodological style in gathering and analyzing of data for the study. Sam Ukala, in Manual of Research and of Thesis Writing in Theatre Arts states, Historical methodology “entails the investigation of documented sources, such as books, journals, reports, films, video and audio tapes, archival materials…as well as oral sources” (12). He explains that this method is used to ascertain facts and occurrences in definite places and time. The methodology is necessary and it is applied to this study because of its relevance to the topic. Critical analysis of literally works in the area of political theatre which are directly concerned with governance, political philosophies, approach and mannerism of different political leaders are of great importance as they project and authenticate the methodology and claims of this research. The present situation of the continent and its historical facts are used to prove certain points in different aspects of this work because this work cannot be complete without them.

The researcher uses materials from Library, Interviews, Articles, Journals, Inaugural lectures, Internets, lecture notes, seminars, play texts and workshops as his major sources of

information which are cited, quoted and documented in order to authenticate and acknowledge the original sources of them. Nevertheless, some aspects of this work are based on common sense, intuition, inspiration, imagination and germinal ideas so as to be able to achieve the objective of this research.

1.8      Theoretical Framework

This study is guided by the Reader-Response theory as its theoretical framework. This theory does not designate any one critical theory, but rather a focus on the process of reading a literary text that is shared by many of the critical modes. M. H. Abrams believes “Reader- Response critics turn from the traditional conception of a work as an achieved structure of meanings… (265). This study adopts the reader-response model developed by the German critic Wolfgang Iser. In Iser’s view;

the  literary text,  as a  product of the  writer’s  intentional acts,  in part controls the reader’s responses, but always contains (to a degree that has greatly increased in many modern literary texts) a number of “gaps” or “inderterminate elements.” These the reader must fill in by a creative participation with what is given in the text before him (266).

This study is also guided by the Juvenalian Satire. Juvenalian Satire’s goal is to provoke some sort of change because the government, societal structures, and power are presented as harmful and evil. In literature, any bitter and ironic criticism of contemporary persons and institutions that is filled with personal invective, angry, moral indignation, and pessimism could be tagged Juvenalian satire. The name alludes to the Latin satirist, Juvenal, who in the 1st  century AD, brilliantly denounced Roman society, the rich, powerful, and the discomforts and dangers of city life.  Juvenalian  satire  has  been  noted  from  antiquity  for  its  wrathful  scorn  towards  all

representatives of social deviance, some politically progressive scholars such as Abrams posits, “Horatian satire is gentle, urbane, smiling… aims to correct by gently and sympathetic laughter while  Juvenal  satire  is  biting,  bitter,  and  angrily-spiced  out  with  contempt  and  moral- indignation” (188).

The  play  as  written  by  a  playwright  might  be  on  contemporary or  historic  issues bordering on socio-political, religious problems, entertainment (farce) or children’s moonlight story telling. According to Robert Cohen, in his book Theatre and Drama, “Drama could not begin without the disciplined construction of an orderly sequence of words and actions representing a real or imagined experience” (3). This goes a long way to show that the playwright’s duties in the society are immeasurable. They write about the people of the noble, the middle and the lower classes. Everybody (high, middle and low class citizens) is expected to see himself on the stage as there can never be a rich man where there are no poor people.

Factionalism, Nepotism, egocentricism, corruption and mismanagement of public funds have eaten deep into the fabrics of our society (Nigeria). Nobody is left out; the political class, civil and public servants are all affected and or infected. We learn very little of these shameful anomalies on radio, television and newspaper every day, while a lot are being perpetrated on daily bases. This implies that only very little of the crimes are exposed. As a result, three Nigerian play texts.  Wole  Soyinka’s A  Play  of  Giants, Femi Osofisan’s Who  is  Afraid  of Solarin?, Tracie  Utoh’s Forest of  Palm Trees  are  instrumental in exposing some of these inhuman act perpetrated by those in leadership positions and public offices in Africa.

In the subsequent chapters, the researcher exposes and analyzes in critical terms scholarly related concepts, ideas and related material to the topic of study.

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