LITERATORS' CORNER

                                 — Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy It has been a while since I read a play or wrote a review on one. So, you could say that I was a bit excited to have found Umaru Ladan and Dexter Lyndersay’s Shaihu Umar on my shelf. It is a play adapted from a novel of same title by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Albeit the excitement of seeing the acts come alive on stage is incomparable, I derive pleasure in visualising the scenes and recreating the stage in my mind eyes. In this play set at the period of early establishment of Islam in what is today known as northern Nigeria, the eponymous character; Shaihu Umar; is a young orphan born just a day after the death of his father. Fatimah, his mother, soon remarries into the household of Makau, the Chief warrior of the Village Chief. However, Kwatau; the Chief's younger brother; is envious of Makau's closeness to the Chief, so he frames Makau ...

I abhor writing drama reviews. And this is not because dramas do not find much favour with me, it is just that I have been hit by the realisation that our modern world is devoid of play acting and theatres have become antiques, yet the best place to encounter a play is not on the pages of a book, but in a theatre! How does one get the electrifying and thrilling experience of seeing a play come alive on stage if it can only be seen in a book? Surely, no review of any work belonging to the drama genre can be complete without the actual performance experience. Well, given little or no option, I am compelled to meet drama pieces in black ink and white papers while using my imagination to fill out the missing gaps. Today, I bring to you Wale Ogunyemi's Kiriji . Kiriji is a historical drama bordering around the Ibadan and Ekiti Parapo decade long Kiriji war. The Ekiti country had invited the Ibadan warriors to come stop the Fulani military campaign; started in Ilorin after the death of ...

JUDASES OF MANDATES                       --Amadi Ekwutosilam Njoku Days chameleon to weeks, weeks into months Swiftly months become years To yield yet another coterie of representathieves.  Chants of campaign pierce the sullen sky The streets bear their posters, the market places Sing their praise on the lips of buyers As the media herald their false pretence. They are the Judases of mandates Slaying our hope of yearned utopia; Men whose presences reinforce those ugly years we have bid adieu. In trust they bear our common mandates To steer this sutured vessel of scattered tribes  Into the land of milk and honey; Their words are sweet savour that clasp our charmed ears. What manner of guise have they not used Professing to be the Christs that will save the impoverished masses? They are the Judases of mandates  Driven by party allegiance and maddening greed, Great promis...

JUNGLE             --Amadi Ekwutosilam Njoku This jungle is that land Where the future is webbed in desolate dreams And each thread of hope is dried up Like a lake cut off from a life-giving stream. This jungle is that land Where the dagger-hoofed beasts, masters of loot Trample on the frail masses, earnestly Whetting their callous knife of greed Ploughing the people's patrimony to fill their porous pockets. This jungle is that land Where impunity culture is gloried so high Because her laws are too weak to fight a just cause Where depraved dealings spread wildly like a leprous sore Overwhelming victims with its maddening juiciness; The sharpest knife is the bluntest. This jungle is that land Where talents and lofty ideas die unharnessed Under the very watch of her leaders-- Leaders who live only for themselves Leaving behind dusty footmarks for a legacy; the led Grope in continued and deep-seated blacko...