Contemporary Realities in the Selected Plays of Femi Osofisan, Sam Ukala and Tess Onwueme

Abstract

It has often been said that a writer’s assumption, criticisms, and everything he or she writes about are a result of the society he or she has found himself or herself. Literature is a product of the society. No writer writes without reflecting the prevailing issues or problems bedeviling the society he or she comes from. This paper takes a look at the contemporary issues in the Nigerian (even African) polity that have received the attention of Femi Osofisan in <i>Who is Afraid of Solarin</i>? and <i>Women of Owu</i>; Sam Ukala in <i>Odour of Justice</i> and Tess Onwueme in <i>The Missing Face</i> and <i>Tell it to Women</i>. The major aim of this paper is to expose some of the prevailing issues in contemporary Nigeria. These issues have continued to cause major setbacks in the Nigerian polity. The paper has helped in opening the eyes of the readers and drawing their ears on the corruption and other vices perpetuated by the leaders, women and tricksters in our midst. The selected playwrights beam their critical lens on the contemporary realities in Nigeria through their adaptations of oral traditions in their works. It is concluded that the playwrights are very much at alert with their social realities and they expose these socio-political and cultural issues in Nigeria, especially, for positive change.