COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN DRAMA: A STUDY OF FEMI OSOFISAN’S ONCE UPON FOUR ROBBERS AND RED IS THE FREEDOM ROAD

Moses Africa Adakonye and Rotimi Jegede

Department of Languages

Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State

ABSTRACT

Literature is one of the most potent forces for attaining a desirable and enviable society when all other ways have terminated.  It exposes, reflects and indeed magnifies the decadent under belly of any given society.  The artist as a moral eye of his society applies all form of strategies to denounce economic and socio-political vices and prescribes an alternative to the anomalous solution.  This paper examines Femi Osofisan’s “Once Upon Four Robbers” and “Red is the freedom Road” as the potent tool for building a better and humane society in this new era of “Re-branding” in Nigeria.  It concludes that the task of re-building a nation is a collective responsibility which every well-meaning Nigerian should be ready to shoulder in order for the country to be a better place for everybody.  

Keywords: Collective-strategy, nation-building, socio-political vices, collective-responsibility, change