POWER POLITICS AND THE QUESTION OF TYRANNY IN AFRICA: LESSONS FROM SANYA DOSUNMU’S GOD’S DEPUTY

Abstract

The African continent has proven to be quite dynamic in the political space. Indeed, since the wave of colonial rule swept over the continent and with the eventual realization and acquisition of self governance across member states, Africa and her leaders have become major players in the scheme of things. Through an elongated period of experimentation plagued by military coups, corruption, underdevelopment, exploitation by foreign powers and so on, the continent has continued the evolve and has remained quite dominant on the world stage. The discourse of power politics and the concept of Tyranny in Africa form the Anchor hold for this study. Over time, African playwrights and indeed Theatre scholars have continued to replicate what could be termed as the “African situation” through literary works and plays and this has in no small measure aided in the reawakening of the average African to the reality of the power struggle in the African political arena as well as the dynamics or lack thereof of adequate leadership within the ruling class. The qualitative research method is adopted for this study. This includes in-depth content analysis and review of related literature for proper data evaluation and interpretation. Sanya Dosunmu’s God’s Deputy is utilized as the primary source of analysis. The study finds among others that more work should be done by Theatre practitioners in reevaluating systems of governance through their art as this would help in creating needed awareness and engender communal participation in the discourse of politics.