IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN AKINWUMI ÌṢỌ̀LÁ'S AYE YE WON TAN

Oyèwọlé Aróhunmọ́làṣe[1]

Ìṣọ̀lá, in this modern Yoruba play, uses Yoruba folklore to reveal some of his beliefs and aspirations about the nature of the Yoruba society in particular and the Nigerian society in general. This play is written in Yoruba language and the story is based on a Yoruba town of Ìpo. Although the play is written in Yoruba, it could be applicable to any Nigerian, nay, any African society. It is much more relevant now, especially with the present wave of the crave for traditional, professional, ceremonial, political or even desired titles and the attendant rivalries. The high level of Ìṣọ̀lá's creative sensibilities has largely been responsible for his ability to reorganise realistic materials gathered from his pool of experience in such a way that interconnections between them and the whole from which they are abstracted are revealed (Slaughter 1980:197).

The herbalist in this play is in support of Siyanbọ́lá, a contestant to Ipo throne. As is generally believed by the Yoruba people, he uses charms to mobilise unseen forces in order that the King-makers would choose Siyanbọ́lá. He is of the view that it is only Siyanbọ́lá out of the other contestants who would be able to make life easy for him. This is a selfish aim that should not be encouraged in the society. Some King-makers have this selfish aims in their support of the contestants to the throne. It is more symbolic of the government administrators, some office holders and their meteors to occupy or own eminent positions because they feel more secure, but at the expense of merit.

The contestants to the throne of Ìpo have their respective, although conflicting meanings and goals that are revealed by Basọ̀run, the head of the King-makers. The contestants are Siyanbọ́lá Ọsínyàgò Ọládépò Òjígí and Adéníyì Amúniwáyé. One promises to pay the King-makers'/Chiefs' salaries. Another one promises to get wives for the King-makers, while the other is in support of the view that the poor suffering masses should not suffer. We assume that Siyanbọ́lá Ọsínyàgò would be the supporter of paying the King-makers'/Chief s' salaries while Ọládépò Òjígí would be in support of making life comfortable for the poor suffering masses. Although Ìṣọ̀lá (1981: 399-410) tells us that Siyanbọ́lá, who was chosen by the King-makers as the Ọba of Ìpo, promises a great deal of good things for the workers before ascending the throne, what we read from the story does not confirm with Ìṣọ̀lá's statement that Siyanbọ́lá is in support of the poor suffering, toiling masses. He promises to give them a piece of land for their co-operative farm. Ọládépò Òjígí is one of the contestants to the throne of Ipo who is in support of the poor masses. He meets with them and he is the patron of the co-operative society in the town. He is killed by Siyanbọ́lá's hired assassins in one of such meetings of the co-operative society. Siyanbọ́lá's speech as regards the poor toiling masses testifies to the fact that he is not in their support. According to him,

Mẹ̀kúnnù, Mẹ̀kúnnù, èmi ni mo sọ ẹnìkan di olòṣì bí? àbí mo ní kí ẹni tó bá fẹ́ẹ́ là kó má là (Ìṣọ̀lá in press: 38) (The poor masses, the poor masses, have I made any man poor? Or have I hindered any person from amassing wealth?).

We assume that Adéníyì Amúniwáyé is in support of marrying wives for the King­makers/Chiefs. This idea does not get the support of many of the King-makers. This is because many of them are old and others have up to eleven wives. This is not a good idea for our present day society.

The King-makers, on their part, try to mobilise other King-makers to support their candidates. We assume that such King-makers support the vision or the ideas of their chosen candidates. Alapinni is a supporter of Ọládépò Òjígí while Sàmù supports Adéníyì Amúniwáyé. Àgbàakin is not a supporter of Ọládépò Òjígí because he (Ọládépò) is a miser. Basọ̀run is a supporter of Siyanbọ́lá Ọsínyàgò. He is able to mobilise other King-makers to support the choice of Siyanbọ́lá as the Ọba of Ìpo. The traditional method of sending the names of the three contestants to lfa for the best choice is set aside. In the present day society, people tend to support those who spend money lavishly. Many of those who spend money get this money through dubious means. A poor worker who works for his hard earned money cannot spend it lavishly. We assume that Ọládépò Òjígí who possesses a true sense of commitment cannot spend his money lavishly. That is why such people as Àgbàakin cannot support Ọládépò Òjígí.

We cannot rule out crises in the various ideological orientations in this play. Conflict in itself is fundamental to any meaningful drama. Here we have internal and external conflicts, mental dislocation, social values affected and the need to retrieve our psyche for correct social values in order to achieve something more meaningful and realistic. Some of the ideas of certain characters are selfish ones. Characters such as the herbalist and some King-makers want an ọba who would satisfy their inordinate ambitions. People who are not selfish would have a conflicting view which may result in crises. Siyanbọ́lá, the feudalistic Ọba of Ìpo, his wife, Adedun, Basọ̀run, the leader of the King-makers of Ìpo, Oyinladé, a front to Ọba Siyanbọ́lá's smuggling activities, Oni, the Secretary/Treasurer of Ìpo and Aje, Director of a contracting firm, want to control the socio-political and economic situation of Ìpo. Ajé's firm gave ten percent kickback when Ìpo market stalls were built. The realists at Ìpo want the market stall built through communal efforts at a reduced price, but the idealists with the aid of Siyanbọ́lá, the Ọba of Ìpo, awarded the contract to Aje's firm because of their personal gains. This resulted in crises which is suppressed with an appeal and a promise of a piece of land for co­operative farming. In this play, two distinct groups are revealed, the pro-royalists or pro-feudalists led by Siyanbọ́lá and other characters named above and the anti-feudalists of the progressives led by Ọládépò Òjígí, the patron, and Fasakin, the principal of Ìpo Grammar School. We also have other workers such as Obilade, a policeman, Àyànlọlá, a drummer and some farmers who believe in an equitable distribution of wealth. The pro-feudalists believe that the progressives, in their meetings, incite the poor toiling masses against them (the royalists). Fasakin, the principal of Ìpo Grammar School, is also labelled a saboteur. He teaches his students not to have regard for Siyanbọ́lá, the Ọba of Ìpo, and others in the Ọba's class.

Siyanbọ́lá, Òní, Basọ̀run, Oyinladé and Ajé meet again for the purpose of giving a piece of land to Aje's firm to build an Ultra-Modern Hotel. This is the piece of land Siyanbọ́lá, the Oba of Ìpo, promised to give the co-operative society for their co-operative farming. The selfish interest of Siyanbọ́lá, Basọ̀run, Oni, Adedun and Oyinladé does not allow them to think of the poor masses of Ipo. The idea of a co-operative venture that would benefit the majority of the masses is not of interest to these pro-royalists. The progressives now led by Fasakin are to be barred from attending the special dinner party arranged for eminent personalities of Aje's firm. Thugs are to be used to bar the progressives from attending the dinner party. It is at the venue of the special dinner party that Fásakin, the leader of the progressives and the suffering masses is killed. There is tension in the town of Ipo and Ipo Chiefs ask Siyanbọ́lá, the Oba, to swear at the shrine of the community deity. This idea does not interest the royalists or the feudalists. Thugs are hired to thwart this effort by Siyanbọ́lá and his cohorts. The towns-people all rise up to the task and Siyanbọ́lá and his accomplices are killed.

Ìṣọ̀lá (1981: 399-410) calls this play a protest play while Adedeji (1985: 7-8) calls it a problem play. The argument as to the appropriateness of these classifications is not a subject of this paper. What is useful for this study is to say that these classifications confirm our view that there are crises of ideological orientations in the society depicted in this play. The crises emanate as a result of the differences in the ideologies in the society. This confirms the view expressed by Marx and Engels (1977: 22) in their philosophy of dialectical materialism and historical materialism when they state that

In a word (the) oppressor and oppressed stood in consistent opposition to one another, carried on an interrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in common ruin of the struggling classes.

At the end of this play, the struggling masses are not ruined as the suggested alternatives above. They are victorious. Can such a thing happen in our present day society? Is this play realistic? Ìṣọ̀lá wants victory for the poor suffering masses. He wants our rulers to abide by their promises. The poor suffering masses should be mobilised to fight for their rights. They should be mobilised to fight for an inequitable distribution of amenities in the socio-political and economic situation in the society. We know that politicians in the society want to be in full control of the socio-political and economic situation. They are the capitalists.

Another view expressed by Ìṣọ̀lá in this play is that it is better to use the Yoruba traditional oath-taking for our leaders in public offices instead of the imported oath-taking. The Yoruba deities or divinities are feared and they prove more efficacious than the imported religious beliefs. Ìṣọ̀lá seems to be confirming what retired General Ọbásanjọ́ once said on the pages of the newspapers that African black magic should be used in putting an end to apartheid in South Africa. African Traditional Religion in Aye Yẹ Wọ́n Tán is proved to be superior to the imported Religions. The Oba, his thugs and his aides are made impotent with Ofo (incantation), the power of the spoken words.

Ìṣọ̀lá uses Yoruba folklore to arouse our social consciousness in this play. He is of the view that selfishness should be eradicated in our society. The society should reject kickbacks and corrupt practices in the award of contracts. Communal self-help should be encouraged. Co-operative societies are helpful in the society. The society should be well mobilised in these directions for the upliftment of the present administrations laudable programmes such as Mass Mobilisation for Social and Economic Reconstruction (MAMSER). The Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure and the Directorate of Employment should note all these suggestions in order to plug all the loopholes that could militate against the successful implementation of laudable programmes.

References

Adedeji, A O (1983), The Plays of Akinwumi Ìṣọ̀lá.', MA Dissertation, Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan.

Ìṣọ̀lá, A (1981), 'Modern Yoruba Drama', in Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book, pp. 399-410. Lagos: Nigeria Magazine.

Ìṣọ̀lá, A (In press), Aye Ye Won Tan.

Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels (1977)  Communist Manifesto. Moscow: Programme Publisher.

Slaughter, Cliff (1980), Marxist Ideology and Literature (Critical Social Studies) London: The Macmillan Ltd.

---

[1] This paper was published as Arohunmolase, Oyewole (1998), ‘Ideological Conflict in Akinwumi Isola’s Ayé Yẹ Wọn Tán, Journal of Nigerian Languages and Literatures (edited by L.O. Adewole) 6: 22-25.