Theatre activism and leadership tussles: playwrights as catalysts for restructuring Nigerian economic system

Abstract

The social and politico-economic growth of a nation is largely dependent on the credibility of her leadership. No organisation, group or association has ever achieved economic, social and cultural growth without being engineered by person(s) who form a permanent leadership caucus. In the world at large, judging from the antediluvian era up till now, there had not been a period of leadership perfection. In Nigeria, the centrifugal force of indecisiveness and perverted judgement has taken over as a modus of leading the masses against the original setting of the constitution. Therefore, this study aims to add voice to the existing voices advocating for adequate restructuring of Nigerian federal leadership in order to ameliorate her economic instability that led the nation into economic recession. The researchers zero in the study on Alex Asigbo’s The Reign of Pascal Amusu and Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vulture which serve as literary templates in divulging and disparaging the bad actors of governance in the society. This is to ensure equal opportunity to all Nigerians to contribute effectively in national development and economic stability, as well as restoring peaceful coexistence amongst its citizens in different parts of the country. Case study and content analysis research approaches of the qualitative research method are adopted for the realisation of the research objectives.