Change ideology in Femi Osofisan’s once upon four robbers

Abstract

Over the years, Nigeria has been clamouring for the desired change that would serve as a spring board for socio-political and economic development of  the nation. For the desired change to be possible, everybody needs to be involved in one way or the other. Moreover, issues that retard progress and  development in the society must be done away with. It was in this guise that the then military government of General Yakubu Gowon in a bid to fight  social ills and crime in Nigeria promulgated a decree that, armed robbers should be punished by public execution. This was meant to deter would -be  armed robbers from the act. While this decree lasted other people in the nation were also involved in heinous crimes against the nation. Osofisan’s dislike  of what was going on in the nation made him to voice his opinion through the medium of drama. In Once upon Four Robbers, he decries the  killing of armed robbers through public execution. He goes further to proffer solutions that would bring progress and development in the country. He  submitted that, all and sundry must be change agents if Nigeria must progress and develop. This paper, therefore, analyses the change ideology of  Osofisan as presented in Once upon Four Robbers in managing the development challenges of Nigeria. Marxist and postcolonial theories are adopted as   theoretical foundation for the paper. Marxists hold that the working class masses are the real makers of history. The images contained in Once upon Four  Robbers are crucial signals of the playwright’s ideological standpoint. The paper concludes that for the desired development to be possible in the country  everybody must develop a change of attitude and put the country first above all other considerations.