Democracy, Gender Issues and Women Empowerment in Nigeria: Reflections on Selected Nigerian Feminist Drama

Authors

  • Augustine Obiajulu Eziechine University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria
  • Jude Aigbe Agho Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47941/jgrs.1296

Keywords:

Democracy, Gender, Women Empowerment, Drama, Human Rights, Creative Writers

Abstract

Purpose: Gender inequality has thrived in Nigeria for too long. Feminist scholars therefore feel that there is urgent need to change the status quo through feminist inputs and this led to the present persistent advocacy for women empowerment. Drama has been mostly deployed as a means of expressing this new trend of discourse. Thus, Nigerian writers, especially feminist dramatists, consciously reflect in their works the frightening realities of the prevailing socio- political and economic situations in the country, drawing the attention of the masses, especially the female gender to the inequality inherent in their exploitation, mobilizing the society to rise up against their oppressors. This paper therefore, is set to examine the issues of gender and women empowerment in Nigeria as reflected in selected Nigerian plays. The plays include Tess Onwueme's The Reign of Wazobia, J.P. Clark's The Wives' Revolt and Fred Agbeyegbe's The King Must Dance Naked.

Methodology: Textual analysis of the selected plays is carried out.

Findings: The analysis reveals that drama can be employed as a weapon to break the walls of cultural barriers that impede the struggle of women for social, political and economic empowerment.

Unique Contribution to Theory Policy and Practice: Thus, premised on the Womanist theory, this paper concludes that drama can be deployed as a means of promoting justice, gender equity and fair play in Nigeria's drive towards the possibilities of true democracy. This is the playwrights' contribution to the theory and practice of feminist drama in Nigeria.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Augustine Obiajulu Eziechine, University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria

Department of Languages (English Unit)

Jude Aigbe Agho, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State

Department of English

References

Adegboyega, A.A. (2020). " Protest, Democracy and Social Development in Nigeria: Reflections on contemporary Nigerian Writings,'' in International Journal of Academic Research in Business,Arts and Science (IJARBAS), 51-71.

Agbeyebge, F.(1990). The King Must Dance Naked. Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.

Agho, J.A. (1999). " Towards a Poetics of Liberation in Africa: The Example of Festus Iyayi,'' New Perspectives on African Literature,Benin City: Jublee Press.

Asen,R.D. (2006). "Womanist Critique of the Socio-cultural Themes in Selected Plays of Zulu Sofola, Tess Onwueme and J.P.Clark.'' In: I. Salami-Agunloye (ed.), Women, Theatre and Politics : Contemporary Perspectives, Ibadan: Saniez Publishers , 167-191.

Benedict, B. and Odi,C.(2011). "Drama and Prophecy: The J.P. Clark Paradigm.'' https://www.ajol.info> article, 77-85.

Clark, J'P.(1991). The Wives' Revolt . Ibadan: University Press. Print.

Doofan,A. and Alachi, J.A. (2006). "Women Empowerment and Gender Issues in Contemporary Nigerian Dramatic Texts.''In: I. Salami-Agunloye(ed.), Women ,Theatre and Politics: Contemporary Perspectives, Ibadan: Saniez Publishers,92-211.

Federal Republic of Nigeria(1999). The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lagos: Federal Government Press.

Nwanmuo,C. (2001)."Politics of Change in Nigerian Drama: Sofola and Onwueme Framed.''In A. Asagba (ed.), Cross Currents in African Theatre. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited,62-72.

Ogunyemi,C. (1998)."Women and Nigerian Literature. "˜In: Y. Ogunbiyi (ed.), Perspectives on Nigerian Literature, 1700- to the Present., Vol. one, Lagos: Guardian Books Nigerian limited, 65-67.

Onwueme,T. O.(1988). The Reign of Wazobia.I badan: Heinemann Educational Books , Nigeria Plc. Print.

Otete-Akpofure, E. (2011). "The Niger Delta Struggle and the Politics of Individualism: Irobi's Hangmen Also Die , Tunde Fatunde's No More Oil Boom and J. P. Clark's All For Oil and The Wives' Revolt.''In: C. Nwahunanya (ed.), From Boom to Doom, Protest and Conflict Resolution in the Literature of the Niger Delta .'' Owerri: Springfield Publishers Ltd., 248-260.

Oyelade,D.O. and Lateef, R. O. (2009). "The Taboo Motif and Gender Issues in Irene Salami- Agunloye's The Queen Sisters and More Than Dancing.'' In: E.U. Idegu (ed.), Feminist Aesthetics and Dramaturgy of Irene Salami- Agunloye.''Kaduna: T.W Press and Publishers , 224-235.

Udenta, O.U. (1993). Revolutionary Aesthetics and the African Literary Process. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers.

Ukah, K.(1978). " From Commitment to Essence : A View of African Writing.'' Literature and Modern West African Culture. Benin City: Ethiope Publishing Corporation.

Downloads

Published

2023-06-05

How to Cite

Eziechine, A. O. ., & Agho, J. A. (2023). Democracy, Gender Issues and Women Empowerment in Nigeria: Reflections on Selected Nigerian Feminist Drama. Journal of Gender Related Studies, 4(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.47941/jgrs.1296

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Augustine Obiajulu Eziechine, Jude Aigbe Agho

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.