RE-INVENTING TRUE DEMOCRATIC UNITY IN NIGERIA: A MYTHOPOEIC ANALYSIS OF BEN BINEBAI'S IF NOT…A PLAY OF THE GODS

Abstract

Democracy is often described as one of the best systems of government. African countries have embraced democracy as this system of government tends to benefit the people more than military regimes or any other system of government. Nigeria, for instance, jettisoned British monarchical rule and embraced democratic governance following her independence in October 1960. Since then, Nigerian democracy has witnessed a lot of upheavals as successive governments have struggled to create a sense of national unity in a complex country with over 250 ethnic groups and different political leanings, cultural and religious biases. It is these dichotomies coupled with the hydra headed corruption in the Nigerian body polity that have hampered the actualization of true and genuine democracy as evident in the works of some Nigerian Playwrights who have been preoccupied with the oppressive attitude of the leaders and the helplessness/gullibility of the people in their creative works. This study is an account of Benedict Binebai's view towards re-inventing true democratic unity in Nigeria by effectively deploying myths towards the service of society in his thought provoking play, If Not… A play of the gods. The study adopted new historicism as its theoretical framework and descriptive methodology of investigation. The study revealed that true democratic unity can be achieved through a reawakened consciousness of the status quo of traditional deities in fostering national unity which the concept of federal character has failed to achieve.