Political Trends and Perspectives in New Nigerian Fiction

Article Citation: Kabir Ahmed (2019). Political Trends and Perspectives in New Nigerian Fiction. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2. ISSN 0794-9316

POLITICAL TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES IN NEW NIGERIAN FICTION

By

Kabir Ahmed

Abstract

In consonance with the overarching position that African literature must engage the society’s socio-political issues, this study examines the works of two relatively ‘new’ Nigerian novelists to gauge the level of the authors’ fidelity to their forerunners’ role as voices for the voiceless and conscience of society. These novels by Liwhu Betiang and Sieged (2011) by Adamu Kyuka Usman focus on the ethno-religious and regional sensitivities and sensibilities, in the perception of political events and developments in Nigeria. The study entails a literary analysis of each of the texts highlighting each novelist’s dominant thematic preoccupation. Interestingly, the paper reveals that, in spite of the ethno-religious and regional differences of the authors, they both agree on the fact that the problem of Nigeria lies with the political leadership. Equally interesting is their consensus that the solution to the nation’s political problems lies with a revolution among the followership based on rigorous intellection. The paper, hence, establishes that, though relatively new voices, these two authors engage Nigeria’s neocolonial political class with the same verve and nerve as the older generation of writers did the colonial masters and, subsequently, the incipient neocolonial ruling class.

Introduction

The interaction between literature and society is neither simply mutual nor incidental but essentially and fundamentally habitual. This symbiotic relationship between literature and society, which includes social institutions entails that while literature depends on society for its raw materials, society is shaped and transformed through literature. Appropriately, Harry Levin observes that “the relations between literature and society are reciprocal. Literature is not only the effect of social causes, it is also the cause of social effects” (quoted in Scott, 1961).

One of the social institutions often affected by literature is politics, and politics on the other hand is a foremost subject matter of literature. This close relationship between literature and politics is both historical and cultural. For one, both enterprises have their roots traceable to the classical antiquity of ancient Greece, where Greek city states got organised into political entities, while art (literary works) flourished through the writings of Homer, Euripides, Sophocles Aeschylus and other literary icons of their time.

Secondly, both art (literature) and politics are products of cultural evolution. Hence, it is not uncommon to talk about the literary culture, as well as, the political culture of a given society. Impliedly, the culture of a society births, nurtures and sustains its politics and its art – Literature. Given the centrality of culture in the production of art (including literary art), Willbur Scott’s popular assertion becomes quite apposite here. In his opinion, art does not exist in a vacuum. It is the work not simply of a person, but of an author, who is fixed in time and space, responding or reacting to a community of which he is an integral part (123).

The implication of Scott’s assertion above is that literature is a reflection of the society that produces it, including its politics, its religion and its social institutions. It is not surprising therefore that politics constitutes one veritable subject matter and preoccupation of literature and literary writers. It is perhaps for this reason that Ngugi wa Thiong’o sees literary writers as writers in politics. For him, “…power relations is a whole territory of concern to a writer. Politics is hence part and parcel of this literary territory” (477).

In line with his submission, Achebe has relentlessly engaged “the big social and political issues of…Africa” in his writings – both fiction and non-fiction. For example, the search for effective political leadership constitutes a discernible common thread that holds together the entire fabric of Achebe’s creativity as embodied in the tragedy of his protagonists beginning with the impetuosity of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, the enigmatic complexity of Ezeulu in Arrow of God, the ruthless and Machiavellian style of Chief Nanga in A Man of the People, the gullibility and ineptitude of Obi Okonkwo in No Longer at Ease, and the brutality and despotism of Sam in Anthills of the Savannah. Achebe’s disappointment and frustration at the failure of political leadership in Nigeria is succinctly articulated in his non-fictional work The Trouble with Nigeria where he says: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership”. (1)

Like Achebe, most Nigerian literary writers since flag independence have continued to imbue their works with relevance by exploring issues that are germane to the contemporary Nigerian society. Thus, Wole Soyinka and J. P. Clark–Bekederemo devoted their dramaturgy and poetry to this cause while the late Christopher Okigbo did same exclusively in poetry, particularly in Labyrinths and Path of Thunder. It does appear, however, that fiction is the most preferred medium adopted by Nigerian literary writers in the articulation and projection of the political challenges in the country. The seeming preference for fiction may not be unconnected with the language of prose which is generally and inherently straight forward and mostly transparent as against the opaque and terse diction of poetry and the dialogism of drama.

Hence, this essay periscopes the works of two new Nigerian writers with a view to unraveling how literature, particularly prose fiction, has kept pace with political trends from the onset of the 21^st century, which incidentally coincides with the period of the present democratic dispensation in Nigeria. The novels selected for study are ‘new’ in the sense that in addition to being ‘recently’ published, they embody the freshness of ideas, novelty of style and vigorous assertiveness of the authors in appraising the Nigerian political leadership challenges. The novels and their authors are: Beneath the Rubble (2009) by Liwhu Betiang and Sieged (2011) by Adamu Kyuka Usman.

Political Leadership and Social Disillusionment in the Novels

Beneath the Rubbles (2009): Begins with a tragic event that is reminiscent of political violence in contemporary Nigeria. The official response or reaction to the incident in the novel illustrates the leadership lethargy and inertia that has come to characterize political leadership in Nigeria and the consequent helplessness of the citizenry. A pall is cast over the once-serene community of Agigah following the brazen and dastardly murder of Agim Ububua by a restive mob who set his house ablaze with him trapped inside. This scenario parallels the election scenarios in the 2^nd and 3^rd Republic Nigeria thus resulting, for instance, in the infamous “Wild Wild West” appellation of that era.

Utsu Agaba – the Village Head’s reaction to the news of the mob action typifies the callous indifference of political leadership in Nigeria to the plight of the masses particularly when the welfare of the citizens crosses the path of the political ambition of such leaders. Utsu Agaba’s response to the news bearer is a confirmation of the above assertion: “My dear Itisha, at bad times like this when one is faced with the whole burden of chiefdom, it cannot be possible to be in control of affairs, at least not every little mishap (Beneath…, 13)”.

To the Village Head, the violence that consumes Agim Ububua is a “little mishap” – a distraction from the latter’s efforts to consolidate his hold on power. This “little mishap” incidentally is a harbinger of a “big mishap” foreshadowing the catastrophe that will soon engulf the entire village. Appropriately, Agigah village is the author’s fictive recreation of the Nigerian society in which potentially dangerous situations which should be nipped in the bud are ignored until, like gun powder, they explode and cause extensive damage. The Boko Haram insurgency, the Niger Delta militancy, and the Fulani herdsmen menace are apt examples.

At the core of the violence in Agigah is the tussle for supremacy between the leaderships of two rival cults – the land cult, controlled by Utsu Agaba and the water cult, controlled by Ukandi Igbal, the Chief Priest. The tussle polarizes the village along political and religious lines with palpable tension in the air. Meanwhile, the village is already plagued by mysterious ailments and deaths resulting from the “executive” recklessness of Utsu Agaba’s predecessor’s children’s abominable incest. Ironically, it is the commoners that bear the brunt of the wrath of the gods for the crime committed by the King’s children – like Ikpe’s seven-year old daughter - who mysteriously disappears into “the big gutter by the road side” (Beneath… 20) while returning from the farm with her father. This is the author’s artistic portrayal of the situation in Nigeria where citizens are constantly subjected to hardship by incumbent governments because of the mis-governance of past administrations.

The evil plaguing Agigah can only be exorcised by means of human sacrifice which must be that of an indigene, not that of a slave. And the indigene must be from the family of the elite. The Chief Priest gives the reason for the strange condition:

We planted the evil; from among us a man must come. Who would eat a vulture when there are wholesome birds? The oracle demands the scion of the soil, for such would wash better where strangers cannot even dust. Give the oracle unclean meat and let the land continue to rage in ill (Beneath…, 24).

The above echoes Soyinka’s The Strong Breed. Betiang, like Soyinka, advocates sacrifice but he subverts the messianic principle of Soyinka’s The Strung Breed in which a chosen member of the downtrodden carrier family is sacrificed to redeem the society. For Betiang, the perennial sacrifice made by the citizens amounts to exploitation and wastage. Instead, the author stresses the need for such sacrifice to be offered by the leaders and elite members of the society represented by “the scion of the soil”. Aware that the leaders lack the collective will needed for such sacrifice, the author advocates the evolution of an ingenious strategy that will ensure their commitment and thus halt the continued use of the masses as expendable puns on the political chessboard of the leaders.

To provide the sacrifice needed to remove the plague from Agigah, a curfew is imposed on the land. Whoever violates the curfew will be used for the sacrifice. Interestingly, Ishabo the Village Head’s son breaks the curfew and he is apprehended by guards on his way back from his mistress. Expectedly, frantic efforts are made as high level connections are deployed to free him. This mirrors perfectly the situation in Nigeria where family members of wealthy political office holders breach the law with impunity and evade punishment as if the immunity clause protecting political office holders covers them too.

However, in line with the subversive approach of the novel, Ishabo, unexpectedly surrenders willingly and offers himself to be used as an instrument to free his people from the plague. Ishabo’s action further exacerbates the tension between the two groups in the village. The land cult group headed by Utsu Agaba perceives Ishabo’s action as manipulation by the rival water cult group to undermine Utsu Agaba’s power and discredit his chieftaincy. The water cult group, on the other hand, sees in this an opportunity to assert its superiority by enforcing the law.

The volatile atmosphere created by this stand-off explodes into a conflagration when, on the day of the big sacrifice, Ishabo’s mistress, in a bid to save her man launches herself on the cloaked victim and in the process, unmasks him. The result is both surprising and bewildering. The victim is not Ishabo. The Village Head with the connivance of the guards, had ingeniously crafted the escape of his son from custody. The authorial voice describes the feeling of the crowd gathered to watch the sacrifice:

The two divisions in the village playground felt alike. But only in different ways. whereas the royal sympathisers experienced the true emotions of pity and fear, the traditionalists felt a kind of betrayal and the suspension of the release of their fatal emotion of sadistic hate (Beneath, 113).

What results next is an implosion of a long over-heated polity which now plunges the village over a precipice. Again, the authorial voice paints a graphic picture of what ensues:

The village was like a piece of cloth that had been outstretched from both sides only to have it tear in gasping fault in the middle…the age-old quarrels and suspicions, the tension and pent-up violence broke forth like an eruption of the active volcanoes (Beneath…, 113)

The result of the above is carnage of unprecedented proportion which could have been avoided if the leadership of the two rival groups exhibited the spirit of self sacrifice by placing the interest of the society above their political ambitions.

However, the author takes a swipe at the villagers for their gullibility in allowing themselves to be led into a war that neither the leaders who caused the war nor their children fought. In fact, some of the fighters do not even know the reason for the war as confessed by one of them:

All of us have fought for what I don’t even know. In fact, I wonder why I ever went to the war at all. I felt like a goat led by the tether… True, I fought but I did not and still do not know why or what I fought for (Beneath, 161).

The above confession recalls J. P. Clark’s submission on the causes and consequences of the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970 in the poem “The Casualties”. The persona indicts the leadership on both sides for their use of sly propaganda to manipulate the innocent citizens into a fratricidal war while they (the leaders) are:

Outside the scenes of ravage and wreck;

They are emissaries of rift,

So smug in smoke-rooms they haunt abroad

They do not see the funeral piles

At home eating up the forests.

They are wandering minstrels who, beating on

The drums of the human heart, draw the world

Into a dance with rites it does not know (Casualties, 20)

Through hate speech and manipulative propaganda, politicians often instigate conflict among the masses thereby resulting in instability in the polity. This serves as a distraction which enables the leaders to divert attention from themselves and their misdeeds while the masses slaughter one another.

Another trend evident in the novel which reflects the Nigerian political situation is the politicization of religion. The violence that engulfs Agigah in Beneath the Rubble is primarily triggered by religious intolerance among the people. Rather than unite the people, the two dominant religions in Agigah polarize them and the political leaders exploit the fanatical religious disposition of the people to stir trouble. Itisha Bisong explains:

My brothers, do you think it was because the chief would not submit his blood for sacrifice that the village is now divided against itself? The truth I must say it, is the different worship systems we have in the land. These two religions do not listen to each other. They do not want to understand themselves (Beneath…, 115).

The author thus indicts religious fanaticism for much of the violence that has dogged Nigerian politics from the 1960s up until now. According to the author: “In fact, if there was anything that lived in the unconscious recesses of the minds of everybody who took part in the village crises, it was their zealous and puerile affinity to their modes of worship” (Beneath…, 153).

In Beneath the Rubble, Pastor Ugal, a church founder, gives up his ecclesiastical calling for secular politics because “he could no longer sit and watch his people suffer in the hands of politicians who had never come to awareness of the will of God concerning love for one’s brother”. (Beneath…,32). But the Pastor’s attitude later shows that his going into politics is for anything but “love for one’s brother” because “life in the pulpit was fast losing its glamour with the seams of his treasury breaking, so politics would surely prove a higher manipulative art” (Beneath…, 32). And it does not take long for Pastor Ugal’s real motive for going into politics to manifest. Adorminye observes:

The Reverend Pastor made the whole art of Politics and governance look like one big business corporation… Who doesn’t know there is a lot of money in this thing? With politics you control everything including our very lives, and that is the tragedy of it all (Beneath…,40).

Unfortunately, the marriage between religion and politics has continued to reap grim harvests not just in Nigeria but all over the world. And, the tragedy will continue if religious leadership continues to meddle in politics.

Betiang’s concern in Beneath the Rubble is the entrenchment of selfless leadership that places collective interest above self interest. The exact opposite is what we find in Agigah. Utsu Agaba the Village Head is asked to name a project the government can execute in his village. His response typifies the response of an average Nigerian leader- “I would like you to complete the building of my half-completed house… It is still roofless” (Beneath…, 176). Utsu Agaba forgets that the only road to his village is impassable and that his village children are now taught under trees outside their classrooms because the school roof had been destroyed by rainstorm.

But this situation is hardly surprising to the average Nigerian who knows that in most cases, communities attract government projects according to their pattern of voting during elections. Utsu Agaba reminds his people of this formula as elections approach.

…the governor has asked me to remind you that commencement of this venture will depend on the performance of your people at the coming polls. In other words, even if you don’t have chance to vote, don’t let your people make any kind of protest when the result is announced from the headquarters (Beneath…, 178).

The people are thus warned before hand to remember that votes are an investment which will yield returns in the form of government attention depending on the number of votes received from a community. This is a most regrettable reality of Nigerian politics which worries the author and leads him to the conclusion that Nigerian politics always provides a situation in which “personal interests triumph over common good” (Beneath, 176). One major reason for the prevalence of this reality in Nigerian politics is the unprecedented level of corruption inherent in Nigerian politics.

 

Political violence, corruption and leadership failure is evident in Sieged (2009) by Adamu Kyuka Usman. The novel chronicles the many indices of political violence, corruption and misgovernance in Bivan’s house which is no doubt the author’s symbolic representation of Nigeria. The title of the text immediately alerts the reader to the tension inherent in the narrative, creating images of chaos and unrest. The author portrays Nigeria as a nation under siege by political violence, corruption and leadership recklessness.

Usman adopts a historical approach to identify the source of the problems that have besieged Nigeria from inception. He seems to affirm Achebe’s position that we will continue under siege until we identify “where the rain began to beat us”. (There was a Country, 1). For Usman, Nigeria’s political problem is linked to the history of its politics which is steeped in violence, thuggery and vandalism. According to the author: ‘‘Like butchers said started surgery, myth had it that headhunters started politics in Bivan’s House. From its headhunting ancestry, politics in Bivan’s house was to later graduate into a game played by people of the streets’’ (Sieged, 3).’

The implication is that politics in Bivan’s house requires no particular skill or qualification. Thus, it is an all-comers affair in which the never-do-wells call the shots. In Bivan’s house “if you had failed at everything, if no one could engage you in any job because you were not qualified for any, you joined politics” (Sieged, 3). It is not surprising therefore, that politics in Bivan’s house has been marred by corruption, violence and leadership ineptitude. Through the deployment of allegory, the author reveals the endemic level of corruption in Bivan’s house. A political thug tells a minister that the political office occupied by the minister is like a gourd of palm wine jointly purchased. It is usually given to one member to share among all those who contributed to buy it. But all members have a stake in the gourd of palm wine. In order to underscore his point, the thug further compares it to the dead body of an elephant felled by hunters. Therefore, any member of the group of hunters that felled the elephant is entitled whenever he is without meat to come with his knife and cut, just as Ushie (2000) satirises in his poem, “Elephant”:

Eat,

It’s the Elephant,

Eat!

 

Its trunk

Its tail

Its limbs

all flesh, fleshy,

unfinishing

 

So, eat!

It’s the Elephant,

Eat!

 

Eat

the tenuous Elephant

or

Your tenure expires…

Government in Bivan’s house thus cuts the picture of a feast of exclusion – restricted only to the sponsors of the feast. This is a total negation of what democracy should be – a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The reality of Bivan’s house government is captured vividly in these words: ‘‘Because of the quality of people engaged in politics in Bivan’s house, government was not seen as an agency of public service but of eating public money… politicians had barricaded themselves inside government eating’’ (Sieged, 6).

The eating mentality associated with government in Nigeria is sustained by the godfather tradition which ensures that godfathers who sponsor political office holders reserve de facto power while the officials are mere puppets who claim to exercise power de jure. The accounts in the novel reminisce the real-life situation in some Nigerian states where the political office of the executive governor has for almost two decades been stage-managed by certain godfather dynasties. Besides, many states in Nigeria are currently governed by either political neophytes or those who had no stakes in the ruling party but were foisted on the party at the eleventh hour by the incumbent governors who were desperate to have their backs well covered. This is the scenario captured here:

Two weeks after his emergence as the primehead candidate of the UAC in the party’s primary election, Merima was yet to come to terms with the fact that he was in deed the party’s primehead flagbearer. How could a man that only wanted to be an archer end up as the primehead candidate of a vast country like Bivan’s house and a behermoth political party like UAC which was almost certain to win the election? (Sieged, 33)

Merima initially had his eyes on the National Assembly seat for his constituency. But his wealthy, corrupt father-in-law, Kamalun with the active support of the party chairman, Boyama who was bought over, deploys his wealth and connections to design a grand plot that propels Merima to the candidacy of the large party. The result is that Merima finds himself in the shadow of his corrupt father-in-law and other party thugs who employ violence against LPM opponents by derailing their campaign train in order to kill Jamimi, the LPM primehead candidate. Many of the LPM supporters die in the train accident but Jamini survives providentially. Merima finally emerges the winner in an election in which tales of ballot box-snatching and ballot box-stuffing, agents of the opposition abducted into farms and into rivers, locked up in the booths of cars and shot point-blank abounded (Sieged, 151)

This is a déjà vu election scenario in many African countries including Nigeria. The result of such election hoax soon becomes manifest in Bivan’s house like in Nigeria as;

Periodically, there were fuel scarcities in Bivan’s house. Then long queues were seen at the fuel stations. However, whenever fuel disappeared from the filling stations, it miraculously appeared in big and small jerry cans in the black market, sold at prohibitive prices by fuel vendors on the streets (Sieged, 154)

The post-election period usually exposes the extent to which corruption has eroded virtually all machinery of government including the judiciary. Election tribunals set up to try electoral offences are many times compromised so that “often the decisions of the courts were rigged the way the election was” (Sieged, 134). The rigging of elections usually disenfranchises the people thereby making their participation in politics cosmetic and futile as the winners are often imposed or selected through brute force and intimidation.

However, the author seems to believe that the people are as reprehensible as the leaders. For him “we are all like farmers coming back from the farm in the rain with all dirt of the earth” (Sieged, 211). Usman’s view is not different from that of the other novelists examined here. The process of clearing this dirt forms the subject of the next segment of this paper.

Hope and Transformation in the Novels

The examination of political trends in the two novels studied in this paper shows that literary writers are well abreast of sociopolitical developments in their society. Ima Usen affirms that:

Literary writers have consistently addressed their works to the historical, social, political and economic problems of their societies. Nigerian writers are not left out…. Since they operate in an oppressive system, their works are preoccupied with themes of racism, protest, conflicts and violence (106).

The reflection of common themes is a unifying factor among the two novelists whose works have been studied here. By reflecting in their works the different forms of political developments and social ills bedeviling the country in the last two decades, the writers affirm Chidi Amuta’s assertion that “social experience is the primary source of literature” (85). In chronicling these social experiences, the writer fulfills one of the fundamental responsibilities of the literary writer. Achebe insists that it “is a self-imposed responsibility hoisted on the writer by the realities of his existence (Morning Yet…, 15).

However, the social responsibility of the writer goes beyond documenting social experiences to embracing and articulating strategies for solving the problems of the society. Consequently, Emeka Nwabueze posits that “literature constitutes the best and brightest expressions of all humanity. It helps us to solve real problems, the problem of existence, the problem of being human” (5). In the light of this, the two novelists, in different ways, offer a ray of hope that could lead to transformation and ultimately ensure positive change in the politics and political leadership of Nigeria.

In Beneath the Rubble, Betiang depicts religious fanaticism and ethnic consciousness as constituting an albatross to Nigeria’s political advancement. The politicization of religion in Nigeria has been a major sore point in the nation’s march towards political freedom. Hence, the author recommends the need to de-emphasize religion in national politics. In the novel, the author’s vision for his society comes through the narrator’s rhetorical wondering aloud, “why don’t we abandon the cults be it water or earth… let us not let a private personal matter create a bloody division between us and the land” (Beneath…, 160).

Again, relying on positive characterization, Betiang, through Itisha Bisong, reveals the role of the intellect in repositioning and sanitizing politics in Nigeria. Like Okekwe’s Shakpa, Betiang’s Bisong is the conscience of his society. As a teacher, Bisong is portrayed in the text not confined to the classroom. He is often seen in social contexts mediating in conflicts and providing a constant check on the leadership of Agigah community. During the crisis period, he remains non-partisan and through his efforts, peace is restored to the community. In a similar vein, literary writers, through their works and social involvements, must remain bastions of peace, unity and good governance in Nigeria.

Adamu Kyuka Usman is unpretentious in his indictment of the people for remaining politically stolid for a long time. Usman believes that only revolution engineered by the masses can free Nigeria from its current siege. This revolution is that of “conscience and consciousness to completely overhaul the thinking process and the value mechanism of the Nigerian to the extent that he will reassess his values and reorder his priorities” (Chinaka Mgbojirikwe, 9). This kind of consciousness, the author believes, will reveal to the people their exploitation by the leaders and the need to stop fighting one another but to turn attention to their common enemy, bad leadership, and dislodge it. In Sieged, it takes the ingenuity of the half-demented - drunk ‘through’ a traditional song known to both Chokali and Gurungutsi - to bring them to this awareness. This is an indication that the solution to Nigeria’s political problems lies within our shores – it is embedded in our history and in our culture – not beyond. And soon after coming to this realization, both men stop fighting and head straight to Boyama who is the cause of their fight. The events that follow in rapid succession culminate in the death of the oppressor and the liberation of the people. This is a symbol of hope for Nigeria rebirth.

Consequently, Usman asserts that “we are all irresponsible in this country, leadership is irresponsible because the followership is irresponsible” (Sieged, 95). This supports Bernard Dickson’s position in “Achebe’s Blind Gods and Blunt Arrows: Implications for Nigeria” that “while leadership constitutes a problem, the political lethargy of most Nigerians like that of Umuaro constitutes a bigger problem” (14). In other words, a conscious, well informed and determined followership will ensure a responsible leadership.

Conclusion

This paper has examined political trends as portrayed by new voices in Nigerian fiction. The study focused on two novels published between 2009 and 2011, a period that is approximately coeval with the period of the present democratic governance that began in 1999 and continues till date. The study has revealed that the two novelists who hail from different parts of the country are unanimous in their portrayal of politics and political leadership in Nigeria as tragic for the citizenry. The authors have shown, through realistic representations of the Nigerian socio-political milieu, that Nigeria is deeply stuck in a political quagmire from which it can only get out through a quantum leap that only the people can make happen.

Through the techniques of satire, lampoon and parody, the authors have indicted the leadership for its deceit and exploitation of the masses, and the masses for their stoic acceptance of the status quo. The authors seem to be in agreement that nothing significantly positive has changed from the Nigerian politics portrayed in Achebe’s A Man of the People (1966), Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, (1987) and Soyinka’s Beatification of the Area Boy (1999). This agrees with Dickson’s conclusion that “Nigerian politics has been characterized by changelessness over the ever changing seasons” (1).

However, each of the authors projects a vision of hope and transformation through positive characterization whereby individuals with high intellectual capacity galvanise others towards meaningful revolutionary actions motivated by an awareness of political leadership failure, corruption and exploitation.

Betiang in Beneath the Rubble underscores the urgency of revolutionary actions which result from intellectual and mental re-orientation of the people facilitated by characters like Bisong, who embodies the author’s vision of hope and transformation.

A similar vision is projected in Sieged in which the authors portray the nation as a country under siege and held hostage by a group of power-drunk politicians whose stock in trade is to set the people against one another in order to distract them from holding such politicians accountable for their actions. Through Jamimi in Sieged, the author projects a positive vision of hope in the capacity of the people to initiate change and ultimately transform the society.

Through their works, the writers examined here succeed in devoting their art to the service of the people thus fulfilling Fanon’s view that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it” (166). The study further validates T. S. Eliot’s position in his oft-quoted essay, “Tradition and the Individual Talent”, that “No poet, no artist, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead” (Kermode and Hollander, 2014).

In sum, while political leadership in Nigeria has continued to betray the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians since the nation’s flag independence in 1960, the nation’s literati have maintained consistency in the fulfillment of their mission as the voice for the voiceless and conscience of society right from the onset of nationhood till date. It is equally worth particularizing, once more, that in the nation’s art there is unity of direction among the artistic voices of the different ethno-religious and regional writers even as the material world of the society seems to be drifting apart in the hands of its political leaders.

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