POWER POLITICS AND THE QUESTION OF TYRANNY IN AFRICA: LESSONS FROM SANYA DOSUNMU’S GOD’S DEPUTY

Abstract

The  African  continent  has  proven  to  be  quite  dynamic  in  the  political  space. Indeed, since the wave of colonial rule swept over the continent and with the eventual  realization  and  acquisition  of  self  governance  across  member  states, Africa  and  her  leaders  have  become  major  players  in  the  scheme  of  things. Through  an  elongated  period  of  experimentation  plagued  by  military  coups, corruption,  underdevelopment,  exploitation  by  foreign  powers  and  so  on,  the continent  has  continued  the  evolve  and  has  remained  quite  dominant  on  the world  stage.The  discourse  of  power  politics  and  the  concept  of  Tyranny  in Africa  form  the  Anchor  hold for  this  study.  Over  time,  African  playwrights andindeed Theatre scholars have continued to replicate what could be termed as the “African situationâ€through literary works and plays and this has in no small  measure  aided  in  the  reawakening  of  the  averageAfrican  to  the  reality of the power struggle in the African political arena as well as the dynamics or lack  thereof  of  adequate  leadership  within  the  ruling  class.  The  qualitative research  method  is  adopted  for  this  study.  This  includes  in-depth  content analysis  and  review  of  related  literature  for  proper  data  evaluation  and interpretation.  Sanya  Dosunmu’s God’s  Deputyis  utilized  as  the  primary source  of  analysis.  The  study  finds  among  others  that  more  workshould  be done  by  Theatre  practitioners  in  reevaluating  systems  of  governance  through their  art  as  this  would  help  in  creating  needed  awareness  and  engender communal participation in the discourse of politics.