Palace coups: Ambitions and retributions in Ahmed Yerima’s Kadenge and Jakadiya

Contemporary African drama has established itself as the artistic barometer by which the inordinate quest for power among Africa’s political personae can be assessed. The sociopolitical climate in many African states shows that every transition from one governmentto another is not only fraught in conflict but has become a do-or-die affair where the political players adopt all orthodox and unorthodox means to grab power at all cost in total disregard for the masses and social justice. Thus, in their rendition in the selected Ahmed Yerima’s plays, the political crisis is ontologised as the inanities that have become the political bane of many African states. This fermented political atmosphere has been depicted in ancient traditional stools in many African societies. This is because, the palace, in recent years, has moved beyond its role as the social and cultural institution where the ideals and traditional mien that unite the people reside to a theatre of political intrigues. The palace, as the political scene, has become the theatre of ludicrous intrigues, schemingking makers and desperate queen mothers. This paper examines two plays by Ahmed Yerima against the above rubrics of political power tussle that has become the lot of many African states. It adopts the sociological approach to literature to examine the indices of power-play that constitute the fulcrum of many societies in Africa. It concludes that as in the traditional setting where instant retribution is meted on inordinate power grabbers, African political institutions can attain some level of stability and sanity should the traditional mode of enthroning leadership be adopted.