ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN NIGERIA: AN EVALUATION OF CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS

In traditional societies, myths and rituals are veritable components of religious observances. In the Ogoni case, they are the core of the organization of festivals. This paper discusses the celebration of Dezua (new yam festival) of the Ogoni people. The paper observes that dramatic performances staged during the festival, having been transformed of their inherent myths and rituals, could pass for dramatic spectacles. Bearing in mind that several views have been expressed regarding what should or should not constitute drama in traditional African setting, the paper, having examined those views, argues that Ogoni traditional drama, especially those of the new yam festival, in their transformed myths and rituals state, are theatrical in so far as they (the dramatic performances) exhibit the features of Orthodox theatre such as: music, drama, performers, audience, stage and makeup. The incidence of myths and rituals in African traditional performances and in particular, that of the Ogoni, the paper argues further, is to mark the distinctiveness of the people culturally. The paper concludes that Ogoni new yam festival performances have the force of drama and therefore qualify as events for the theatre