A NATION ADRIFT: A STUDY OF J.P. CLARK-BEKEDEREMO’S THE RAFT

AND FEMI OSOFISAN’S ANOTHER RAFT

IDONGESIT OBONG,

DEPT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, AKWA IBOM STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS &

SCIENCE, NUNG UKIM, IKONO LGA, AKWA IBOM STATE

&

INIOBONG OKON,

DEPT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, AKWA IBOM STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS &

SCIENCE, NUNG UKIM, IKONO LGA, AKWA IBOM STATE

ABSTRACT

A Nation Adrift: A Study of J.P. Clark-Bekederemo’s The Raft

and Femi Osofisan’s Another Raft is a critical examination

of the degenerating state of Nigeria. Though the two plays

handle the same subject matter, they differ in their

treatment. The Raft uses the conventional Aristotelian

technique; Another Raft employs the language of

contemporary speech, songs, dirges and chants. These

differences are attributed to the author’s different

ideologies.

The struggle towards change and development in our

comprehensive and inhuman society is part of the

responsibilities and duties that the playwright owes his

society. Hence, he creates awareness about the economic,

social and political aberrations of the society and also

helps to provide concrete and redeemable solutions to such

inconvenient situations.

The writer observes with utmost disdain the subservient

place arrogated to the playwright in the society which

always results in numerous inhuman treatment being meted out

to him in form of incarceration, murder, exile, etc. thus,

the writer sets out to show the social relevance of the

playwright and his role in ensuring a nationally developed

society.

INTRODUCTION

Sequel to the competition for commercial advantages among

European nations in the 19th century, there ensued, the

scramble for and the partition of Africa and the Europeans on

the coast of West Africa brought to a halt the traditional

form of government in African societies. The Europeans came

to power and colonization was the order of the day. With

colonialism, the whites impose their own ways of life upon

the blacks. The imposition makes life very difficult and

unbearable for the Africans who suffer tremendously.

In Nigeria for instance, the system of indirect rule was

introduced, where even the educated Nigerians were not

allowed to take part in the administration of their country.

Top positions in the civil service were not accessible to the

educated Nigerians. Modern residential areas with

infrastructural facilities were created only for the

Europeans. The slow development of educational facilities

and higher institutions as well as the slow political and

constitutional development of Nigerian territory were

unacceptable by Nigerians who wanted immediate self-

government from the Europeans.

The attainment of independence and self-government brought

hope and great expectations in the minds of Nigerians. The

Nationalist were always looking forward to or pressing on,

in hope, of a brighter future. Aspirations and dreams were

very high as the people saw the dethronement of colonial rule

as the panacea to end their predicaments.

Hardly did the euphoria of independence died down, when a

reversal of the masses’ hopes and expectations become the

case. Nigeria became politically unstable. For one thing,

the major political parties then – NCNC, AG, and NPC – that

fought and won independence for Nigeria were tribally

oriented. The three regions that were carved out by the

colonial masters were equally created along tribal lines.

THE RAFT AND THE STATE OF THE NATION

The predicament of the four men on The Raft – Olotu, Kehinde,

Ogro and Ibobo drifting helplessly in the night is meant to

be taken as the predicament of the Nigerian nation as a whole

as it looks for direction, searches for teleology while

floating about in the dangerous waters of the modern world.

J P Clark-Bekederemo’s The Raft written in the hey-days of

Nigeria’s independence symbolizes the troubled situation of

our newly independent nation. The play presents the

visionlessness, selfishness, greed and avarice, bribery and

corruption that plagued the nation in its social, political,

economic, and cultural psyche. The nation is in a chaotic

state. The people lack a sense of direction as they drift

aimlessly towards perdition and destruction. In the

reassuring words of Ibobo:

We are adrift . – (p.93)

In the ensuring argument between Kehinde and Olotu, Clark-

Bekederemo brings to bear one problem that has destroyed

Nigeria’s social system as a nation. He identifies ethnicity

and discrimination that have eaten deep into the fabric of

the Nigerian society. These vices have caused the falcon not

to hear the falconer and things have fallen apart, since the

centre could no longer hold. In the process of building the

nation, everybody should be given an opportunity to air his

opinion. A situation where his opinion is rejected or

accepted because he comes from a particular part of the

country could be inimical to our collective triumph as a

nation.

From the fear, loss, chaos, pessimism, helplessness,

hopelessness and lack of direction in the society in the hey

days of independence, one could be forced to state that

Nigeria was not ripe for self –governance, and that her

preparation for independence was not thoroughly done but

rushed. For in the words of Olotu: “Well, see where the use of rush

has led us .” (p. 94).

The attainment of independence initially brought a sense of

hope and succour to the people, but their hopes, aspirations

and dreams are disillusioned as a result of the

visionlessness of the ruling clique. The nation is adrift.

The masses are alone. They are powerless. There seem to be no

hope as Ibobo states: “Olotu, Kengide, are you asleep still? Wake up

quick! We are adrift” (p. 93)

The nation does not know where she is heading and is at the

mercy of forces beyond her control, and she is drifting

towards an unknown destination. This is succinct in the

dialogue between the lumber men:

Ogro: Will anyone tell where we are?

Olotu: Yes, where exactly are we going now?

(p. 95)

The above shows that Nigerian leaders have lost sense of direction. The ship of state is now moving at the mercy of

providence. The playwright portrays in The Raft the insensitivity of Nigerian leaders to the plight of the

masses as the country wonders helplessly towards destruction. It does not perturb them if the cost of living

is high as their loots from public treasuries can conveniently sustain them their families. It does not

perturb them if our schools are in deplorable condition as they can send their wards to prestigious private schools at home or abroad. They are not perturb even if our hospitals have turn to mere consulting centres since they can

conveniently afford medical treatment for themselves and family abroad. These reasons clearly answers the questions

put forward by the playwright through Olotu:

“…..What happens to the raft? Or is it because none you has a single log in it that your heart cuts very little?”

(p. 100)

Nigeria seems to be in a great whirlpool. The whirlpool

portrays the predicament of our nation in the modern world.

This is evidenced in the words of Kengide who says: “ It means

we are the arms of the great Osikoboro whirlpool itself”. (p.101) To add a

form of repugnance to a perilous situation, Clark-

Bekederemo describes the whirlpool as the “drain pit of all the

earth”.

However, the whirlpool hazard is safely negotiated, and now

the stagnation of a becalmed situation becomes the subject

of complaint. This is the moment for a shy thrust at national

corruption. Kengide, who seems to carry a good deal of the

play’s message, says:

The pilot fish now smell rot among the logs: they don’t jump on board.

To which Olotu replies:

The ghost smell is more on some people than on the logs.

The playwright decries a situation where we depend on the

western world economically for survival even after

independence. The big steamer that Ogro swims to for help;

but it is beaten back into the water and drowns, clearly is a

foreign vessel. It is a representation of the outside world,

and the West in particular. Ogro and his friends are not

wanted by the crew of the passing ship. They receive no help

in their calamitous situation.

This shows the unpreparedness of the western world to help

Nigeria out of her perilous situation. Clark-Bekederemo

distastes a situation where we no longer believe in

ourselves. We no longer patronize locally manufactured

goods, judging them to be sub-standard. This, the playwright

says, is responsible for our inability to make good and

remarkable achievements. In the words of Kengide:

Now I see why we of the Delta never will make good. You believe all tales tampering with stars that are told you abroad, but never any one at home about your own rivers.

Truly we are castaway people. (p. 101).

Clark-Bekederemo pictures the deplorable state of our

economy occasioned by mismanagement of our resources by

those at the pinnacle of power. These “human rats” – to use

the phrase of the playwright through the character of

Kengide – mismanage and embezzle public funds to the peril of

the masses.

…see? the bags are all emptied of their sweet content just like the driedout dugs of the witch of

Okoloba. (p. 105).

The economy is so bad that the masses are not sure of where

their next meal will come from. They are hopeless and

helpless. Therein lies the knotty question by Ogro: “….What

do we live on now – leeches and crabs clinging to the logs ” (p.105)

The playwright shows the arrant selfishness, covetousness,

greed and avarice of the ruling clique. They are so selfish

and parochially motivated that looting public funds have

become their stock-in-trade. According to Kengide:

“….Nowadays, they drain the Delta of all that’s in it, and not a shrimp slips

past their fat fingers” (p.106).

The above expression shows how corruption has been

institutionalized in our national life. It has become an

edifying monster, leviathan of some sort. Ascending the

position of leadership therefore becomes a license to drain

the common wealth of the people and grow corruptly fat at the

collective chagrin of the people.

We see Kengide, the dominant character, who most forcefully

describes the corruption, is himself thoroughly corrupt and

pessimistic. To him, “ ...In this game of getting rich, it is eat me or I

eat you, and no man wants to stew in the pot, not if he can help it”(p.

96). In Kengide, we see the ignorant cynicism, corruption

and the fear that is disrupting Nigerian life and displacing

the hope of independence in educated men, the same hopes in

traditional men of goodwill, like Ogro with his childish

faith in the commercial ships captain, and hope in religious

men like Ibobo.

In The Raft , the playwright presents another problem that

have enveloped Nigeria’s social life – that is bribery.

Bribery has become a way of life. Forest guards receive a

bribe of five shillings before logs are hammered. They amass

wealth for themselves and put up buildings from the proceeds

of bribes. Police who are supposed to arrest culprits have

also been buried in the stench of this bribery and

corruption. In the words of Kengide: “….The police who

should apply the ropes are themselves feeding so fat, their

belts and barracks can no longer kedge in the smallest weed”.

Even the court which should be the final arbiter of the

common man is no longer dependable, as leaders who should be

prosecuted for embezzlement and misappropriation of public

funds are sometimes given a clean bill. The judicial system

is corrupt to the point that government and the highly placed

sometimes show that fragrance disrespect to court orders if

they do not influence the court to suit their whims and

caprices. Kengide indicts them thus: “….And so with the

courts. Man, it’s we ordinary grass and shrups who get

crushed at the mahoganies fall”

Nigerian leaders are portrayed in The Raft as having lost

moral values. They are promiscuous and no longer

resourceful. This is seen in the words of Ibobo: “All the

same, I want to be in port tonight and in bed with some decent

girls” To which Kengide replies: “There you go again. But I

don’t blame you; you are not as resourceful as others” (p.

127).

Clark-Bekederemo presents a picture of a Nigerian nation

adrift. The unbridle quest and lust for materialism has

cause people to use funeral ceremonies as avenues for making

wealth. It does not matter whether one dies prematurely or at

a ripe age. What matters and is important is that your family

must make money out of your death. Kengide has this to say:

“….whether you die of tuberculosis or cold and at a ripe old

age with many behind to wail your end, …accordingly, your

loss is their gain” (p. 122)

The failure of democracy in May 1962, not even twenty months

after independence was quite surprising, and other

unfortunate events that occurred as earlier cited in the

context of the play in chapter one has ever since taken the

just on the brink of sinking, but we have still kept afloat,

though the storm has not ceased, and we have not been able to

steer ourselves out of the fog of those initial errors.

ANOTHER RAFT AND THE STATE OF THE NATION.

Show me single blackman who is not adrift in the land of his own birth. – (Okinba Launko).

Launko’s submission above shows the fate of the Nigerian

nation as she is doomed because of corruption, fear,

poverty, chaos and disorder, occasioned by greed, arrant

visionlessness, extreme selfishness and the refusal of the

ruling aristocrats to genuinely identify with, as well as

actualize the collective yearnings, hope, aspiration and

preferences of the people.

It is in identification with these multi-dimensional socio-

political, economic and cultural problems which envelope

the Nigerian nation that Osofisan, in his Another Raft,

suggests a method of solving the problems: the revival of the

ancient rites of collective cleansing.

In the play, characters seem to represent certain concepts:

Ekuroola, Orousi and Lanusen represent the corrupt civilian

government. Reore, Waje and Gbede represent the poor and

oppressed masses.

A carrier must be led down the river to the ancient shrine of

the water goddess – YEMOSA. Through this journey of

cleansing on board a raft, Osofisan uses the characters to

mirror the state of the nation. The characters here are the

victims of our corrupt leaders and representatives of the

society.

Femi Osofisan harps on the ills of civilian government in

Nigeria. It is portrayed as corrupt through the characters

of Ekuroola, Lanusen and Orousi. Ekuruoola is the Abore

Chief priest of rituals. He is regarded as the dominant

character, and is himself thoroughly corrupt. He is seen

neglecting his responsibilities as the Abore. He is a native

son who becomes a successful Lagos tycoon and in the process

neglects his land and his responsibilities.

Osofisan portrays the Nigerian society as a nation that has

been destroyed by bribery and corruption. Positions of

responsibility are no longer attained on merit but through

bribes. He shows that chieftaincy titles and awards are no

longer given on merit but on gratification.

The quarrel that ensure between Ekuroola and Lanusen

portrays how Nigerian leaders bribe their ways to positions

of authority.

Ekuroola says:

I paid you well for it, damn it! It was my money that made you change your mind,

Lanusen! The house I built for you in Alagbede quarters, your sixth wife still

lives there! Deny. (p. 25).

To this, Lanusen answer is: “So what, if you spent money? A

pittance wasn’t it? Which you’ve since more than

recovered!”…. (p. 26).

The playwright through the characters shows how Nigerian

leaders misuse their positions of responsibility which

should have been used to cater for the total well being of the

nation, and covert them to profit making avenues in a bid to

satisfy their unbridled quest and unquenchable lust for

materialism. He further shows how Nigerian politicians

approve monies for contracts and finally the contracts are

not executed, when the record show that the money was spent.

The playwright through Ekuroola portrays how politicians

embezzle funds that are set aside for community development.

Ekuroola says:

But your council could have started with building a good drainage for instance,

Lanusen. You know the money was voted, the plan approved. The records also show that the money

was spent. Years ago. (p.24)

Femi Osofisan decries a situation where contracts are

awarded not according to the plan approved but inflated so as

to serve the greed and selfishness of the political leaders.

Through Ekuroola, we discover that the contract for the

building of the canal awarded by the council was done, “…

According to the size of … pockets”

Osofisan presents the exploitation and subjugation of the

masses by the ruling class. The masses are constantly

bedeviled by sufferings, poverty and sickness as a result of

unfruitful sacrifices. They are unhappy and frustrated as

the government is no longer sensitive to their predicament.

Yet, they are the very people: “whose hands fertilized the wombs of

the earth”.

Reore says:

But all round the year, we’re toiling, that’s all.

Against the weather. Against weeds, and rodents,

Several nobody like me. One long unceasing

Struggle, in spite of our fatigue, in spite of frequently ill.

Working for thieves. (p. 27)

Osofisan shows how the masses suffer untold deprivations and

exploitation in the hands of the establishments. Perhaps

Reore represents the Niger Delta whose resources are milked

away to savour the lives of other parts of the country at the

detriments of the Niger Deltans who suffer in abject poverty

and penury occasioned by the degradation and pollution of

their environment by the activities of multinational oil

drilling firms. Reore says:

We toil and toil, nursing Eledumarie’s precious earth, tenderly. And then one man we

never see, who wines and dines in the soft fairylands of that Lagos city we hear so much

about, he just send his agents down to collect our harvest, leaving us the chaff…. (p. 27).

The playwright portrays the neglect of the poor and the

under-privileged in the Nigerian society. They are regarded

as unimportant by the wealthy few. They are neglected and

rejected, whereas they are the very people that toil towards

the economic development of the nation. Reore says:

I know I am a nobody. Abore. But all around the year, we’re toiling, that’s all. Against the

weather, against weeds, and rodents, several nobodies like me. One long unceasing struggle,

in spite of our fatigue, in spite of frequently falling ill, working for thieves. (p. 27).

Osofisan here presents Nigerian leaders as being heartless

and insensitive to the sufferings of the masses. Instead of

gathering the resources of the nation to the advantage of the

collective, they steal the resources for themselves. The

play also shows how Nigerians have been lured into hiring

themselves voluntarily to work in Portuguese plantations in

their effort to look for greener pastures in foreign lands,

since they have becomes disappointed and disillusioned as a

result of the inability of the government to implement

policies that will bring about employment for the youths.

Thus slavery has been reintroduced due to the visionless

deeds of the ruling cabal. Wage says:

Not only grand fathers, Gbebe. What! Every month these currents carry the boats of men who

hire themselves voluntarily to the Portuguese plantations lured by the illusion of profit.

…. (p. 44)

Osofisan shows how Nigerian leaders react when the masses

feel oppressed and rise to protest certain obnoxious

policies of government and the insensitivity of government

to their plight. The police and the army are set against the

peasants to shoot, kill and maim. When Orousi denies never

being involved in murder, Lanusen asks: “Fine story! And

what about the peasant’s uprising. Only a year ago? When you

and I, when we set the police and the army against the

farmers...” (p. 47)

The playwright shows how the leaders after unjust taxes, cruelly neglect government companies to die and turn to buy

back such artificially dead companies even against the wishes and advice of the people. Reore accuses Orousi thus:

… You knew the facts, as our priest! The unjust taxes, the cruel neglect, the dying farms, we

told you everything during our foolish consultations. We also told you our

strategies, asked you to bless them, only for you sell them to the government forces!

Osofisan brings to bear the predicaments that have befallen

the Nigerian state since independence. Agunrin, a character

that represents military dictatorship in the play accepts

this fact of history when he says:

I did it! I cut the raft adrift! (p. 53)

In the play, we see how the military use empty rhetorics to

buy the heart of the people whenever they over throw civilian

governments. They present themselves as messiahs who have

come to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses. They

portray the civilians as corrupt, selfish, ambitious and

greedy leaders, whose aim is to exploit the masses. The

military promises the masses that they will be taken to

George Orwell’s sugar candy mountain so as to gain that

support. Agunrin, a representation of the military says:

The people are dirty, isn’t it? Their bodies stink, their feet are eaten by jiggers! Perhaps if they earned more money for their labour, perhaps they would have leisure to

pause, and take care of themselves? Perhaps they would be able to look up from their

drudgery, to question those who control their lives? No, they continue to smell, because people like you are in charge….” (p.61)

The above excerpt shows how the military promises better pay

packages and improvements of the living conditions of

workers and the entire people when they initially come to

power.

Osofisan shows how the military that promised to salvage the

people from the corrupt and selfish governments of civilians

have been immersed in the rot they intended to cleanse. The

rate at which the military engages in corruption has reached

such an alarming dimension and proportion that the people

have been disappointed in them. Gbebe accuses Agunrin thus:

You’re a soldier. You accuse the politicians and the Chiefs of exploiting the people and

leading us to damnation. But what of you, sir? What else do you do except milk the land?” (p.

63).

Femi Osofisan portrays that the military are not the

solution to Nigerian’s political problems. Agunrin dived

into the water with the hope of saving the chiefs but is drown

in the process. The playwright in Another Raft portrays a

society that is lost; a society that is enveloped in futility

and despair; a society that is doomed as a result of

visionlessness of those in the pinnacle of power.

However, for Osofisan, all is not lost, there is still hope.

His ocean of hope springs from the current of faith that if

the people pool their resources together, refusing to

surrender in the face of difficulties and accepting to work

towards a common and collective goal, they shall have

acquired great strength and vigour to unmask their

destinies. Thus the solution to the socio-political,

economic, religious and cultural problems that face the

country lies not in military governments but in the co-

operation among the people towards a single progress.

… There’s no goddess but our muscles! The strength of our force combined! Rowing together, working together…. (p. 85)

CONCLUSION

On the topic – “A Nation Adrift”, we have seen how Clark–

Bekederemo and Osofisan use theatrical medium to depict the

ill in our society ranging from bribery and corruption,

economic backwardness to politics of hatred. Obviously, the

presentation of such image is to appeal to the conscience of

the society and thereby inspire social and economic change.

These plays have presented the candid despairing picture of

the society thereby pushing the society to change and allow

for positive contribution to social and economic

development.

Clark-Bekederemo and Osofisan use drama as an effective

means of propaganda and by their very nature of call, they

both seem to be revolutionary. Their principal objective is

not so much to inform, educate and entertain, but to change

the society. The playwright as a revolutionary thinker

strives always to change the world, to redirect and channel

the mind and conscience of his people towards a new set of

values. Soyinka believes that the writer as the visionary of

his time, “must impress (on the mind and consciousness of his

audience) an acceptance of his revolutionary vision”. The

playwright’s voice is the light by which the statesman

wisely guides their steps.

Drama has indeed been used by the two Nigerian playwrights to

preach virtue and purposeful leadership in our society. They

create a whole symphony of meaning by pattern of recurrent

images, relationship, actions and dialogues which are

direct or indirect characteristic of African nations.

Clark-Bekederemo in his The Raft visualizes the corrupt

society filled with fear, ignorance, cynicism, poverty and

disorder. He creates a human condition which he knew existed

not only in Nigeria but also in America. In the society he

sees a human condition as hopeless and helpless with

confusion. Osofisan on the other hand, exposes social ills

of greedy leaders who are only out to exploit the masses. He

indicates the problems in the society and also tries to find

solutions to them. That is, the need for hardwork, co-

operation, positive thinking and togetherness in the

society.

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