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CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1 Purpose of Study

The aim of this essay is to examine moral decadence in Frank Ogbeche’s

Harvest of Corruption and Femi Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel. This essay illustrates how

the two playwrights emphasize sexual, political and religious decadence as the banes of

their country, Nigeria, its effects on the wellbeing of the individuals within the society.

1.2 Scope of Study

The essay is restricted to the explication of moral decadence in the texts.

Embedded in the issue of moral decadence are sexual, political and religious decadence

which are depicted by both playwrights. The essay encompasses a critical examination

of the effects and the negative influences of decadence on African societies represented

by Nigeria in the two plays.

1.3 Methodology

The method adopted for the essay is the qualitative research method, which

involves the primary texts entitled; Frank Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Femi

Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel. The secondary sources will include; journals, sources from

both the internet and library, as well as lecture notes.

1.4 Theoretical Background

The essay adopts both Moralistic theory and the Social Realism theory, the

reason being that, the texts, Harvest of Corruption, and Midnight Hotel are instructive
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in their depictions, they also depict society realistically. From the moralistic

perspective, both texts show the effects and the negative influence of a decayed society,

and they both teach and instruct on how a society and individual should be governed.

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “moral” is concerned with

character or disposition, or with the distinction between right and wrong, morally good,

virtuous and righteousness’. Therefore, moral decadence deals with the conduct of man

and the society.

In other words, a moralistic approach to a literary work is to evaluate a work in

terms of the ideas and values it contains. Literature in itself has a didactic purpose.

There is a close tie between literature and morality and this view has been upheld since

the time of Plato till date. Plato argues that literary authors are expected to set good

standards for the people to follow. He also acknowledges literature’s power as a teacher

by believing it is capable of corrupting morals and understanding religion. That is,

literature cannot be separated from moral values as they go side by side.

Tony Afejuku, commenting on the moral theory, opines thus:

Every writer is a writer in morality or ought to be so. Every critic is a

critic in the art and act of morality or ought to be so. Every reader of a

literary work is a literary reader in the art and act of morality or ought to

be so. In other words, every writer, critic and reader is an inquirer or

ought to be an inquirer into the meaning of conduct or behaviour which

underlines our moral choices as we grope on this earthly plane. (195)

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From Afejuku’s affirmation, moral approach to a literary work should be strictly

concerned with how to modify deviant behaviour and to encourage desirable character

in the society. While Aristotle consideres “literature as capable of fostering virtue”,

Horace opines that “literature should be instructive and delightful”. Samuel Johnson

asserted that the “aim of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical

thinking”.

Subsequently, Mathew Arnold, cited in T.U Njoku and C.N Okezie, affirms that:

“Any work of literature must be both adequate and fortifying”. Adequate

means that the work must consist in intellectual wholeness and cogency

which will make an understanding of the world accessible, “fortifying”

means that the reader should derive from literary work the energy and

the courage to confront the asperities and confusions of the Modern

world .(197)

The extract above can be explained to mean that works of literature prepare readers

adequately not to be surprised by different happenings in the world. Literature brings to

their door step a more intellectual and better understanding of the happenings in the

society. This gives different readers the support and courage to face life challenges.

Arnold goes further to say that “Literary works should be a source of moral and

spiritual inspiration, possibly capable of replacing philosophy and religion.”

In addition, Gilbert Brown, commenting on the moralistic theory, expresses

thus:
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Moralistic approach is based on ethics and moral philosophy. In a larger

sense, the fundamental goal of moral critics is to probe philosophical

issue and to channel man towards the right path in life. Consequently,

literature must instill morals wherever it is discussed as a subject of life.

(29)

Gandara et al, quoting Horace, asserts that: “a portion of mankind takes pride in

their vice and pursues their purposes. Many more waves between doing what is right

and complying with what is wrong” (3). This means, the moral approach to literary

criticism tries to discover if the meaning of a work of art provides lessons to mankind.

Sometimes, it also concerns itself with the truth in the content and meaning of literature.

David Daiches once observed that “man is also a moral animal and he has liking for

system, and moral systems tend to be flexible to ignore what cannot be neatly fitted in”

(1).

D.S. Wilson infers that “the moral approach uses ethical principles of human

conduct such as order, restraint and discipline are basics to criticize life, creative or

literary art. To the moralist, criticism becomes “a repository of basic human conduct

which is used in criticizing work of art”.

On the moralistic approach to literary work, Wilbur Scott states:

The impulse towards moral evaluation has been expressed chiefly by

writers who are grouped by the label, Neo humanist. Their chief interest

lies in literature as a criticism of life to them. The study of the techniques

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of literature is a study of means, whereas they are concerned with the

ends of literature as affecting man as it takes its place in the human

forum of ideas and attitudes. (p. 23)

The basic tenet of a moral critic is how the content of a literary work postulates

ideas that can help humans improve character.

The moral critics believe that the greater purpose of literature is to teach morals

and to probe philosophical ideas and issues as they relate to the society.

Social Realism approach, on the other hand, is a literary approach to criticism

that reveals the truth of contemporary life in the society. It portrays the society in the

way it is rather than as it ought to be.

Onyeka Iwuchukwu et al define social realism as prevalent behavioural and

social factors which largely reveal the social make up of people. M.H. Abrams and

Harpham define

social realism in literature as a term used by Marxist critics for novels

which they claimed reflected social reality, these novels project the

Marxist view that struggle between economic classes is the essential

dynamic of society. The novels realistically present the oppression of

workers by bourgeois capitalists, the virtues of the proletariat and the

felicities of life under a communist regime. (368)

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In a nut shell, it is important to note that Social Realism theory, which is an

offshoot of Marxism, presents a work of literature the way it is, realistically without

embellishment.

Furthermore, George Dennis contributes to the explanation of social realism. He

remarks:

The basic method of literature and literary criticism... it demands

from the artist a fruitful and historically concrete representation

of reality in its revolutionary development. In other words, it

represents the society and the individuals as they should be (40-

47).

The term “social realism” is a vehicle for authors to discuss the cogent social,

political and economic situations in the society in which we are living. It is a term that

depicts accurate portrayal of setting and characters without embellishments. It also

points out the political and economic corruption in the society. Both plays record the

social realities of the African people from similar dimensions.

1.5 Review of Related Scholarship and Justification of Study

Femi Osofisan’s works have generated a lot of reviews. One of such reviews is

by Muyiwa Awodiya.

Using the comic opera style, Osofisan grafts music to fare to produce a

bitter sweet realistic play that induces laughter and at the same time
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carries with it, acerbic message, the play Midnight Hotel is a hilarious

comedy but through the laughter gleams the hard light of truth. (207)

Awodiya further explains that:

Osofisan’s plays are the most frequently performed this is because the

themes of the plays are socially relevant. They deal with the widespread

political economic corruption, social injustice and economic

mismanagement that have characterized the Nigerian society since

independence. A writer like Osofisan is relevant to contemporary

literary critic and society.

Another critic who has commented on Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel is Harry

Garuba, he opines that “the surest” and most creative route to the discussion of serious

socio-political problems is by way of laughter, puns and facial sketches and scenarios,

comic exchange and other forms of humour that characterize Osofisans’s plays”.

Furthermore, he asserts that to observe that “social change could come by the

playwright’s ability to raise awareness to a positive revolutionary alternative to social

decadence” (118-119). In a similar perspective, Michael Etherton asserts that Osofisan’s

gift as a playwright lies in his ability to combine wit and comedy with serious social

criticism” (285).

According to Omiko Awa in his review of Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel, he

elucidates:
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“The play satirically depicts the various social ills such as bad leadership

and following highlighting how these twin ills have affected all facet of

our political and economic life right from independence to present day

democratic era.

He also asserts that:

“The Midnight Hotel” tells the harrowing story of how Nigerian society

connives with Criminals to do evil. The play also gives a knock on religious leaders,

who are expected to live above board, but who, for the love of money and the lust of the

flesh, have sold their respect and misled people to do evil?

The extract above can be further explained with reference to the play. The

operatives represented by the soldiers and parliamentarians are supposed to uphold the

virtues of their society by serving the country but instead they abuse their office and

engage in various corrupt practices. Religious leaders who fail in their duty are also

realistically depicted in the play. In reviewing the play, Omiko Awa points out these

two important facts.

Samuel Adewumi Idowu in his review on Midnight Hotel, opines that “The play

brought to the fore the various decay facing Nigeria as a nation, i.e. the gamut of decay

and corruption” (185).

Idowu, through his review, also presents one of the most important part of the

play. The different decay that has eaten through the root of the society is seen in the

play. There is the exemplification of the corrupt politicians (political decadence),

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prostitutes (sexual decadence) and religious failed leaders (religious decadence) in the

play. The main reviews identify the decay which serves as an important part of the play.

Lastly, Yemi Ogunbiyi affirms that Osofisan employs the story telling device,

riddles, songs and music and dance in relating easily to his audience. His ideological

stand on the under priviledged humanity captures the centre of his plays.

Osofisan is a socialist, moralist, and a revolutionary writer. He believes in the

principle of socialism and his works pertain to social realism and the Nigerian society in

particular.

According to Ogunbiyi:

“Osofisan is an authoritative exponent of African Mythology; he

believes that myth and history with those imperfections of the past be

made subservient to the contemporary demands of social transformation

to improve the quality of life of mankind. (225)

Harvest of Corruption by Frank Ogbeche has also received commentaries from scholars

but not very many of them; one of such scholars is Michael Ighodalo who infers:

“Frank Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption unravels the bribery and

exploitation that have ravaged every facet in our society since the

establishment of civil service. The playwright reveals the bribery and

exploitation in the Ministry of External Affairs, the judiciary, the police

the customs, the educational and health sectors.

In addition, Ighodalo further opines that:

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“The playwright is of the notion that those who occupy government

positions and other persons who engage in corrupt practices should be

investigated, arrested, tried and jailed in order to put an end to bribery

and corruption that have played our society. (65)

O.Y Bath, who writes the forward of the play, asserted that;

“Harvest of Corruption explores a background in a conscious effort to

mirror the contemporary society. The play focuses on sexual immorality,

bribery, large scale embezzlement in official quarters, drug trafficking

and smuggling involving highly placed personalities who are supposed

to be custodians of our traditional norms, policy makers and law

enforcement officers, worse still, young and innocent Nigerians are

introduced to criminality in the name of money making and ostentatious

loving”. (ix)

Gabriel Okoye, in his review on Harvest of Corruption, sees the playwright Ogbeche,

“as a surgeon with his surgical blade and opened her bowels (Nigerian

nation) to discover that the apparently strong, healthy and vibrant giant

“Nigeria” is simply awaiting ‘her’ final demise, her emotions entrails its

vital organs are rotten. And that, the play shows that Nigerian vices are

legion”. (103)

He goes on to opine that “the play discusses the path of lawlessness and other forms of

a manifestation of a lack of consciousness”.

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Subsequently, Oliver Iluebe states that Harvest of Corruption depicts:

Corruption and greed as two evils walking on four legs in the Nigeria

contemporary society an aspect of the social views that have made the

Nigerian nation a poor country with abundant resources because of

mismanagement by political players. (125)

Iluebe takes a step further to observe that “The playwright seems to be suggesting that

moral rebirth can only be restored in our country through the legislation and

implementation of relevant laws and sincere interpretation of the laid down laws”. (120)

A.O. Ibitola takes a different lens to x-ray the play, he states that:

“The play Harvest of Corruption epitomizes the various images of moral

crisis in our social system such as, the breakdown of social value,

discipline, students riots, drug menace, religious bigotry, armed robbery,

nepotism, moral and spiritual decadence, corruption in many places

without respects for creed or age, indiscipline in society with little or no

development and national image almost under intensified scrutiny. The

play satirically humours the contemporary Nigeria society with clear

depiction of bribery, drug trafficking and smuggling in the Nigeria

system. (138-139)

Lastly, Agbada Nwachukwu et al argue that:

The background to the plot of Harvest of Corruption is similar to what

goes on in developing countries of the world, particularly Africa where

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corruption, official and social, is the order of the day, the playwright

chooses to highlight one form of moral crisis in an African country

namely ‘Pen robbery’. (68)

They proceed to observe that Harvest of Corruption is “the playwright’s efforts to draw

society’s attention to the growing rise of social disorder and the emergence of negative

values in an erstwhile ordered social polity” (69). They conclude in their commentary

on the play by stating that, “the play shows responsible individuals to whom leadership

is entrusted betray social trust and prefer personal advantage to social wellbeing”.

Our review of literature indicates that different critics have commented on both

Harvest of Corruption and Midnight Hotel, however, no critic so far has done a

comparative analysis of the concept of moral decadence as depicted by both playwrights

in the plays.

This essay, therefore, differs from the work of critics in the sense that it provides

the evidence to prove that sexual, political and religious decadence are satirized in both

plays. This work is peculiar in this sense, therefore, its indeed worthy of research.

1.6 Thesis Statement

The essay illustrates how Femi Osofisan and Frank Ogbeche expose and satirize

sexual, political and religious decadence in contemporary Nigerian society with the aim

of raising awareness that will inevitably lead to social change.

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CHAPTERTWO

Sexual Decadence in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Osofisan’s Midnight

Hotel

According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “Decadence is a

behavior that shows someone has low moral standards and is more concerned with

pleasure than serious matter (436). It is the process or act of derailing into inferior

condition or state, determination, or decay, that is, it is a state of deterioration in

standards especially in morality. It can further be explained as the lack of sexual

purification amongst individuals in the society.

As stated in the previous chapter, several shades of decadence will be examined.

This chapter sets out to discuss the issue of sexual decadence, because it is a

predominant vice revealed in the plays. It is one of the major aspects of moral

decadence in Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel and Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption.

2.1 Sexual Decadence in Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel

Osofisan, who has written a lot about the ills that pervade the society, including

sexual decadence reiterates that sexual decadence, is an ill inherent in our society as

depicted in Midnight Hotel. In this work, we will zero our study on sexual decadence in

the aforementioned play.

In Midnight Hotel, our first encounter with sexual immorality begins from the

very first scene. The helpless receptionist, BICYCLE, goes to answer a call in room 9;

knocking and opening the door, the sight of a naked woman scares him;
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BICYCLE: Jimoh, er, sorry Chief Jimoh. If you see de thing weh I take my eye see

just now! If you see am!

JIMOH: What did you see?

BICYCLE: A woman, Chief Jimoh. A woman!

JIMOH: You have never seen a woman before?

BICYCLE: And no be my fault at all, sah Chief, I swear am to you. I jus dey pass

jeje for corridor na him I hear de bell twing twing from room 9. So I

stop. I say, Bicycle, dat na room 9, dem dey call you. I go to the door,

chief, I go to the door, kpakpa, I knock, I wait small, no answer. Bicycle,

I say, dey no hear you. So kpakpakpa, I knock again, harder. I wait. Then

come; I hear de voice say. So whetin I go do? Bicycle, go on. I stretch

my hand. I open de door, and … and …

JIMOH: And what? You idiot!

BICYCLE: A woman! Jimoh …er chief. A woman, naked! As naked as kere fish.

From here to dere. (points from his toes to his head).

JIMOH: (bursts out laughing) And is that all? Ha ha! Is that all you saw, bush

man!

BICYCLE: I tell you sah Jimoh, de woman, she was … she was nakedly naked.

JIMOH: And so? Were we not all born naked?

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BICYCLE: And she no care one ting at all. Whetin? She just look me, like dat, and

she say, “Boy, can you please take dis money and buy me some

cigarettes?” Jus like dat

JIMOH: Just like that! Ha na.look here, Bicycle, how many times have I

reminded you that you are no longer in your village? This is Lagos, man,

and in Lagos, sex is business. Naked women, half naked women, women

about to be naked, women who will die naked, all is money in this city.

Big money! Big money. Wait (goes to the song master) please

songmaster, you do have this song of the Lagos woman don’t you?

Thank you. Let us sing it for this idiot (3-4).

From the excerpts above, one can see that sex that used to be something sacred in the

good old days has become a thing as common as sand to the extent that women can now

shamelessly exhibit their bodies even to hotel boys! Sex has become not only a means

of cheapening oneself, but also a means of making money. According to the character

Jimoh:-“This is Lagos, man, and in Lagos, sex is business. Naked women, half naked

women, women about to be naked, women who will die naked, all is money in this city.

Big money! Big money. (4)”

It must be observed that it is not only in Lagos that this takes place. From Lagos

to Benin, even on campuses, everywhere, the society at large, is no exception to this

sexual escapades and misconducts. In fact, one only needs to look at the outrageous

dressing of our girls, boys, women and men these days, it is uncalled for and impetuous.
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The playwright Osofisan seems to be lampooning how deep this act has eaten into the

fabric of the contemporary African society.

In the text, Midnight Hotel, the situation is so bad that almost everyone who

comes to this hotel is thought to be on sexual escapades. For instance, Mr. Asibong is

mistaken for a customer, and he is told:

JIMOH: A room sir? Something … quiet, isn’t it?

I know your type sir, and I know just what will please you. Please

bring your woman in, sir, don’t leave her outside.

There is a small hidden room at the back where the governor of

Domme State entertains his women whenever he is in town and

doesn’t wish to be disrupted or disturbed. In there, sir, your

woman may scream all she likes without anyone trying to …

ASIBONG: Thank you, thank you. But you’re mistaken, I am from Easy.con

Associates…

JIMOH: Which means it’s a group thing sir? No matter, we can also cater

for you. we have a suite which will do just fine, provided you are

not more than five couples and (6)…

Jimoh mistakes him for a customer who has come to do the usual; unknowingly

to him, ASIBONG is only there to inspect the state of one of the rooms that is said to be

haunted. Such is the situation, that even those who seek legitimate accommodation in

the hotel are mistaken for customers who have come to “sample goods”.
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In other instances of sexual immorality, Osofisan uses the characters of Alatise

and his daughters to show how the society is morally debased. The soldiers, after

messing up the three daughters of Alatise, offer them money. The playwright, Osofisan,

uses this instance to depict what is happening in our society today.

BOSE: The soldier, he was kind! Papa, how easy it is to earn money in

the city! We should have come long ago! Papa, you’ll soon be

back on your feet. No more humiliation, hunger, wretchedness!

We’ll save you. we’ll redeem you.

ALATISE: You! andCathrine? Agness

BOSE: Upstairs, with the other soldiers, we will be so rich (60)

To further buttress that the issue of sexual immorality is explicit in Midnight Hotel,

Jimoh advices Alatise that he should not bother about his daughters and he tells Suuru

to continue with…

JIMOH: If I were you sir, I’d tell him to rejoice. His fortune is going to be

made. Sex is the best commodity in this city, and he has the

commodity abundantly, and free of charge as it were. (61)

From the above extracts, “the abundant commodity” here refers to Alatise’s three

daughters whom he thinks, Alatise is going to make money from the sexual intercourse

with the soldiers. It should be noted that it is very wrong for a father to take his

daughters to a seedy place such as Midnight Hotel, and when they eventually get there,
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we see his daughters endorsing it in the spirit of “if you cannot beat them, you join

them”, by saying this, he justifies sex trade.

More so, Honourable (Mrs.) Awero is an epitome of sexual decadence, a symbol

of morales but priviledged upper class. Awero is a member of the House of Assembly,

and she is married but she brings the pastor to the hotel to “sample his goods” before

giving him a contract. Sex is considered the yardstick for promotions and award of

contracts instead of competence. Awero herself puts this open before Suuru.

AWERO: For Christ’s sake, what’s wrong with you? I’m telling you it’s

regular practice in parliament. All the male MPs are doing it,

even to their own nieces and cousins! Everyone in our contracts

and awards committee is taking some member of the opposite sex

somewhere or the other before jobs are given out. They call it

‘sampling the goods: so why should I be different? Listen, we

even have a song about it. I am giving you a big chance by

bringing you here. As the only female member of the building

committee in the House of Assembly, I’m giving you an unfair

advantage over other competitors to prove your competence, and

here you are trembling when I am not. (13)

It is an unimaginable situation that lawmakers, who are supposed to pass a bill against

illicit sexual conducts, are the ones encouraging this vice in the society. The playwright,

Osofisan, makes his point by using the sexual habit of this group to show the level of
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sexual decadence in the society. Indeed, there is a sadder aspect of sexual decadence in

our society. Since the “sex business” has been institutionalized, the kidney is to corrupt

the generation coming behind. From Jimoh’s speech at the very first scene of this play,

lays to bare the explicitness of sexual decadence in the contemporary African society,

he opines:

JIMOH: This is Lagos man, and in Lagos, sex is business. Naked women,

half naked women, women about to be naked, women who will

die naked, all is money in this city. Big money! Big money. (4)

Just as the use of sexual decadence is predominant in Osofisan’sMidnight Hotel, that is

how it is predominant in Frank Ogbeche’sHarvest of Corruption.

2.2 Sexual Decadence in Frank Ogbeche’sHarvest of Corruption

In Ogbeche’sHarvest of Corruption, just as in Osofisan’sMidnight Hotel, the playwright

appears to ridicule the contemporary Nigerian society because of its attitude towards

sex. In the play, Harvest of Corruption, the playwright presents a society that lacks

moral strength to attain the status of a contemporary nation. In the country today, there

is sex abuse and the negation of sexual role.

The work will illustrate how different decadence, sexual decadence, political

decadence and religious decadence are used in Midnight Hotel and Harvest of

Corruption to realistically reflect the ills and shortcomings that pervade the society for

the purpose of correcting it.

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OCHUOLE: That reminds me, one of my friends is in town, she needs a job

very desperately. I have asked her to come to Chief tomorrow,

you know. As usual the job stunt is just a cover up. The real thing

is how useful she can be to us. The chief will be over himself

when he sees her. The old man, he will want her immediately

even right there in the office. You know the man has no scruples

especially with women; indeed, I have never seen his type.

MADAM HOHA: (She smiles). The usual works, you know these things. We will

dangle this babe before the chief for a price. He will employ her

and we can make use of her to get whatever we want. She will

run errands while we pick the bucks (they laugh) (13).

The lines depict a morally debased society, a society that is characterized with sexual

decadence. Ogbeche seems to be of interest in this aspect in decadence that denies the

society of its morality. It shows individuals in the society, who traffick and lure their

fellow individuals into sex escapades. Both Ochuale and Madam Hoha’s conversation

paints and depicts the contemporary Nigeria society as a society that suffers immorality.

The above extract also shows Chief as a lecher, he is engrossed in sexual immorality

and he usually sleeps with girls in his office. “The chief will be over himself when he

sees her, the old crook, he will want her immediately, even right there in the office”.

As expected, when chief eventually employs her, he sleeps with her and uses her

to push cocaine to the United States of America. The issue of sexual decadence is made
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explicit in the play. Furthermore, when Ochuele informs Chief of a new girl he is to

meet, she tells him:

OCHUOLE: There is a friend of mine, she is an applicant and I know you will

like her (continue to massage chief’s laps).

CHIEF: Begins to show interest. (he looks up and smiles at her). You

bitch; you will never stop teasing me. Now you have me hooked,

are you serious? (He licks his mouth like a hungry hyena about to

pounce a prey).

OCHUOLE: Chief, I am dead serious and she is coming to the office

tomorrow for a job. I have assured her that you will employ her.

Chief, the ball is in your court, play it well. But be gentle with

her, she is my friend oo.

(laughs loudly).

CHIEF: (Joins in the laughter) Ochuole, you are incredible, I hear you all

the same. Tomorrow, shall judge when I see her (both of them

made to stand up) (16-17).

Madam Hoha is no exception to this societal menace, as her hotel is the meeting place

where he (chief discusses his illicit business, and he uses the hotel as a warehouse

where chief keeps cocaine).

In convincing Aloho to make her happy, Ochuole deceives her into accepting

the job, she tells her that travelling to the United States of America is part of her
 22

protocol officer’s job, and that so many girls are waiting for such opportunities to travel

out of the country, and that Aloho should not miss such a precious opportunity, Ochuole

tells her:

OCHUOLE: “Your trip to the US is part of your protocol schedules. You

wanted a job and here is one; please do not throw it away. My

dear, I shall never do anything to hurt you. All I am doing for you

is for your own good. You will not regret it. Afterall, many girls

are looking for these opportunities especially to travel out of the

country and to the USA for that matter, God’s own country,

imagine that”. (41)

Ochuole from the above extracts, devices a means to lure her into sexual escapades

because of her own selfish desires and gains.

Furthermore, in the play, Harvest of Corruption, Ochuole’s past is made

available to the reader. She lives a loose life on campus where she makes 2.2. at the

university examinations. She is a “big time gril” in Sabu. She is close to her Minister

and can always extract generosity from him, using their closeness. In the play, she

(Ochuole) asks Madam Hoha to “leave civil service for the real civil servants not

me”(128). She observes that no reasonable person depends on monthly salary in Sabu,

except he or she comes to look at Zuma rock and drink water afterwards (13). She tells

Madam Hoha that “the job stunt is just a cover up, the real thing is how useful she

(Aloho) can be to us”.

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In other words, they both agree to use Aloho as a carrot before Chief for a price.

Chief enters with a broad smile and musky voice, calling Madam Hoha “Madam de

Madam”, he quickly assures Ochuole that “as for cash, no problem”. The chief soon

places his hands on the laps of Ochuole”, she then uses the opportunity to ask Chief for

twenty thousand naira which she needs to send to the village, she observes:

OCHUOLE: (feigning annoyance) look chief, stop this ‘baby’ thing and don’t

refer to me as baby again, chief I am not happy. There are a

number of things worrying me.

CHIEF: Why don’t you cheer up afterall I am sitting right beside you.

OCHUOLE: (looking worried) I need twenty thousand naira, chief, to send to

the village. I got a message yesterday that my mother is sick and

in the hospital.

CHIEF: (Draws his portfolio nearer to himself, presses the buttons, opens

and pulls out a bundle of money which he throws on her laps)

that’s twenty thousand naira baby. You can send it now if you

like, but please let me enjoy my stout when it is cold.

To further show how morally debased the characters the playwright depicts in the text,

and how money is one of the many reasons that people throw caution to the wind,

Madam Hoha, she opines that:

 24

MADAM HOHA: Now you are talking chief. You can join your girl. She is dying to

have you already (raises her voice) Ochuole, take things easy o! I

beg you. there he is. he is all yours. Chop am if you like (15).

Though Madam Hoha is wealthy, she is not satisfied with the money that she earns from

her hotel business. She is a facilitator of chief’s sexual exploits. She and Ochuole

arrange girls for chief whom he sexually abuses and uses to push cocaine. Chief pays

her commission for arranging girls for him, when Ochuole tells her about Aloho,

Madam Hoha says, “He will employ her and we can make use of her to get what we

want, she will run the errands while we pick the bucks (13). When Aloho gets pregnant

as a result of her affair with chief, she says:

ALOHO: Ogeyi, you may not understand my position. I was even lured

into having an affair with chief. Even since my detention. I have

been feeling funny and I am sure I am pregnant. I think I have

started the harvest of corruption which you mentioned before,

and I have the feeling that I am going to reap it in hundred folds.

Can you understand my predicament now? (58)

In this chapter, we have been able to exemplify sexual decadence as used by

both playwrights, Osofisan and Ogbeche, in their plays Midnight Hotel and Harvest of

Corruption, respectively. The both plays have shown that the issue of moral decadence

is explicit in our society. The chapter has also shown that cupidity, avarice, material
 25

acquisitions are the major reasons individuals in the society engage in sexual escapades.

That is, both texts depict the level of moral decadence in our society.

In other words, both texts seem to be passing a message across to individuals in

the society who engage in all sorts of illicit affairs, and preaches that they desist from

them, because such activities are detrimental to the society.

This chapter has dwelt on sexual decadence in both Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel

and Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption. The next chapter shall espouse political

decadence in both texts.

 26

CHAPTER THREE

Political Decadence in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Osofisan’s Midnight

Hotel

Political treachery, greed, bribe and corruption among our political leaders are

the political vices the both plays expose in the texts. Political leaders who, instead of

handling the serious business of the nation, submerge themselves in wanton pleasure

and leisure, even use the powers of their offices to exploit the masses of their resources.

Both playwrights are not only concerned with sexual decadence as shown in the

previous chapter, but are also concerned with the issue of political decadence in the

contemporary African society.

This chapter attempts to holistically examine political decadence in both

Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel because the issue of

political decadence is predominant in the both texts.

3.1 Political Decadence in Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel

In Midnight Hotel, Awero, the stereotype for the political class, or the

politicians, is a Member of Parliament. One comes to know through her character what

the so called leaders in the Parliament do. The various utterances and actions betray the

shortcomings of the political class. For them (those in government), abnormality is

idealized into the ‘norm’. They see nothing wrong in sexual exploitation and infidelity

as it is part of their duties in government (parliament). Even to the extent of the so

called Parliamentary members coined the term “Sampling the Goods” to envelop their
 27

evils and indecency in government. To these leaders, opportunities to squander the

nation’s wealth must be exploited and through the odious practice of sampling the

goods, she says to Suuru:

AWERO: I’m giving you a big change by bring you here. As the only female

member of the building committee in the House of Assembly, I’m giving

you an unfair advantage over other competitors to prove your

competence. And here you are trembling, when am not (13)

SUURU: Well… you know, Honourable, its just that, that …

AWERO: For Christ’s sake, what’s wrong with you? I am telling you its regular

practice in Parliament. All the male MI’s are doing it, even to their own

nieces and cousins! Everyone in our contracts and awards committee is

taking some member of the opposite sex somewhere or the other before

jobs are given out. They call it ‘sampling the goods’. So should I be

different? Listen, we have a song about it.

The song that Awero talks about is a song that adequately mirrors and depicts

the political vices and decadence in the contemporary society. Through the song, the

playwright, Osofisan exposes a number of political ills that runs through the society/ the

song opens thus:

CHORUS: The world is a market, they say, and so is parliament, so don’t bring us

your lament unless you are willing to pay.

 28

But please take off your clothes, and do not waste my time. I want to

sample your type.

We made our own investment

When we came to campaign

So there is no need to bargain about our reimbursement

You cannot like a government, if we refuse to sample (AWERO thanks

the songmaster and hands back the tablet (14).

Through this song, Osofisan shows that our political leaders equate the place,

process and means of making laws to the good governance of the nation to a market

where only those who meet their demands will be favoured. Outside that, the political

leaders also firmly believe that their position should aid them in satisfying their lust, ‘as

the playwright opines “But please take off your clothes/I want to sample your type”.

No wonder E.B. Adeleke opines that Osofisan’s aim of using music is to

“Sanitize politicians to the need for compassion and to bring them to the

realization that life is rain and worldly goods/ possessions acquired

fraudulently do not bring lasting happiness (30).

We also see that Osofisan attacks the electorate as well. The electorates are indicted for

selling their votes to the politicians who now argue that since “we made our investment

/when we campaign” you must not begrudge us our investment (14). This

reimbursement is the vices and ills they (the politicians) unleash on the nation as a

whole. The evil thing about this reimbursement is that, it is determined by the
 29

politicians, and its scope and depth is infinite, just as the case of ‘sampling’ (sexual

pervasion) shows.

Moreso, Osofisan indicts the Nigerian politicians, like Awero, who are corrupt. I

the “song master’s welcome song”, we are told that:

This place was built as a house of sin in the year nineteen hundred and

fourteen. It had just three rooms at the beginning. In fact, ever since we

got our licence. And oil boomed into our independence, we’ve taken

pains to fill our stores, with every kind of corruption, moral and political.

As long as it’s something sordid and odious.

The playwright, Osofisan, uses this song to satirize the Nigerian

situation. The house symbolizes Nigeria and the song clearly refers to Nigeria

from the year of amalgamation through independence to the oil boom. Osofisan,

through the use of songs, expresses his opinion on the vices and perverted

practices of the political class; like electoral fraud, use of money to buy votes,

thuggery and violence during election. In another instance that Osofisan shows

political decadence in the text is seen in the “Song of Mister Stupid” as seen in

the text:

Elections were coming, the soldiers departing, he would be the light to

his land in all dark places, only for the rich and ruthless, And the votes

were won by those who could buy democracy (27)

 30

Here, the playwright employs humour to denounce politicians, who see politics as a

business (investment) during campaign that would later yield profit or “reimbursement”

after electoral victory when they hope to use their good offices to corruptly enrich

themselves.

Osofisan, in depicting political decadence in the text, is of the opinion that there

is no difference between the military and the civilian government since they both share

the same characteristics of looting the treasury and storing their loots in “Swiss

Accounts”. This is seen in the “Song of a Faraway land”, where the playwright asserts

thus:

Once it was, in a faraway land, in a once familiar time, the people had

no peace, the people had no rest, for their leaders were always at war,

and these leaders had their things at hand to do their killing and looting.

And burn down rival properties till the people had had enough End so

my friends, in a faraway land, the people had no peace, the People have

no rest. For the robbers are now in power. The great looters of the public

Purse with all their lying and thieving. They dance around in broad day

light. (64-65)

Here, Osofisan seems to suggest that the root case of leadership problems in

contemporary Nigeria society today is greed and dishonesty, perpetuated by the so

called leaders who treacherously maneuver power through electoral fraud and their

practices are motivated solely by the deep concern for their personal gains, self
 31

preservation, comfort and security. The politicians that are elected by the masses

immediately become the ‘upper class’ on assumption of office.

However, instead of working for the interest of the masses that elected them,

they become proud, arrogant and aloof. The people who elected them are now regarded

as underdogs and imbeciles whose fate can be decided by mere parliamentary laws as

seen in Awero’s harsh reactions to Bicycle as he enters the room innocently without

knocking:

AWERO: (exploding) No! This is too much. You goat! You imbecile! You

unmentionable disease! This will have to be debated in parliament. You

will be jailed forever. Get out. Get out!

Subsequently, in her statement to Pastor Suuru, Awero opines thus:

I am an M.P, remember? I hold power even over your life. One simple

bill in Parliament … (47)

The above extract from the text is an apt representation of the attitude of those few in

powerful political positions, the rich and the priviledged are in what contempt they hold

the powerless and the commoners in the society. They run after contracts, money or

women. This is demonstrated in Awero’s statement to Suuru:

AWERO: What took you so long, you imbecile. You clumsy fool. By now, in

parliament, we could have passed six bills (46).

The hotel is a “house of sin” built to provide those hidden game, sexual escapades and

political decadence. The hotel, therefore, is a channel for political wastefulness and
 32

extravagance. It is where oil money is spent; where our soldiers while away time, drink

pepper soup and have unbridled sex. It is also where our politicians go to “sample

goods” and award contracts on the spot. Not only in Osofisans’s Midnight Hotel we find

these political rots also in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption.

3.2 Political Decadence in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption

Like Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel, Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption unravels the political

decadence in the contemporary Nigerian society.

In Harvest of Corruption, the playwright unravels the bribery and corruption

that ravaged every facet in our society since the establishment of civil service. Like

Awero in Midnight Hotel, Chief Haladu Ade Amaka, the Minister of External

Relations, is the major exponent of bribery and corruption in the play, Harvest of

Corruption.

Chief uses unemployed youths who are vulnerable because of poverty to

smuggle contraband items into the country. He always bribes the Commissioner of

Police with money and gifts so that he will not arrest his boys and him whenever they

are involved in nefarious activities. He loots government fund. He always surrounds

himself with young ladies; he flirts with them, employs them in the Ministry of External

Relations and uses them to push cocaine overseas. The first instance of political

decadence in the text is brought to bare where the chief goes to bribe Justice Odili in

order to prevent justice in case he (the Chief) and his cohorts are eventually arrested and

brought to court, Chief says;

 33

CHIEF: My lord! As usual, I am here to pay my respect and homage, because in

your case it is the spoon that must always go to the pot. I have come with

a little kola for you. I know that you will like what I have brought for

you. It is in my car. You can call your boys to go to the boot to collect

them. Meanwhile, here is a little cash for your fuel (he opens his

portfolio and brings out bundles of naira notes and hands them over to

Justice Odili who receives them with a show of gratitude). My lord, more

will come so long as you continue to protect me. This is to tell you that I

am not only a great man but a grateful man as well to good people like

you. (29-30)

When Aloho is arrested for pushing cocaine, Chief promises to buy Justice Odili a car

and pays him one million naira bribe.

CHIEF: My lord, get this girl out for me and I promise that such a mistake will

never happen again. Just do whatever you can, My Lord, money is no

problem. My lord, that care of yours? I shall handle it. (48-9)

To further depict how the society in which Ogbeche describes is politically decayed,

Justice Odili tells chief, that:

JUSTICE ODILI: That’s alright. In fact, I will discuss with her lawyers and the case

will be dismissed for want of evidence. The amount should be

raised to one million naira to take care of all the people involved

in the case. You see…

 34

CHIEF: (Fuming) You old crook! Don’t worry, I shall bring the money in

the evening.

JUSTICEODILI: In that case, do not worry, I shall know what to do. Your girl will

be out, discharged and acquitted for want of evidence. You may

even have the ground to sue for defamation of character on her

behalf (49).

When Aloho is eventually brought to court for pushing cocaine, it is only the Defence

counsel that is in court, the prosecution is not in court because Chief has bribed him.

Justice Odili throws out the case for want of evidence and frees Aloho.

More so, through the dialogue of Aloho, Ogbeche lays to bare the political

decadence that pervades our leaders in this Nigerian society. In the text, Aloho speaks

of chief when she opines that:

ALOHO: This country is bad. How can the judge say he discharged for want of

evidence? I know what Chief must have done for him. I am sure they are

both collaborators in the same game. Everything was with me red

handed, that chief is a devil, the very Satan himself. I am yet to

understand what is really going on. I feel like a lamb being slaughtered

on the altar of corruption. (57-58)

Chief, in the text, is a stereotype of any corrupt politician in the society, who, ironically,

presents a good image of himself to the outside world where he is not. To further show
 35

political decadence as perpetrated by our leaders, Madam Hoha describes Chief as

“dubious”, she observes:

MADAM HOHA: I am sure that the like of Chief will never regret their retirement

because of the chain of companies they float. Of course, most of

them are dubious. All they do is stashing government money

somewhere through some conduit pipes for the rainy days. (12)

Here, it seems the playwright is suggesting that all our leaders care about is themselves

and that after retirement, they still go ahead to enjoy all the money they stole from

government treasury.

The above extracts from the above remind us of Osofisans “fairyland” song

in Midnight Hotel, where the playwright opines thus: “They won the vote, and they got

to parliament, and our laws by fairies are bound, they stack funds away in the bank,

they drink in our name” (51).

Ogbeche seems to be mourning the moral death of contemporary Nigeria

“society, through the character of ACP Yakubu in the text, he observes that:

What is really wrong without legal system? Have we come to a point

where any or highly placed individuals will and can toy with the

judiciary and get away with any crime committed no matter how heinous

that crime may be! This is ridiculous! (55)

The use of humour and sarcasm in the text by Ogbeche is an attempt to unravel the

political decadence that has become the hallmark of most African states, if not all, the
 36

character of the Madman in the text lays to bare the corrupt practices of our leaders. He

is a metaphor for the confused state, corruption and morally debased in our country

Nigeria. He says:

MADMAN:… You no fit be like me? You no see, I be rich, I be rich man, but I never

steal anybody property. I no be thief becos I de satisfy for wetin I ge I be

rich man as you see me. I dress fine (pointing at the tattered coat on him)

cost me hundred naira and I buy am for London wen I go dere with de

president. You no fit see, or you de mad? I go go to Mr. President and

ask him to appoint me President of dis country after that I go steal all de

money and give her. … Mr President, I correct? I been tell de president

say I don already appoint my Ministers to work in de Local government

and de Councillors to be de ambassadors. Yes! I wan run dis country

well. No stealing. Na sanitation we need abi na evrometa by ourselves

not de country (23-4-5)

What the Madman says impels ACP Yakubu into deep thoughts, he considers the

Madman as having prescribed a cure to the country’s “madness and lawlessness”, he

tells himself:

ACP YAKUBU: What a world we are in. a madman having the sense to analyse

the ills of the society so accurately. I think the madman himself

symbolize the country which is ridden with madness and

lawlessness. For the fact that a madman could prescribe cure and
 37

even have the sense to judge between stolen and illegitimately

acquired properties clearly pictures the state of rottenness that

this country has degenerated into. (25)

In other words, the Madman is an indictment to our political leaders in the

society. He is an instrument of social change in the play. Though the Madman’s

statements are incoherent yet he has been able to reveal and unravel the high level of

corruption that is being perpetuated by government officials and proffers solution to the

menace of bribery and corruption that is ravaging the society. The madman goes ahead

to tell everybody to first of all clean up the iniquities in their minds before cleaning their

environment, he says, “sanitation! Yes! Envromenta. Yes! Na sanitation we need abi na

environmeta by ourselves not de country”. (25) In the play, Ogbeche depicts the

madness as an exposition of the country Nigeria, where there is lawlessness, and the

inordinate desire to amass ill-gotten wealth. It is quite ironical that Chief presents a

good image of himself to the outside world, as we see in the text:

CHIEF: My records as a public servant are clean and I am a responsible and

respectable married man with children

However, the verdict of the jury is different, considering the judges announcement,

JUDGE: I shall not call or address you as Chief because you do not deserve it, I

am strongly of the opinion that this country must be protected against

unscrupulous public offices of your type, who abuse their positions of

 38

trust and responsibility thereby betraying the confidence reposed in them

(117-8)”

In conclusion, it is quite clear that both Osofisan and Ogbeche are moral

playwrights that expose political decadence in the texts respectively. Just as the

character of Awero in Midnight Hotel, is a stereotype of our political leaders that are

debased, morally corrupt and indisciplined too. The both writers seem to be lampooning

the moral death in the political system of the country, Nigeria.

 39

CHAPTER FOUR

Religious Decadence in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Osofisan’s Midnight

Hotel

This chapter aims at examining religious decadence in Osofisan’s Midnight

Hotel and Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption. Emphasis is on characterization as a

narrative done in which both playwright depicts the death of religious values in their

society.

Abrams and Harpharm see characters as the persons

represented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted as

possessing particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by

inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying

it – the dialogue – and from what they do – the action. (48)

They believe that characters are individuals in a literary work who are perceived

by the reader to have diverse features which are seen in their actions and in their word.

In other words, characterization is the act of portraying characters. It refers to the

manner in which the characters, it refers to the manner in which the characters in a

literary work are represented, that is, it refers to how the writer presents the persons in

the play.

In Harvest of Corruption and Midnight Hotel, both authors, Ogbeche and

Osofisan, present the evils of political, sexual and religious decadence. Osofisan uses
 40

the characters of Pastor Suuru and Asibong as emblems of religious bigots. Ogbeche,

similarly, uses the character of Aloho as an emblem of religious bigot.

4.1 Religious Decadence is Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel.

The play, Midnight Hotel, wittingly shows religious decadence in our society

caused by being too materialistic and the faces of many of our so – called religious

leaders, not just the Christian faith but Islam as well as we find in the character

Asibong.

The high level of materialism that has eaten deep into our religious institutions

is reflected through Pastor Suuru in whom we see greed masked as religious faith.

This pastor who turned a contractor is supposed to be the guardian and custodian

of morality, as well as the guardian of societal moral values, but he neglects his pastoral

duties and begins to pursue wealth and sexual satisfaction. He compromises the

Christian faith by placing material interest over spiritual or religious matters. In the

play, Osofisan tells us through the characters of Pastor Suuru and Awero, thus:

AWERO: Will you stop that! You call yourself a pastor, and you still want

contract, or don’t you?

SUURU: Well why not? After all, all big Alhajis are emergency contractors also.

Even our Bishop! Is religion against profiteering? Anyway, you know

that’s not why I am afraid.

 41

AWERO: You are afraid because I’ve brought you here, isn’t it? You are so naïve

that I wonder why I am even helping you. How do you think contracts

are awarded? By prayer, isn’t it? (12-13)

The playwright, Osofisan, uses the dialogue humorously to satirize the Christian

religious faith. It is ironic that the clergy who are supposed to be custodians of spiritual

growth are actually spiritually barren, pursuing vain, worldly things such as contract at

the expense of God’s work.

Osofisan uses Pastor Suuru to represent the Christian religion and Asibong,

Islam. Asibong also represents the unscrupulous businessman who claims to be what

they are not. This group pretends to be steadfast in their religious beliefs when they

have no inner spiritual uprighteousness.

In the play, Awero tells us that her husband, Asibong is devout Muslim with

right moral principles. Asibong is involved in the hotel’s sex business because it is

lucrative, this is against Islamic religious tenets. Through Pastor Suuru and Asibong’s

characterization in Midnight Hotel, the playwright exposes religious hypocrisy,

charlatanism and moral depravity of our religious leaders. The excesses and attitudes of

these leaders are satirized and condemned in the play.

Pastor Suuru is not unaware that the unfaithful Awero is his friend’s wife, but

because he wants the contract badly, he goes with her to the Midnight Hotel for the
 42

immoral act of ‘sampling’. This height of greed is true of many men of God in the

Nigerian society today. A closer look at his character shows that he is only being

hypocritical. He gives the impression that he is being tempted to commit adultery but all

that happens falls within his grand plan at winning the contract by all means. This is

vividly pictured in his conversation with Awero, he tells her:

SUURU: … oh no. And all the money I’ve spent this evening? The soup. The goat

meat, wine, whiskey. Ggar … no Awero, we can’t just go away. Not yet,

God help me. I must win that contract first. Through the thickest forest

I’ll find a way. (26)

In the play, religious decadence is further concretized in the pastors political

prostituting. He, (the pastor), like the majority of government officials, operates Swiss

account where appropriated church funds and money from shady and religious dealings

are kept. This is captured in the song entitled, ‘Ode to the Swiss Accounts’:

… some people dream of leading the country To resolution Avoid them

my friend - they don’t survive for how can they sans foreign exchange?

… some people dream of saving the country from God’s damnation

Avoid them my friend – they don’t survive, for how can they sans

foreign exchange (25)

 43

The song above reveals that apart from bringing to the fore the ills prevalent among our

religious leaders, Osofisan is saying that with the citadel of piety and mercy, corrupt,

salvation and redemption is far removed from the society.

Asibong, Awero’s husband, is another character who exhibits religious

hypocrisy in the play. As an Alhaji, he puts on holier-than-thou attitude and pretends to

hold strong the tenets of Islam but his utterances betray his hypocrisy:

ASIBONG: … But you know how it is. Allah enjoins us all to be devout. But without

money, how can we be? Alas, we are only human beings, and the way to

paradise for many of us is lined with brothels. Yes brothels (59).

Furthermore, Asibong’s hypocrisy is further exposed through the ironic statement his

wife Awero makes, she says:

AWERO: Yes, of course, I encouraged him to go “to a hotel”. Do you imagine it

could be this kind of hotel? Ehn! After all he’s your friend, you should

know him better than that … My husband is sleeping in some hotel

which he helped design and build. He has to inspect some fault in the

plastering or something I don’t know. But you know he’d rather die than

find himself in a place as murky as this, with his rigid moral views, and

overblown sense of decency. (laughs) My husband, here? That would be

the day. (15)

 44

These clergymen doubt the possibility of a total adherence to biblical and Islamic

principles and teachings on sexual piety, Adewumi Samuel Idowu observes that:

… The unholy love relationship between Awero and Pastor Suuru is morally

uncalled for because Pastor Suuru who calls himself a man of God having illicit

affairs with the wife of his friend calls for questioning. (12)

And that, the moral debasement in our society cannot be overemphasized

because moral virtues had been thrown into the wind due to the various negative

acts and deeds of majority of the population within the society”. (12)

This ‘moral debasement’ in our society as Idowu puts it emerges from the

double standards of both religious leaders and followers. Osofisan seems to be

ridiculing the fact that our country today, our society, is nothing but weak and warped

on morals and good conduct.

In other words, the presentation of Pastor Suuru and Asibong in the play marks

their falsehood and deviation from what is expected of them both at the level of

leadership and followership as used by Osofisan to show us a society that lacks the

moral and spiritual zest to attain the state of modern society.

In conclusion, what Osofisan is suggesting here is that, whether in orthodox or

traditional religion, there are no true prophets again. On the other hand, it may also be a

way of delivering the society from the so much trusts in spiritual leaders to beware.
 45

4.2 Religious Decadence in Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption

The play, Harvest of Corruption, like Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel, does not only

condemn and satirize political, sexual but religious decadence of the contemporary

Nigerian society as well.

In the play, Aloho, who is an emblem of a born again Christian, holds the

Christian belief in high esteem, her modest dressing at the beginning of the play shows

this, “Aloho, with a red blouse over a black skirt which makes her look like one of those

born – again Christians. She ties on the head a brown headscarf, and carries a handbag”

(1).

Aloho who is naïve at the beginning of the play suddenly transforms as soon as

she comes in contact with Ochuole, this is because Ochuole has told her that she has got

a job as a Chief Administrative Officer in the Ministry of External Relations and

promises to introduce her to Chief Haladu Ade-Amaka, the Honourable Minister of the

Ministry of External Relations. The playwright, Ogbeche, uses the character of Aloho to

show how individuals become morally debased because of material possessions and

selfish interest. Aloho, in her desperation to get a job, throws her Christian faith to the

wind and questions God:

ALOHO: … God in heaven, what have I done wrong? Why is it that those who try

to serve you never get it easy?… (she addresses God above) look at me,
 46

where do I belong now? What have I done wrong? Have I not served you

faithfully? (2-3)

She regrets living a decent lifestyle because she has not been able to achieve anything.

She tells her friend, Ogeyi, that:

ALOHO: … “Look at me (she points to herself) with all the decency what have I

achieved. Where has decency or dignity taken me to? I am tired, I tried

to live outside the world all along right from my youth. I see that the

world is leaving me behind, Can’t you see? … Have I not tried to live a

holy life all along”. (8-9)

Aloho, who is impatient, pays deaf ears to Ogeyi’s warnings. She becomes desperate,

she does not listen to Ogeyi’s advice not to associate herself with Ochuole and she is

willing to do anything in order to get or retain her job, even if what she has to do is

against her Christian faith.

She goes further to tell Ogeyi that she does not want to die wretched, while

waiting for God’s time, she says:

ALOHO: (She frowns at Ogeyi) God’s time! God’s time! When will that God’s

time ever come? Do you want me to die a wretch waiting for God’s

time… Don’t you want to live in a good and big flat, wear decent
 47

clothes? Let’s face it, I think we are cheating ourselves. Being ‘Born

again’ does not mean we should sit down and fold our hands. (10)

The playwright, Ogbeche, uses her character to show the decline of the Christian

religious faith. Despite the fact that she is a born again Christian, she accepts the job

offer even though she is aware of the nature of the job. Ogbeche depicts her as a greedy,

impatient and gullible born again Christian.

This is exactly the case in Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel, where the character of

Pastor Suuru already aware of the illicit act he is to be involved in with Awero, he is

still bent on going against his Christian faith because of material possessions and selfish

aims.

The issue of religious decadence is more explicit in the play where the born

again Aloho who has become morally debased since her contact with Ochuole becomes

pregnant for Chief and she begins to make attempt on how to terminate the pregnancy,

an act which is against God. She tells Ogeyi:

ALOHO: I have been feeling funny and I am sure I am pregnant, I think I shall

abort it (58-9).

OGEYI: But you know this is against our Christian doctrine. It is a sin, please

think twice over your decision…

ALOHO: I know. But I have gone beyond understanding Christian doctrine (59).
 48

In both plays, religion is satirized. The three religious characters, representative of

others, are Pastor Suuru and Asibong (Midnight Hotel) as well as Aloho(Harvest of

Corruption). These characters are presented in these plays not as upholders of their

different faiths but as religious bigots, charlatans and perverts.

Both playwrights seem to be suggesting that there is need for religious rebirth in

the society. And that there is religious decline today in the contemporary Nigerian

society is because of crave for materialism.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Conclusion

To recapitulate, the sole aim of the essay has been to look at decadence in

Ogbeche’s Harvest of Corruption and Osofisan’s Midnight Hotel and our emphasis was

on political, sexual and religious decadence in both plays. In the essay, we have

examined both playwrights as social realist and moralist writers, respectively. In that,

they mirror decadence in the contemporary Nigerian society using political, sexual and

religious bodies as symbolic of what is obtainable in other facets of the society.

Though both playwrights live in different times, their perspectives of the society

in which they lived are the same. This is because, the human nature is almost the same

in all ages and times. In accordance with our theoretical background, the essay has

revealed Ogbeche and Osofisan as not only moral but social realist writers as well, who

engage their works in the fight against decadence in society.

In other words, they write with the view to changing their society as a worthy

place to dwell. This is in line with the moral critics’ argument which claim that the

larger purpose of literature is to instruct. In that, literature has the task of ensuring that

all men are upright.

In conclusion, the relevance of this study is seen in how the moral decadence or

rottenness of today is as a result of the moral decay in political, sexual and religious
 50

bodies. To quote Adeleke once again, “Plays do not have the power to topple

government or change people, but they can become a meaningful and positive activity,

which depicts the scars of reality and prescribes remedies, frustrating lies so that the

truth shivers through” (40).

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