Africa’s Nascent Democracy and Wole Soyinka’s Cautionary Engagement in King Baabu.

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dc.contributor.authorMichael Olanrewaju Agboola
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-14T10:27:08Z
dc.date.available2025-04-14T10:27:08Z
dc.date.issued2025-04
dc.descriptionThe paper warned against the excesses of African politicians and argued that it is too early to assume that the present democracy can no longer be reversed. It used Wole Soyinka's King Baabu as a paradigmatic text to drive home its point.
dc.description.abstractThe third wave of democratisation that swept across Sub-Sahara Africa from the beginning of 1990 led to the enthronement of democratic government in many African countries. The enthusiasm derived from this had led African leading heads of states to declare, in 1998, that a political “renaissance” had started in the continent. It is now 27 years since that declaration was made and democracy is still “active” in Africa. Notwithstanding, this paper argued that Africa’s democracy is still nascent and susceptible to avoidable reversal. Consequently, the paper considered African nascent democracy and Wole Soyinka’s cautionary engagement in King Baabu. With the use of qualitative and textual analysis methodologies, and postcolonial theory as framework, the paper discovered that drama has always beamed its searchlight on the activities of the political class, hence Soyinka’s comical satire, King Baabu. The play reveals reprehensible activities of King Baabu that are antithetical to democracy. They include aversion to competitive election, intolerance of opposition, authoritarianism and dictatorship, high level corruption, and disregard for the rule of law. The paper therefore holds that there are enough grounds to conclude that there still exists real and imagined threats to African democracy. It is therefore recommended that every citizen should be vigilant and avoid voting into power the likes of king Baabu. Drama should be unrelenting in its critique of the activities of the political class with a view to preserving democracy in Africa.
dc.description.sponsorshipSelf-sponsored
dc.identifier.citationAfrica’s Nascent Democracy and Wole Soyinka’s Cautionary Engagement in King Baabu; GUU Journal of Humanities 4(1): 297-309. College of Humanities, Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
dc.identifier.issn2971-7701
dc.identifier.urihttps://kwasuspace.kwasu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/5030
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherCollege of Humanities, Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVol. 4 ; No. 1
dc.titleAfrica’s Nascent Democracy and Wole Soyinka’s Cautionary Engagement in King Baabu.
dc.typeArticle
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