NÍGERIA MUST DANCE NAKED / Adeyinka Olaiya/Brazil
One of Africa’s gifted and multi-talented intellectuals , Agbeyegbe, unfolds in “ The king must dance naked “, which today , retracts Nígeria
The human rights activist , revolutionary democrat , nationalist, Pan Africanist, iconoclast, and ideological rebel retracts Nígeria in the hands of a shady and unknown President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , Mohammad Buhari .
Though , it retracted the history of the ancient Itshekiris , the piece no doubt describes the Nigeria of Today , the Nigeria lying in the hands of the unknown , same as the throne occupied by a woman tricked to be a man . Until the disguise is unfold , peace shall not reign in the land
The queen believed she tricked the gods when she substituted the female child for the male immediately before the sacrifice was to be done , or better say , Nígeria thought it had lied to the masses when it substituted the seat of power for an ex-soldier man
The ex-soldier man must dance naked , he is still carrying Nígeria on his shoulders, he must expose the interior , the king must never menstruate , the king will always be masculine
Lest I forget , the dramatic piece by Playwright Fred Agbeyegbe , ”The King Must Dance Naked “ romanticizes the history of the exploits of Princess Idolu (alias Iye), the daughter of Erejuwa 1 (1760-1795 A.D), who manipulated her way into becoming a Regent over her people . The queen thought she has tricked the gods when she substituted the female child for the male immediately before the sacrifice was performed. The maverick Odosun tricked the people of Ogbodume by presenting disguised Omajuwa as male successor to the throne.
However , the spiritual tsunami that swept through the ruling house of Akengbuwa 1 in 1848 prompted Princess Idolu to seize power. After the death of Prince Eyolusan who reigned as Akengbuwa 1 in 1848, his two sons, Princes Omatseye and Ejo died the same year in quick succession. The mysterious death of both princes led to a revolt by the Otonlu , the Omajajas and palace regiment. The revolt led to the 88years of interregnum (1848-1936) that the Itsekiris were without kings. History, further has it that Princess Idolu, one of the daughters of Erejuwa 1 failed in her several attempts to transmute from a Regent Princess to a ‘crowned king’ on account of oracular rejection, which till date is a strong factor in the Itsekiri kingship eligibility tradition. It should be added here that in Itsekiri oral tradition exists a folktale which tries to legitimize the primogeniture tradition of the Itsekiri people. In that story, Princess Idolu’s attempt to become king was frustrated by an unprecedented rush of her monthly menstrual flow, a taboo so to speak.
Hence, it is not out of place to describe Fred Agbeyegbe’s “The King Must Dance Naked “ as a story woven around a man-woman riddle, or rather , a real or a disguised Nígeria in the hands of an unknown soldier
Just like Nígeria of today , the Princess Omajuwa was crowned king following the disappearance of her half-brother, Prince Omagbemi, whom Queen Odosun, mother to King Omajuwa , had earlier plotted to assassinate.
At birth, and on consultation of the gods on what the future holds for Omajuwa and her twin brother, Afinotan, the chief priest, through the oracle, reveals that the female child is destined to succeed her father as king . The revelation is seen as a taboo, which must be circumvented. The queen believes she has tricked the gods when she substitutes the female child with the male immediately before the sacrifice is to be performed.
After the coronation of Omajuwa as crowned King in Ogbodume, the land is plagued by famine, drought and diseases. The cause is attributed to the inability of the King to procreate. The cause of the King’s inability to produce an heir-apparent is not known until Mejebi appears.
Mejebi is Omagbemi’s son. Before giving up the ghost, Omagbemi reveals the story of the deception surrounding the kingship of Ogbodume to Mejebi. Omagbemi uncovers Mejebi’s mother’s identity, and how he, Omagbemi impregnated Omajuwa his step-sister and the reigning king. This is the reason for the plagues that are inflicted on the land. Fate brings Mejebi to Ogbodume and this unravels all that has been hidden from the people. He claims that the king is his mother. This disclosure takes place when the oracle, through Afinotan, divines that the solution to the continuous suffering of the people is for the king to dance naked in the presence of the chiefs. The king dances naked and her feminine features are revealed.
Fred Agbeyegbe’s recreation of historical materials to comment on contemporary issues such as leadership ineptitude in Nigeria is instructive here. In an interview with Fred Agbeyegbe years back , he explains that: “The story of the play The King Must Dance Naked is a dramatization of a radical quest for change through the confrontation of unbalanced laws of human existence, vis-a-viz tradition and imperial succession which Odosun represents”. Here the playwright is alluding to his preference for change. He seems to be asking why the best and most competent do not lead. Rather, it is from the mediocre segment that Nigerian leadership appears to always come from since independence .
