42 Dramatic literature and the Challenges of Insecurity in Nigeria Augustine Obiajulu Eziechine University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State augustine.eziechine@unidel.edu.ng Abstract One of the greatest challenges plaguing Nigeria today is that of insecurity of life and property. Such challenges manifest in form of youth restiveness, religious and ethnic violence, armed robbery, kidnapping, insurgent bombing, political violence, and cyber- crimes. This negative trend which impedes progress and inhibits meaningful national development has persisted in Nigeria over the years. The situation has become very worrisome and thus demands urgent intervention. Premised on the sociological approach to literary criticism, this paper attempts to establish the utilitarian function of drama as a veritable weapon which can be used to fight insecurity in Nigeria. The study is basically an exploration of selected plays written by Nigerian dramatists, which x-ray issues of insecurity in Nigeria. The selected works are subjected to content analysis. The findings reveal that poverty, unemployment, corruption, religious intolerance, injustice, among others are the major causes of insecurity in Nigeria. The paper concludes that addressing the socio-economic problems of the poor and the less privileged, and ensuring equitable distribution of social amenities will go a long way towards curbing the menace of insecurity and insurgency in Nigeria. Keywords: insecurity, unemployment, injustice, corruption, violence. mailto:augustine.eziechine@unidel.edu.ng Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 43 1. Introduction Insecurity as a concept simply means absence of security. It is the state of being open to danger or threat. It means lack of protection or the state of being insecure. Security on the other hand, has been defined as the quality or state of being secure or free from danger, fear and anxiety. In other words, a nation is said to be insecure, when its citizens are living in fear of hostility, violence and terrorism. The spate of insecurity in Nigeria today is alarming and frightfully disturbing. In recent time, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented acts of terrorism and wanton destruction of life and property. Such notorious acts of violence and terrorism began to manifest in Nigeria after the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970). The civil war left sophisticated weaponry in the hands of unemployed soldiers who became criminals and refused to surrender their weapons after the war. Instead, they engaged the use of such weapons as an alternative means of earning a living. This appears to be the genesis of armed robbery in Nigeria. From the early 1970 to date, the menace of armed robbery has been on the increase. Insecurity challenges in Nigeria today have gone beyond the mayhem of armed robbery. Different forms of clandestine activities, such as kidnapping, ritual killing, political, ethnic and religious violence etc., have all emerged. Kidnapping of innocent citizens and demanding huge ransoms for their release have become a major source of earning quick money today. The Niger Delta militia activities which involve kidnapping of oil workers especially the expatriates are indeed a reference point here. The Niger Delta region is blessed with enormous deposit of crude oil which the multi- national oil companies have been exploring over the years. As a result of the activities of the oil companies, the people of the Niger Delta region suffer the consequences of gas flaring, oil spillage and other environmental damages occasioned by continuous ecological Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 44 pollution of the area. Meanwhile, the revenue accruing from oil exploration in the area is enjoyed by the oil conglomerate and Nigerian government who use such revenue to develop other areas while the oil-rich region remains undeveloped. As the people continue to suffer environmental degradation and gross violation of their rights, a pressure group known as Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was founded. The group submitted the MOSOP Bill of Rights to the Nigerian government demanding ethnic autonomy and self- determination for the people of Ogoni land. When this peaceful and constitutional attempt failed, the people resorted to militant approach as a means of protesting the injustice perpetrated by government and the multi-national oil companies situated in their area. The protests involve kidnapping of expatriate oil workers and vandalization of oil pipe lines. This was intended to secure international attention with regard to the oppression, exploitation and environmental damages suffered by the people. Similar security challenges have also emerged from other parts of the country at different times. From the Northern part of Nigeria, an Islamic sectarian movement known as Boko Haram has engaged in subversive activities since July 2009. The jihadist terrorist group started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The group attack public places and government establishments and claim responsibility for such attack. The group specializes in kidnapping innocent citizens and demanding huge ransoms for their release. The climax of the subversive activities of this group was the kidnapping, hostage keeping and raping of 250 innocent female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok in Maiduguri, Borno State on the 14th of April, 2014. The menace of kidnapping and violent protest has also been replicated in the Eastern part of Nigeria. Since 2012, the indigenous Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 45 people of Biafra (IPOB) had emerged and demanded the restoration of an independent state of Biafra. The activities of this group have been a threat to life and national security. Recently the leader of the group has been arrested and facing trial. This development has ignited worse violent reactions from members of the group who are demanding for the release of their leader. The Fulani Herdsmen have also introduced another dimension of terrorism in Nigeria. They invade communities, attack innocent citizens in their farms, rape women and most often slaughter their victims like rams. They also kidnap innocent citizens and demand ransom from their family members before they could be released. Most recently, Nigeria has also witnessed a new wave of security challenge. The quest for wealth has led some Nigerian youths into terrible criminal acts such as ritual killings and cyber- crimes (advanced free fraud) also known “Yahoo”. These young criminals kill human beings and use parts of their body for money rituals. Sometimes the rituals are performed to enhance their “yahoo” exploits. The foregoing is the general state of insecurity in Nigeria. There is no gain saying the fact that insecurity challenges in Nigeria have reached an alarming stage and now demand urgent attention. This paper attempts to establish the utilitarian function of drama as a veritable weapon which can be used to fight against insecurity in Nigeria. The paper explores the issues of insecurity in Nigeria as documented in selected plays written by Nigerian dramatists. This approach to dramatic creativity which reckons on drama as a veritable weapon of social reconstruction is a product of the Marxist aesthetics which is one of the primary functions of theatre of ideology, radicalism and social commitment. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 46 2. Conceptual Framework This discourse is premised on the sociological approach to literary criticism since the issues to be discussed in this paper fall within the purview of sociology of literature. The basis for sociological approach to literature is the belief that there is a symbiotic relationship between literature and society. In other words, literature does not exist in a vacuum; it reflects the society that produces it. To understand any literary work, one may need to probe into the writer’s society so as to understand the social milieu which informed the writer’s response. Our choice of the sociological approach to literary criticism is informed by the fact that this critical theory sees literature (drama) as being at the vanguard of social change, and a testing ground for the dissemination of innovative and radical ideas that are likely to bring about a functional and progressive society (Oniyide Ajisafe, 2010 p.67). An important aspect of the sociological approach is the Marxist criticism. Marxist criticism goes beyond a formal and content analysis of artistic works, to a consideration of the very institutional processes of art creation and art criticism. In the words of Omafume Onoge (2007 p.472), “Marxist critics are necessarily class partisan. They do not camouflage this partisanship…For a Marxist sociology, men are not just stage performers, they are also fundamentally playwrights and authors.” 3. The Role of Dramatic Literature in Addressing Insecurity Challenges The utilitarian aesthetics of drama cannot be disputed. Drama is one of the most powerful instruments of social change. As a veritable weapon of social reconstruction, drama can be used to address insecurity issues such as armed robbery, kidnapping, ethnic and religious violence, ritual killing and cybercrimes. Drama as a form Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 47 of African literature is used as a medium of human interaction, and is suitable for probing the conscience of society with a view to correcting abnormal situations and bringing sanity to the society. It is against this background that we have embarked on the exploration of selected Nigerian plays namely Femi, Osofisan’s Once Upon Four Robbers (1980), Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures (2000), Augustine Eziechine’s Waves of Violence (2019). Ahmed Yerima’s Hard Ground (2005) and Heart of Stone (2013), and Esiaba Irobi’s Hangmen also Die (1987). These plays unveil the causes of insecurity in Nigeria. The content analysis of the plays reveals that insecurity problems in Nigeria are traceable to poverty, unemployment, corruption, social inequality, religious intolerance and injustice. Possible solutions to these problems are also proffered in the plays. 3.1 Unveiling the Causes of Insecurity in Nigeria The menace of armed robbery in Nigeria in the early 1970s is the subject of Femi Osofisan’s Once Upon Four Robbers. Femi Osofisan views drama as a medium of instruction. He has therefore created a unique theatre where he seeks to rouse his audience into critical awareness of the prevailing social decadence and thus move them into taking appropriate action. He achieves this by providing critical insight into the basic causes of societal malaise and at the same time proffering suggestions as to how societal malady can be overcome. His plays therefore, consistently attack all forms of corruption, oppression, injustice and tyranny (Gbileka 1997 p. 74). In Once Upon Four Robbers, Osofisan expresses his concern for man to reclaim his lost humanity in an unjust world. His belief is that dehumanization, though a concrete historical fact, is not a product of destiny; it is created by man. To Osofisan, the ultimate consequence of dehumanization is violence. Jude Agho (1999, P. 73) corroborates this position when he argues that because Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 48 dehumanization is a condition of not being fully human, sooner or later, being less human leads the oppressed to struggle against those who made them so.” Violence manifests in form of armed robbery in Once Upon Four Robbers. The leader of a group of an armed robbery squad has just been violently executed by the oppressor. This act leads the other members of the group to reflect on their future and their gangster activities generally, especially now that they are left without a leader to coordinate their notorious activities. Osofisan sees these armed robbers as the product of an unjust society. He attributes the violence of armed robbery to the following social structure. Take a look at our salary structures, at our sprawling slums and ghettoes, our congested hospitals and crowded schools, our impossible markets...and then take another look at the fast proliferations of motor- cars, insurance agencies, supermarkets, chemist shops, boutiques, etc. the callous contradiction of our oil-doomed fantasies of rapid modernization (Once Upon ...P.1). This implies that the dichotomization of society and its implications have produced the likes of Alhaja, Angola, Major and Hassan – the armed robbers of today. In other words, when there is joblessness, poverty and hunger, armed robbery will become inevitable (Saint Gbilekaa, 1997, P.92). There is armed robbery, kidnapping and ritual killing in Nigeria today because a few privileged members of the society have appropriated the people’s labour, the nation’s wealth, which they Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 49 divert into their private pockets while the masses are wallowing in abject poverty (Gbilekaa, 1997, P.92). With this prevailing condition, armed robbery becomes inevitable as an alternative means of survival. Indeed, the scourge of armed robbery has become a dangerous threat to life and property in Nigeria. On Thursday, 24th February, 2022 for instance, a group of armed robbers stormed four banks at Uromi, Edo state, destroyed the banks with dynamite, killed two policemen and four civilians and made away with undisclosed sums of money. (BBC online report). This sad experience is replicated in different locations and at different times. Osofisan believes that armed robbers are not totally to blame for their nefarious activities. Rather, he blames society for manufacturing them. He contends that it is societal inequality, the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities and the competitive nature of capitalism that are responsible for the production of these hoodlums (Gbilekaa 1997, p.77). Corruption, excessive greed and inordinate ambition have been identified as major causes of insecurity in Nigeria. These are captured in Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures and Eziechine Augustine’s Waves of Violence. Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures is a political satire against the corrupt political system in Nigeria. The play unveils the gamut of corruption and hypocrisy, which polarize the political atmosphere in Nigeria. It ridicules the corrupt legislative establishment in Nigeria as well as the poor political culture which allows illiterates and morally decadent individuals to find themselves in parliament. The failure of the legislature in Nigeria to perform its responsibilities creditably has led to several attacks from writers. Nwabueze for instance, likened the unpatriotic legislators to vultures. Vultures are ravens. They are greedy, voracious and insatiable...They prey on the people, scavenging them to death Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 50 (Uwem Affiah, 2012, P.378). Examples of such parliamentarians who are neck-deep in socio- political evils are Madam Omeaku, Reverend Jossy, and Habamero. Emeka Aniago (2017, P.69) describes Madam Omeaku as an ill-mannered, illiterate street-side food and liquor owner who became a parliamentarian through dubious and crooked means. Madam Omeaku boasts that just by being a member of the parliament, she has acquired houses in choice places in the country, and can afford month long expensive holiday in choice spots in any part of the world. Again, she also brags that she owns choice cars and has even bought one car for her ‘car-less’ husband from the proceeds of their dubious deals with public funds. In the words of Aniago (2017, P.70), “Nwabueze characterizes Madam Omeaku as a classic epitome of ineptitude, greed, insensitivity and callousness, which have continued to pervade politics in Nigeria.” It is pertinent to observe however, that in the midst of these agents of the devil are a few well-meaning politicians who are threatened, arm-twisted, side-lined and even brutalized for refusing to compromise (Aniago, 2017, P. 70). After Madam Omeaku and her cohorts have succeeded in falsely incarcerating the two decent parliamentarians (Dr Parker and Mr Otobo), the youths who could no longer bear the wicked and unpatriotic acts of the corrupt parliamentarians storm the parliament, round-up the parliamentarians, and proceed to tie them up with ropes. This is a revolutionary attempt. Nwabueze seems to be warning the parliamentarians and Nigerian politicians in general that the ultimate result of political corruption and personal aggrandizement is violence, which might further develop into full scale revolution. Like Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures, Eziechine’s Waves of Violence is also a political satire against the corrupt political system in Nigeria. In the play, Dr. David Anochie, a decent Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 51 University lecturer has been invited by his people to represent their clan in a forthcoming State House of Assembly election. Dr. David registers his objection to the proposed plan in the first instance. However, after listening to the pleas of his elders and family members, he finally accepts the proposed plan which he considers as an honour done to him and an opportunity to render selfless services to his people. Little did he know that politics in Nigeria is fraught with intrigues, intimidation and threats to life. The politicians themselves are abysmally corrupt. Party leaders demand “a pound of flesh” from candidates who are contesting elective positions. Political opponents use whatever means available to win election. It is either by hook or crook. Isama, David’s political opponent for instance, tells Okemnuo: “I will be ready to do anything to make my dream come true, even if it requires human sacrifice.” (Waves... p. 48). Political activists engage in wanton murder of innocent citizens. This is carried out by unemployed youths who are recruited by unscrupulous politicians as their thugs. The thugs are used by the politicians to eliminate their political opponents by means of assassination or ritual killing. Chief Anthony Isama, for instance, has made several attempts to eliminate Dr. David, his political rival. When his first plot against Dr David failed, Isama hired assassins to kill him. Again, this attempt failed. But the shameless and unrepentant politician refuses to let go his nefarious acts. He goes to see Dr. Ken, the Chief Returning Officer with a whooping sum of twenty-million naira gratification as an inducement to secure a Seat in Ani-Eze State House of Assembly. The unscrupulous power seeker further reveals his selfish and unethical disposition in the following conversation: Dr Ken: Tony, I don’t understand what you are asking for? Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 52 Isama: Well, all I am asking for is your help. I mean, just do what you can to make me win the election…What I am asking you to do is to use your good office as the returning officer in charge to manipulate the election results and then declare me the winner of the election. I want to be assured that my victory in the election is guaranteed. Period. Dr Ken: But you know this is impossible, Tony. How can I assure you of victory in an election that has not been conducted? And how would you expect me to get myself involved in election malpractice by using my office to manipulate the result of the election? You know I can’t do that. That will be tantamount to contravening the provisions of the electoral laws of Nigeria. It is a punishable offence. Please, understand my plight and don’t lure me to do what is not lawful. Isana; But I am not asking you to do what is not lawful. I am only asking for favour which is normal everywhere. You have all it takes to do what I am asking for except you don’t want to help me After all we are all Nigerians. (Waves…pp.60- 61). This is a typical example of a highly corrupt and criminally-minded politician. He is morally bankrupt; a political misfit, seeking for selfish aggrandizement. In this conversation, Dr Ken has displayed the quality of a patriotic gentleman with good moral standing. But he finally bowed to pressure and violent threat from Isama. In this play, violence is caused by corruption, excessive greed and inordinate ambition. Out of sheer greed and inordinate ambition, Isama hires assassins to eliminate Dr David who appears to be a threat to his dream of becoming a member of his state House of Assembly. It is the same greed that makes Dragon and his cohorts accept two million naira as payment to assassinate David, Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 53 an innocent man. Again, because of greed the assassins granted David the option of either paying them double what they had received from their master or face violent death. The playwright condemns these unethical practices by punishing the evil perpetrators and rewarding David the symbol of peace, justice, honesty, and patriotism. The playwright addresses the issue of corruption and emphasizes the need for enthronement of a new political culture of transparency and meritocracy in Nigerian politics. He also stresses the need for gainful employment of Nigerian youths to avoid being used by politicians as cheap vessels of their murderous ventures in the pursuit of their inordinate ambition. Ahmed Yerima’s Hard Ground and Heart of Stone capture the activities of the Niger Delta Militia group and those of the Boko Haram terrorist movement from the northern part of Nigeria. In Hard Ground, Yerima Paints a vivid picture of the activities of the Niger Delta militants. He shows the initial effort of the people to fight for their liberation from economic exploitation and environmental devastation. Yerima also presents in the play names of heroes like Ken Saro-Wiwa who fought for the liberation of the people. He was later hanged alongside other human right activist in 1996. However, there were still other people who sabotaged the good cause pursued by the people of the Niger Delta region. In the play, some selfish individuals dealing with arms see it as a business avenue which must not be stopped. So, they encouraged the perpetuation of violence. The elders on the other hand have also made the youths to believe that the only way to get out of their present situation is violence. Inyingifaa maintains this position in the following lines. My Business stopped. My shipment could not pass through. No one Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 54 wants my guns. I was told that the big men had established another route and other source. My men were killed. Paraded on television that they were caught bunkering. But I never meedle in oil, only guns. Now the lives of my boys must be avenged (Hard Ground, P. 22) This further depicts the level of selfish interest inherent in the struggle for the emancipation of the people of the Niger Delta. As Agozie Ugwu puts it, The virus of corruption obviously has eaten deep into the fabric of society because the leaders of the society have left the root cause of their problem and have forgotten the ugly situations of the eco-system, the pains the common man in the villages who can neither carry weapon nor violently acquire his own share of the compensation money by force is daily made to endure, the diseases terrifying the natives and the economic hardship confronting the people of the Niger Delta region(Agozie Ugwu, 2016, par.5). The truth is that the insecurity situation that erupted in the Niger Delta region is occasioned by miss appropriation of revenue generated from oil exploration and exploitation in the area. Yerima seems to be saying that violence and agitation for resource control may not stop until a greater share of the oil revenue generated from the area is equitably distributed and the people compensated Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 55 adequately for the devastation of their land. Yerima’s Heart of stone captures the issues bordering on ethnic and religious crisis in Nigeria. The play reflects the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group from the Northern part of Nigeria and the quest for a peaceful solution to all the insecurity challenges plaguing the nation. The plot of the play revolves around Musa, a well digger, who is recruited and trained by Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamic group from the North. In the play, Musa, a Muslim extremist has a strong hatred for the Christians whom he believes insult Muslims in their songs and mode of worship. This is revealed in the following conversation: Musa: A song, eh? Satan don fall for gutter. Match am, match am. That’s me. That’s us. The song is saying that all muslims are siblings of satan, who should be trampled upon. We? Who did we ever hurt? I mean who are the peace-loving cursed docile illiterates? Us! Amina: Us? Musa: Yes...us Muslims. All songs...all their prayers insult us. They brand us as the children of the most evil spirit, the devil, shetani! They want hell fire to burn us to smithereens. And yet they want us to be one, to be friends. They say we worship the same God. How can? I swear I will not go for the wedding if this is the kind of songs they will sing at the wedding. Even their prayers are so militant, aimed at us described as blind ‘gambari’ beggar children of the devil (Heart of Stone, pp. 38-39). From his expression, it is clear that Musa nurses deep hatred for Christians because of what he perceives as insult on Muslims by Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 56 Christians. His misconception about the Christian songs and prayers triggers his hatred into action by getting recruited into Boko Haram group and trained to carry violent actions against the Christian songs and prayers triggers his grated for Christians. He translates his hatred into action by getting recruited into Boko Haram group and trained to carry violent actions against the Christians in particular and humanity in general without any regard for human life. This tactic of holy jihad according to Jonathan Mbachaga (2019, P. 85) “is used by terrorists to instill fear and generate coercive submission in their target subjects, the target being to crumble the rule of law, human rights and happiness”. As the play progresses, we find that the church is attacked by suicide bombers who believe that they will be offered 70 virgins in heaven as a reward for their suicide mission. Yerima’s major concern in this play is to unveil the problem of religious intolerance precipitated by wrong religious doctrines. He believes that feeding the people daily with wrong religious doctrine will bring about religious misunderstanding among people from different religious and ethnic background and such misunderstanding may lead to religious crisis. Yerima’s position is that the dignity of human life should be respected and emphasized above every other consideration. In Hangmen Also Die, Esiaba also paints the picture of a society where the leaders have appropriated the proceeds from the land to themselves and have left the masses to wallow in abject poverty. As a result of this, the graduates from the area who could not find job after leaving the University, take to violence as the only way out. Bloodletting, therefore, becomes their only means of earning a living as well a means of taking revenge on the society that ruptured their future (Agatha Nwanya 2014, P.19). Esiaba however, redirected their attention to Chief Erekosima, the real Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 57 object of their resentment. Chief Erekosima confiscated the compensation money sent by the government for the oil spillage which has ruined their eco-system. He shared the money with the councilors and local government chairmen. The natives did not receive anything. The aggrieved youths kidnapped and killed him. Although corruption, selfish interest and personal vendetta appear to over shadow the true cause of the struggle of the Niger Delta people, Irobi, in this play emphasizes that the crux of the people’s struggle is the urgent need for the provision of a green and healthy environment for the people and equitable distribution of the oil wealth raised from their land. 3.2 Dramatic Literature and the Fight against Insecurity Challenges in Nigeria As a veritable instrument of social mobilization and conscientisation, drama can be deployed as a tool to fight insecurity. Once Upon Four Robbers, for instance, has been described as a radical sociology of crime, an exposition of the struggle of the oppressed masses to liberate themselves from the tyranny of the wealthy class (Gbilekaa, 1997, p.94). In highlighting the causes of violence, particularly armed robbery, Osofisan has given it a dialectical treatment. He has juxtaposed the arguments of the robbers with those of the hunters (oppressors) in order to provide insight into socio-economic conditions that drive men into unpremeditated crimes. With this device, he expects his audience to judge for themselves in the referendum at the end of the play. In A Parliament of Vultures and Waves of Violence, Emeka Nwabueze and Eziechine Augustine mercilessly lampooned the unscrupulous political class of their time, who are neck-deep in socio- political evils. The politicians are portrayed in the texts as being classic epitomes of ineptitude, greed, insensitivity and Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 58 callousness. Indeed, these calibers of abysmally corrupt politicians promote violence in their desperate quest for selfish aggrandizement. In Ahmed Yerima’s Hard Ground and Heart of Stone and Esiaba Irobi’s, Hangmen Also Die, the root causes and architects of ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria are unveiled. In Hard Ground, Yerima captures through a dramatic representation, the dynamics of the activities of the Niger-Delta militants. The play examines the form, pattern of agitation and militancy that engulf Niger Delta area. The remote and immediate causes of the struggle is made manifest. In using theatrical medium to negotiate for an egalitarian society based on the socialist principles, and to arouse the consciousness of the masses towards the inequalities and injustices that permeate the Nigerian society, the revolutionary playwrights, Yerima and Irobi have adopted the political theatre and resistance drama approach in their bid to make firm political statements and present recipes for social change. Indeed, through the playwrights’ creative prowess, the consciousness of the masses to negotiate for an egalitarian society based on the socialist principles is raised. 4. Conclusion This paper is an overview of selected plays written by Nigerian playwrights, which focus on insecurity challenges in Nigeria. The playwrights in these plays have exposed the issues responsible for such challenges. They have in various ways raised the consciousness of their audience towards critical awareness of the causes of violence, insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria and at the same time proffering possible solutions to them. Femi Osofisan for instance, provided critical insight into the basic causes of societal malaise in Once Upon Four Robbers. Osofisan contends that it is Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 59 societal inequality, the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities and the competitive nature of capitalism that is responsible for the production of hoodlums who manifest as armed robbers in Nigeria. He blames society for manufacturing them. Similarly, Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures and Eziechine Augustine’s Waves of Violence, trace the causes of violence and other forms of insecurity challenges in Nigeria to brazen corruption, excessive greed and inordinate ambition. In Hard Ground and Heart of Stone, on the other hand, Ahmed Yerima conceptualizes the viruses of corruption, exploitation, oppression and religious extremism as major causes of violence and insurgency in Nigeria. In Esiaba Irobi’s Hangmen also Die, corruption, oppression and deprivation gave rise to terrorism and insurgency in the Niger Delta. As a way forward to curb the menace of insecurity challenges in Nigeria, these playwrights in the world of their plays have advocated the enthronement of a new democratic culture of transparency, equity, justice and good governance. The playwrights envision a Nigerian society where there will be equal distribution of wealth and opportunities; a society where there shall be gainful employment of all the jobless youths. Indeed, the playwrights emphasize the need for religious tolerance and respect for human rights and dignity as ways towards curbing the menace of insecurity challenges in Nigeria. References Affiah, U. (2012). “Vultures in Parliament: Perspectives of Emeka Nwabueze,” African Journal of Social Issues and humanities, Vol. 2 (6), 378-383. Agho, J.A. (1999). New Perspectives on African Literature Benin City: Jubilee Press. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 60 Ahmed, Y. (2005). Hard Ground. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited Ahmed, Y. (2013). Heart of Stone. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited Aniago, E. 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