For any change to occur in any given society, there must be a revolution. This may either unify the community if carefully and sincerely executed without tribal nor religious sentiment. For this move can further disintegrate the society if the circumstances are not well understood.
The playwright S. J. Timothy-Asobele’s The Commander’s Telegram is a tragi-comic play that addresses the issue of a social change after a failed revolution that leads to civil war between fictitious nations called Bigeria and Nairawa. The play occurred in Three Unending Transition Plays in 2015. The aim of this review is to draw attention of the public to this play that depicts the first decade of Nigeria after the independence in 1960 – the political crisis in the First Republic, the first coup of January 15th, 1966, the second coup and the Nigerian Civil War that broke out after them. This study presents the review through the analysis of the action based on periodization, application of Romanticism, summary of the play, and analysis of the direct speech of retired Colonel Emmanuel Nwaobosi, one of the initiators of January, 15, 1966, alive today.
This review ends with the following recommendations: that the play be translated into French for French university students and francophone readers, be acted as films and staged as plays, and studied by English students. This review concludes that the old revolution was bloody because of the monarchy system practiced. The modern revolution should be bloodless because democracy provides an avenue for social change without violence.
The writer Samuel Jide Timothy-Asobele is a renowned academic of French, literary critic, writer, translator, public speaker and activist who is well-known for numerous publications, quest for unity, gratitude, generosity, nationalism and true federalism in Nigeria.
This classical playwright of excellence, such as: ‘Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Amos Tutuola and John Pepper Clerk has written numerous plays in English language for Anglophone audiences being Nigerian. Why write in English when he is a French scholar? This may be due to the fact that he wants to address his immediate readers for charity begins at home. Why write for the francophone world when the immediate and focused audience is Anglophone.
Therefore, the main focus of this study is to provide a review of one of the three plays published in the book titled: “Three Unending Transition Plays (2015) – “The Commander’s Telegram”, “Paradase in Paradise”, as well as “Dongiesola”. The playwright of The Commander’s Telegram is a Yoruba scholar who serves as the mediator between the two tribes – Hausas and Igbos – in the cold war before and after the civil war.
Timothy-Asobele believes that, “Misunderstanding often leads to war.” His referee’s view is traceable to the fact that he was born and brought up as a Yoruba-Northerner from Kabba; who enjoyed the policies of education of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region. He is a Christian, who was brought up in the midst of Northern Nigerian Muslims. So, religious tolerance is not a problem. The playwright also studied at the University of Nigeria, Nnsuka in his undergraduate days.
This makes him understand the Igbos’ mentality and philosophy of life. Now as a referee, he was able to detect the source of the conflict in Nigeria which according to him is a misunderstanding – “ No Victor No vanquished’, according to Rtd. Gen Gowon. From this analogy, one can infer that the main reason why the play “The Commander’s Telegram “ was written is to depict the Nigerian society of the first decade after independence by sitting on the fence, that is without taking any position.
THE HISTORICAL PLAY
“The Commander’s Telegram” depicts principal actors who are politicians of the first republic of Nigeria, the young insatiable coup plotters, the war leaders of the Nairawan and the Bigerian armies, the mercenaries during the Civil War, the misuse of the army by the political leaders before 1966, the angry mob retaliating the assassination of their revered political lords.
The play also narrates the causes of the conflicts through the characters, such as the civilians – (The prime Minister, Mr. Duduye, Ambassador Abangwu, Newscaster, Press, Rev. Dimoji, Uche, Chief Balonwu, Achike, Ekejiani), foreigners (Gilbert, Capt. Thatcher, Yisak, Steiner, German, Capt. Klein) as well as military officers – Gen. Ekpeyong, Gen. Ndigwe, Capt. Joe, Capt. Olowo, Capt. Buraimoh, Capt. Lt. Col. George, Capt. Bassey, Col. Shade, Col. AAA. Lt. Musa Tombola, Sgt. Rimi and Lt. Maman.
The play presents a lot of historical references that depict the period under study and educate the readers of the background information that might affect the romantic soldiers who want to change the system through revolution. There are African political affairs (Peace Mission in Congo and the Captain who overtook power in Congo and promotes himself to general), the European influences (studies in United Kingdom by the soldiers and purchase of aircraft and ammunition from France, and employment of foreign francophone mercenaries, among others), revolutions and assassinations such as Louis XVI during the French revolution of 1789 and that of Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America.
The play belongs to one of the 20th century Nigerian plays that narrates the incidents of the Nigerian civil war such as Chinua Achebe’s There was Once a Country, Victor Ariole’s Sans Cullote and Chimamanda’s The Other side of the Sun. Samuel Jide Timothy-Asobele’s The Commander’s Telegram is a historical, dialectic, semiotic, didactic and cinematographic masterpiece that represents what Wolfgang Goethe called world literature. The playwright made use of fiction by modifying the names of some characters and those of the two factions fighting – the Bigerian Army and the Nairawan Army. The letter “N” is lost to the other faction Nairawan. This means that there was no complete nation called Nigeria if the ‘N’ was lost during the Civil War.
The playwright explored teacher-student relationship, reverend-congregation rapport, politician-military conspiracy, officers-recruits social order and European-African perspectives.
Timothy-Asobele expressed his thoughts through the speeches of his major actors. Everywhere in the play, the tone of the writers could be felt. For instance, the word “bastard” occurs several times in the play through the speeches of different actors in different scenes. He seems to understand the real cause of the problems of tribalism, corruption, disunity, nepotism, dissatisfaction, materialism and cold war between the Hausa and the Igbos that affect Nigeria currently.
REVIEW MODEL
This play: ‘The Commander’s Telegram’, was reviewed using Greimas’ Actancial model to analyze the action through periodization of the narration. The periods were divided into four: January 1966, June 19666, During the Civil-War period 1967-1970, and the Post-War era from 1970. The concepts of Classicism and Romanticism were borrowed from literary history to explain the drives of the coup plotters called the romantics of 20th century Nigeria just like the 19th century European writers.
The review borrowed from the speech of one of the core coup plotters’ speech on Facebook that justify up till now, the correctness of their decision to revolutionize the country. Thus, this study is both a review and criticism using historical approach, the Greimas’ theory of Modele actantiel and the concepts of romantic instinct and classical instinct.
SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
The play is a tragi-comedy as it depicts various scenes where coup plotters drink, play games, and plan their revolution for a social change. This classical play is in five acts. The play moves from public speech of the Prime Minister to the assassination, then to the riots and killing of the Igbos in the West and in the North, the second coup of the same year 1966, the commencement of the war and flight of Gen Ndigwe abroad and the surrender of the Nirawan army to col Shade of the Bigerian Army.
THEMES OF THE PLAY
The play addresses a lot of issues affecting the African continent in general and Nigerian in Particular. Among the themes identified are the followings: poisoned democracy and incompetence of the politicians of the first republic, romantic military revolutionists, and foreign intervention in African politics and internal affairs after independence, revolution without thorough survey of the environmental ,religious, cultural and multiethnic nature of the country, linguistic research and phonological articulation during the civil war, tribalism in the coup d’état of January 15th, 1966: the cause of permanent and unending cold war between the North and the East, the assassination of northern religious, political and intellectual idols, corruption, extortion and selfishness during the civil war, wisdom of war ending with the propaganda No victor No vanquished, Propaganda of the West on Africa’s barbaric and greedy debut of self-governance and Nationalism ad Pan- Africanism , the common enemies of African progress is the West – the Grandmaster of the Chess game.
Understanding Romantic Instinct and Classical Instinct in the review
Classicism is the 17th century literary movement in France where the writers assembled at Louis XIV’s palace in Versailles to entertain the nobles. They would write to respect the literary rules of writings or face the consequence of censure of their works and imprisonment.
Therefore, the classical instinct is the drive to respect the rules, be obedient to the constituted authority, stop rebellion and withdraw romantic instinct. The literary movement that serves as the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism is Enlightenment which awakens human reasoning and encourages hard working so as to change the inherited poverty due to the low status through birth among the families of the commoners.
Romanticism is a literary movement of the 19th century in Europe and America that promotes personal dream, imagination and sentiment. English romantics such as William Wordsworth, Williams Blake and Lord Byron published poems that influenced all the 20th African heroes to express their romantic instinct- an antisocial instinct that drives the romantic agent to struggle to change the system. [Tiamiyu (2019)].
REFERENCES MADE DURING THE PLAY
The playwright made us feel the atmosphere of tragedy that awaits the young prime Minister of Bigeria. He cited examples of the personalities of assassination, dictatorship, revolution and dominion in human history.
He did this through references to world renowned personalities, such as Louis XIV the Great of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Kruchev, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln (two assassinated residents of the United States of America) and General de Gaulle of France.
Why Joe. I am still your teacher and these events are nothing but another lesson for you all. That in Bigeria, even fifteen years old lads are aware, but let me end it briefly. Another teacher of history was treated to the shock of his life. A shocker question was asked after Lincoln assassination lesson and the fresh one in hand was the JKF. The student asked I quote: “Why is it that Americans have a tradition of assassinating their presidents?”
Mr. Duduye [Act one scene four, page 37] The question asked by this student quoted by Mr. Duduye is the main reason why the young soldiers (Capt. Joe, Capt. Semele, Capt. Tukuru, Capt. Ufor, Capt. Pang ) emulated the Americans to assassinate the Prime Minister, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Samuel Akintola but exempted Sir Michael Okpara and President Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe in the play. This exemption of two Igbo politicians led to the Jihad war that Rtd, Colonel Emammuel Nwaobosi , the last of the initiators of the coup plotters of January 1966, mentioned in his speech on Facebook at the age of 80 years.
REFLECTIONS ON TIMOTHY-ASOBELE’s PLAY
Let us try to understand the psychology of the Hausas after the assassination of the Prime Minister and the Premier of the Northern Region in the First Republic of Nigeria. Most Hausas were still very much illiterate unlike the Yorubas and the Igbos in the 1960s. Having two powerful educated elites who could compete with Awolowo and Azikwe was a benefit and pride to them. Besides, Sir Ahmadu Bello was their light with which they see the road towards the future.
Thus, the assassination of these two great northern leaders was not considered to be a minor issue to the masses in the North whose history was influenced by Jihad of Uthman Dan Fodio, who were ready to die for their faith, who followed their leaders like the blind. They would not take it lightly ; and committing genocide would not satisfy their loss. This is the reason they called it Jihad and massacred about three million Igbos. Killing Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello was like beheading the whole Hausa in the North who had the culture of following their leaders as if they constitute their God that they worship. The amount of wealth incurred to produce the two educated elites where the majorities were illiterates.
Let us understand the philosophy of the Igbos during the first republic. The young romantic soldiers who planned the revolution were influenced by European and Amerian history, the training they had in the United Kingdom, the classes of History, the practice of Christianity and the culture of Igbo where one village is independent of another.
Let us not forget that the revolutionists were majorly Easterners and Christians. And that what they called a revolution to liberate the Mid-Westerners and the Yorubas from the oppression of NPC politicians failed because of the exemption of Dr. Nnmadi Azikwe and Sir Michael Okpara from the assassination. It could have happened by chance, but no one would believe it that they were not informed of the coup due to tribalism and religious sentiments.
The Hausas would think that they killed their leaders because of Islam. Let us not forget that we, the younger generation after them, still see the turban of Tafawa Balewa on the old fifty kobo note; later, the five naira note. The spirit of vengeance of the Hausas who continued to assassinate and kill the Igbos both in the North and in the army led to the Civil war. The genocide had to stop, and the only way to stop it was to declare a new country.
The coup plotters of 1966 were very romantic because they executed their dream of changing the society by preventing what they called the islamization of Nigeria.
They acted without thinking of the gravity of the assassination on the other tribe, without being ready to sacrifice their own brethren, without realizing their lives would not be worth those that were killed.
In fact, they failed to study the cultural diversity of the country, the religious differences, the values and psychology of every ethnic in the country. What happened in France and America, two developed nations of uniformed culture, could not work in Nigeria where there are religious and tribal sentiments right from the beginning.
When Louis XVI of France was decapitated, it was the French people killing a French King. When Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy were assassinated, the assassins were white Americans, not black Americans. Hitler was a white man of Jew descent, and he killed the Jews who were also white that used to live in Germany as Jew-Germans. Thus, the context of the revolution was very wrong from the onset.
The Civil War might not have occurred if there was a bloodless coup such as Gen. Murtala’s coup against Gen. Gowon and Gen. Babangida’s coup against Gen. Buhari. We could see that the Northerners did not kill one another even in these two coups because they are brethren. The assassination of Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello was an irreparable loss to the Northerners as this affected their educational growth decades later; and retarded the country’s national growth. I did not blame the Igbos for the war; they had no choice, but to stop the Jihad War declared by the North for the loss of their leaders. I did not want to talk about the war because it damaged the psychology of the younger generations of Igbo; and this loss is irreparable. The event that led to the dispute was indeed a romantic one.
THE COMMANDER’s TELEGRAPH: AN ANALYSIS
The “Commander’s Telegram”, can be analyzed using the theory of Greimas’ Modèle actanciel (Actatancial Model). The theory has six concepts called actants. These theoretical concepts used to analyze the action of any play are called the following in French – Destinateur- Sujet- Objet- Adjuvant- Opposant- Destinataire. Below are the meaning of the concepts for analysis of the action as established by the French theoretician Greimas: Destinateur – means what motivates the hero to act and pursue a goal; Sujet – the main character or hero of the play; Objet – What the hero wants to achieve that makes him act; Adjuvant – persons or factors that facilitate him ambition; Opposant – persons or factors that militates against him; Destinataire–the beneficiaries of the action of the hero
Romantic Instinct and January 15 1966 Coup No Six actants
The Commander’s telegram of Timothy-Asobele
Destinateur
Congo’s coup, History or French Revolution & assassination of American presidents, usage of military for internal crisis.
Sujet
Romantic soldiers of Jan. 1966
Objet
Change the political crisis, killing of government opponents and using the military to attack the citizens they ought to defend , to stop the islamization of the country.
Adjuvant
Youthful age, U.K military training, Christianity.
Opposant
Tribalism, leak of coup plot on tribal ground, Bigerian army.
Destinataire
Romantic soldiers of Jan. 1966 & the nation at large if successful.
The main objective of the romantic soldiers was to change the political crisis, the killing of government’s opponents, and the usage of the military men to attack the citizens they ought to defend as well as to stop the islamization of the country. [Adjuvant] What favours their plan is the fact that they are all young and vibrant captains. Some had studied in the UK during their military training; and they must have been trained on how to plan a coup by the British. In addition, the majority- if not all of them- are Christians this makes them have the same perspective to the issue and makes them think that they are representing the whole younger generation of the educated and civilized Bigeria. Just like nowadays in Nigeria where most modern activists of Biafra based their assessment on western values, igbo culture of insubordination to a single authority and on social media popularity which is dominated by the Christians and the educated Nigerians. [Opposant] What makes the revolution fail in the play is the fact that tribalism dominates.
