Drawing on the themes of Steve Osai’s Pax Nigeriana, which uses "alternative history" to explore Nigerian unity, here is a trilogy of short plays titled "The River’s Memory".
This trilogy addresses the nation's problems by focusing on the Past, Present, and Future.
Part I: The Crossing (Past)
The Setting: A misty riverbank at Asaba, 1967.
The Conflict: A young Commander stands at the water's edge, haunted by "inner battles". He is torn between his orders and the advice of a Foreign Adviser who views the conflict as a tactical map rather than a human tragedy.
Key Theme: The tragic turn of history and the moral weight of leadership during the civil war.
Part II: The Toll Gate (Present)
The Setting: A gridlocked highway connecting major ethnic hubs in modern-day Nigeria.
The Conflict: A group of travelers from different backgrounds—an Unsung Poet, a Virtuous Wife, and an Old Guard politician—are stranded together when the road is blocked. They must confront their mutual prejudices to solve a shared threat.
Key Theme: Contemporary social problems like tribalism, corruption, and the search for national identity amidst everyday struggles.
Part III: The Epiphany (Future)
The Setting: A high-tech, unified Lagos or Abuja, fifty years from now.
The Conflict: A museum curator discovers a lost script from the "Pax Nigeriana" era. She realizes that the "Greater Nigeria" envisioned by her ancestors required a Redemption they are only now achieving.
Key Theme: Hope, national integration, and the realization of Nigeria's "manifest destiny" as a regional leader.
Here is a trilogy of short plays titled "The Loom, The Knot, and The Pattern," exploring the evolution of a nation’s struggle and its potential for peace.
Play I: The Loom (The Past)
Theme: The colonial inheritance and the seed of discord.
Setting: A dimly lit administrative office in 1959. Large maps of West Africa are pinned to the walls with red wax seals.
Characters:
THE ARCHITECT: An aging colonial officer, weary and clinical.
ADAMU & OKORIE: Two young clerks from different regions, once friends, now eyeing each other with suspicion.
The Action:
The Architect is packing his crates. He calls the two clerks to help him divide the office supplies. He hands a heavy iron stapler to Adamu and a silver letter opener to Okorie.
"I am leaving you the house," The Architect says, "but I have lost the keys to the inner rooms. You’ll have to decide who sleeps where."
Adamu and Okorie begin to argue over the desk—the seat of power. As the sun sets, they are no longer looking at the map; they are looking at the weapons in each other’s hands.
Final Line: “The map is dry, but the ink is still bleeding.”
Play II: The Knot (The Present)
Theme: The gridlock of corruption and the shared burden of survival.
Setting: A broken-down luxury bus stranded on a flooded highway between two major cities. Rain is drumming on the roof.
CHARACTERS:
ALHAJI: A businessman losing money by the minute.
CHIDINMA: A student activist with a megaphone.
YETUNDE: A market woman carrying a crate of eggs.
The Action:
The bus is sinking into the mud. Alhaji tries to bribe the driver to move, but the driver has fled. Chidinma blames the government; Yetunde simply tries to keep her eggs from breaking.
They argue in a heated mix of English and Pidgeon, blaming one another’s tribes for the bad road. Suddenly, the bus tilts dangerously. To keep it from tipping over, they realize they must all move to the left side of the vehicle at the exact same time. They hold hands, not out of love, but out of the sheer necessity of not drowning in the mud.
Final Line: “We are hating each other on a sinking ship.”
Play III: The Pattern (The Future)
Theme: Redemption through a new social contract.
Setting: A bright, solar-powered community square in a rebuilt city. The year is 2060.
CHARACTERS:
THE ELDER: A survivor of the "Old Days."
THE YOUTH: A technician building a pan-African rail system.
The Action:
The Youth is frustrated with a complex piece of machinery. She complains that the "old ways" of the nation make everything difficult. The Elder brings out a piece of cloth—a tapestry made of different threads (Green, White, Gold, Red).
"In the old days," the Elder says, "we thought the cloth was torn because the colors were different. We didn't realize that the strength of the cloth comes from the crossing of the threads."
The Youth adjusts the machine, using a new code based on collaboration rather than competition. The lights in the square flare to life, powered by a grid that spans the entire Niger Delta to the Sahel.
Final Line: “The Pax is not the silence of the grave; it is the harmony of the choir.
To dive deeper into the friction and the fire, here is the full scene for Play II: The Knot, where the tension of the "Present" boils over.
Play II: The Knot
Scene: Inside the "Destiny Express" luxury bus. Outside, the rain is a rhythmic assault. The cabin is humid, smelling of damp clothes and anxiety.
ALHAJI: (Wiping sweat with a silk handkerchief) This is the problem! We build nothing, we maintain nothing! I have a shipment in the North that will rot because this road is a graveyard of ambitions.
CHIDINMA: (Clutching her megaphone) Ambition? Alhaji, look at the potholes! They aren’t holes; they are craters of corruption. Your friends in the capital ate the asphalt for breakfast, and now you’re complaining about the indigestion?
YETUNDE: (Shielding her crate of eggs) Both of you, shut your mouths. While you argue about who ate what, my eggs are cracking. If these eggs break, my children don’t eat. Does your "indigestion" or your "revolution" pay for school fees?
ALHAJI: (Points at Chidinma) It is her type! Always shouting "justice" on Twitter but cannot fix a spark plug. You shout while the country burns.
CHIDINMA: And you? You pay the bribes that keep the fire burning! You’d rather pay a toll to a ghost than demand a road from a man.
(The bus gives a violent lurch. A loud, wet ‘slurp’ sounds from beneath the floorboards. The vehicle tilts 30 degrees to the right. Yetunde screams as her crate slides.)
YETUNDE: It’s going! The mud is swallowing us!
ALHAJI: (Panicked, grabbing the seat) Driver! Driver!
CHIDINMA: The driver jumped out ten minutes ago, Alhaji! He’s gone to find a tractor or a miracle, whichever is cheaper.
YETUNDE: (Looking out the window) If we tip more, we roll into the ravine. Move! Everyone move to the left!
ALHAJI: I am not sitting on the floor like a commoner.
CHIDINMA: (Grabs Alhaji’s expensive agbada) Sit down and lean, or your gold watch will be at the bottom of the river! Lean!
(They all scramble to the left side, huddling against the windows. They are pressed together—the billionaire, the rebel, and the trader. The bus groans, balances, and stays.)
ALHAJI: (Breathing hard) Your elbow is in my ribs, girl.
CHIDINMA: And your rings are scratching my arm.
YETUNDE: (Quietly) Do you feel that? The silence? The bus isn't moving because we are finally heavy enough in one direction.
ALHAJI: (After a pause) How long must we hold this position?
CHIDINMA: Until the rain stops. Or until we realize that if any one of us gets up to leave, we all go down.
YETUNDE: (Adjusting her crate) Then hold tight. I have a lot of eggs, and you two have a lot of pride. Let’s see which breaks first.
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