By JAPHET ALAKAM
On 23rd of December, 2001 one of the true democrats of the time , the first civilian governor of Oyo  State and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria was assassinated in his bed room in Ibadan. And as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the gruesome death, the Hornbill House organised a  dance drama tagged Nigeria The Beautiful.

The dance drama which has toured some cities in Nigeria was performed last week at the Muson Centre Onikan,Lagos showcased some of those attributes which the late Bola stood for.  The late Bola Ige was a strong force in the country’s national life  and one of those who kept alive the promise that Nigeria would sooner than later become a notable force in the world.

He stood for justice and it was as a result of that attribute that he accepted to serve as a minister in the Obasanjo led PDP government.  Nigeria The Beautiful, a heroic dance drama written by poet activist, Odia Ofeimun and directed by Obafemi Awolowo Ile Ife and University of Ibadan trained theatre director, Felix Okolo through out the period it lasted could be classified as a well rounded theatre dance production as it captured the real essence of dance drama .

A scene from the dance drama, Nigeria The Beautiful

The drama chronicles the political story of Nigeria from the Lord Lugard days to the present government of Goodluck Jonathan.

Apart from entertainment,  Odia in his usual manner of using every available instrument to tell a story used the dance drama to recapture how the country hurriedly got independence unprepared, how the first civilian government collapsed and how the army took over, the role of the various leaders, their greed and unpatriotic will to keep the country under their control without providing the needs of the masses.

This theatrical intervention did not end there.It also highlights how the masses revolted at many times and  how they were reduced to nothing by the powers that be.

Right from the time the performance opened till the time the curtain was drawn, there was the unprecedented recapturing of what the country has gone through in the hands of the so called leaders  that have made the rich and beautiful country to become a failed state.

The production was indeed an exposition of the ugly situation in the country that is richly blessed with abundant natural and human resources but failed to make good use of them.

The well  traveled director used his ability to blending all the elements of production into a composite aesthetic experience in the drama.

In putting the drama, he was guided by the five basic fundamentals of drama production: composition, costumes, movement, rhythm, pantomime and actions and the actors/ actresses keyed into that and gave an excellent account of themselves. As in other dance drama of that class, it was rich in dancing and spectacle, the lighting was okay and the set was well designed to suit every act.

The dance drama as presented by the Hornbill House offered the audience a peep into the history of the country. It was  a cultural excursion of how the various tribes responded during the struggle for independence and  how the various leaders failed to hold on to that independence that led to the civil war.