By  Japhet Alakam

It is often said that the worst form of democracy is better than the best military rule, that is why people rejoice during democratic rule as it will afford them the opportunity to elect their leaders who will in turn deliver the much desired dividends of democracy to them. But, what becomes the fate of the people when the politicians who are voted into power abandone their campaign promises and fail to deliver.

Our Honourable Member; Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu; Macckho-Ricckho Press and Publishing Co. Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria; 2014; PP. 122

In such a situation as we witness in almost all the third world countries, what are the electorates expected to do?  This has been the million dollar question that has been begging for answer and it was in response to it, that Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu, a literary scholar with bias in drama and theatre, a multidisciplinary researcher, and a playwright with varied experience came out with a new book, titled, Our Honourable Member.

In the 122 pages drama book published by Macckho-Ricckho Press and Publishing Co. Ltd, Lagos Iwuchukwu brings her wealth of experience to bear as she makes a compelling statement about politicians and their unfulfilled promises which lead to the impoverishment of the majority of the electorate and the enrichment of themselves.

The play is subdivided into four parts,namely plowing, planting, weeding and harvest, each part dealing with one particular episode in the course of the struggle from the campaign by the politicians and their promises, the build up by the women, the election proper and the demand by the women, how the politician and their cohorts tried to stop them and how they finally forced the representative to bow.

In the play which is set against the background of a society that has thrown morality to the winds, Iwuchukwu who is also an Associate Professor of English at the National Open University of Nigeria.

presents a group of women who organised themselves and decides to challenge their own representative to account for his stewardship.

They insist that the majority of the people should not be allowed to wallow in abject poverty, while a handful lives in opulence in a country that belongs to all. They therefore demand that their new representative fulfils his election promises since they mobilized themselves and others to vote out their former representative who spent four years in the House but could not attract any social amenity to their community. At a lavish party organized by the new representative, the women demand the fulfilment of the promises he made during his campaingns.

Dr. Iwuchukwu can be said to possess the qualities of the good writer, as a cursory look at the book reveals her artistic bent as well as her simplicity in the use of language. Interestingly, the play like her other plays are easier to understand because the various themes relate to everyday occurrences. Written in plain language and spiced with proverbs for easy reading and understanding, the book is embedded with lots of messages.

First, it highlighted the fundamental problems facing man in contemporary Nigerian society, the need for politicians to deliver according to their campaign promises, the need for people to come together and present their case as exemplified by the way the women mobilised themselves and challenged the status quo, the role of women in the change system and finally the need for the electrote to reject the paltry offers the politicians offer them to buy their votes.

The work is a very good attempt by the author, despite some avoidable errors, for example her use of Igbo language and its translation which has no defined boundary, the play is good. It is a work of art that has all that it takes to bring the desired change in the society, it is recommended for all especially movie producers, as it is a well written script begging for adaptation into a film.