THE PARADOX OF SERVITUDE: A SOCIO-POLITICAL READING OF EMEKA NWABUEZE’S A PARLIAMENT OF VULTURES

Abstract

This paper seeks to illustrate that African politicians are not motivated by the call to serve, but are rather interested in amassing wealth, power and positions for themselves. Patterns of bad governance which have sunk into the marrow of political vultures causing countries to wallow in socio-political and economic degradation are equally identified. The paper further contends that the socio-political perspective can be transformed if the masses choose to rise against “political vultures” who desecrate the servant-leadership policy. Consequently, this paper advocates a servant-leadership approach as a major prerequisite for leadership scramble for the socio-political and economic buoyancy of the society. Adopting contextual analysis as its analytical standpoint, the paper, through the lens of servant-leadership theory, elaborates the fact that A Parliament of Vultures exhibits common realities in Nigeria’s political landscape as well as the projection of drama as a channel of raising awareness and conscientizing the people, hence, the place of theatre of conscientization in Nigerian dramaturgy.