Ahmed Yerima’s Attahiru: Lack of the Use of Women in Re-Telling History

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Ahmed Yerima’s Attahiru: Lack of the Use of Women in re-telling History Ewejobi Dorcas Iranwo-oluwa ABSTRACT History is the source of life, the fuel of our future. It has served as a cogent tool in documenting the Nigerian Past; which seems to be fast moving into the shadows. This paper takes a critical look at Ahmed Yerima’s Attahiru and its reasons for the zero use of women in representation history. It seeks to unveil the mirror reflection of women in history as portrayed in Attahiru. This paper, examines the crucial nature of religion and tradition as it relates to Attahiru and Yerima’s negligence in utilizing the power of the playwright to have women represented. It concludes by analyzing the belief that the inclusion of women waters down the seriousness of the context and the major theme in the play (war in history). Soyinka presents women as part of the continuous process of the cultural flow of serious ritual activities, but he also shows them as the disturbance to the seriousness of life and the ritual practices. (Yerima, 2008) A river that forgets its source will one day dry up; a people who presently have forgotten their history, will obviously have no future. History is a way of studying the past to lay reference to the future. A playwright therefore, who uses history as a tool in his play helps in laying a strong foundation for a better tomorrow. History in itself is so powerful; sometimes it chokes the one who attempts to re-tell it. INTRODUCTION Women are trapped in the web of culture, tradition, religion and history. Like, the spider, they have in bits and bits helped to build the web and now want out. From the moments dogs started barking and Lions started roaring, more attention has been placed on women more than their male counterparts. They seem to be unique in nature and creation; that everything appears to be moulded around them.
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