Perversion of Democratic Process and Autocracy in Bosede Ademulua Afolayan's Once Upon an Elephant

Abstract

Globally, writers are influenced by their ambiance. In Nigeria, intellectuals are part and parcel of their social environments. Achebe had remarked that politics and social affairs cannot be kept out of literature. As a result, the nucleus of several literary contents is on sociopolitical issues that concern perversion of democratic process such as dictatorship, bribery and corruption. That is why after sixtythree years of Independence and twenty-three years of democratic rule in Nigeria, cardinal players in the nation's election process remain a source of anxiety to some writers and the nation as a whole because credible elections play vital roles in any democratic regime. The fear is that if the culprits are not disarmed, they will eventually disarm the power of democracy in the populace. It is on this premise that this paper uses critical realism to examine Once Upon an Elephant in the light of the above scenario to contend that Bosede's work is a portrait of the nation's political scene which any wise audience would unmistakably regard as a farce but it is real; where elderly men play hide and seek game and toy with the nation's destiny as in a children's moonlight game. However, from the play it is realized that the great law of cause-and-effect operates automatically like the force of gravity. In the play, the key players of perversion and autocracy did not escape.