CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN FEMI OSOFISAN’S ANOTHER RAFT AND FAREWELL TO A CANNIBAL RAGE: MODELS FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF PEACE IN KADUNA STATE-NIGERIA

By: Alexander Kure (Phd)
(alexkure@yahoo.com)
Department of English and Drama
Kaduna State University
P.M.B. 2339
Kaduna-NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Conflict, a quality of the plot, is essential especially in drama. Without conflict, there will be very little appreciable dramatic progress. Meanwhile, conflict, as a result of overt or covert differences between a people, a very regular feature especially in Kaduna State-Nigeria, has not led to any ‘dramatic’ progress on equal spread in terms of the desired physical development and strengthening of human relations. In Kaduna State, at the slightest opportunity, it is not unusual to hear of rumours of impending conflict or actually witness real conflict. This paper takes a random historical voyage to briefly examine the form, nature, scope, and impact of the major conflicts that have occurred in Kaduna State since its creation on 27th August, 1987 and the different methods that were adopted that have failed to resolve them. As opposed to the above, the paper discusses the different types of conflict, personal and group, in two plays by Femi Osofisan, Another Raft and Farewell to a Cannibal Rage, to show how his methods at conflict resolution, accommodation and forgiveness, can be applied successfully when conflicts occur in Kaduna State. The paper contends with the fact that conflicts are usual rather than unusual decimals in human existence. However, as postulated by Femi Osofisan, a people can, at the end of each conflict, be reunited through the spirit of accommodation and forgiveness to make their world a better place.