Nigerian leaders viciously greedy, self-loving – Osofisan

Playwright and Professor of Theatre Arts, Femi Osofisan, has described Nigeria’s political leaders as “viciously greedy, self-loving” and indifferent to the welfare of the people, warning that their disposition poses a danger to the country’s future.

Osofisan said Nigeria’s transition from military rule to civilian democracy had failed to produce the desired change in leadership, arguing that the problem went beyond political systems to the character of the people entrusted with power.

The playwright spoke at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, while delivering the 2026 Annual Reunion Public Lecture of the Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association.

He spoke on the topic, “From the Nobel to the Thalia Prize: GCI and the Making of Modern African Theatre.”

The event brought together old boys of Government College, Ibadan, including Prof. Wole Soyinka, who was the guest of honour; Wale Babalakin, president of GCIOBA; and Ajibola Ogunshola, Chairman Emeritus of PUNCH Nigeria Limited, who chaired the occasion.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s political history, Osofisan said successive governments had repeated the same pattern of unfulfilled promises and corruption despite leadership changes.

He said, “We got rid of the military, but it wasn’t the military that was there; they were Nigerians, the military and civilians. And the result is that the people we put in power now are a certain breed of people.

“I won’t say they are vicious, but they are viciously greedy, self-loving, not caring at all, and it’s dangerous for our future.

“Look at them properly. If we take A from this and put B there, what will B do? It is increasingly clear that the kind of people we are breeding on the continent, not just in Nigeria, are the problem. Not the system as well; it is the people themselves. What kind of people are we?”

Osofisan argued that replacing one set of leaders with another would not necessarily transform the country if the underlying attitudes and values remained unchanged.

He urged Nigerians to reconsider their approach to political change, saying the country needed new perspectives and strategies to address its persistent leadership challenges.

“I’m thinking that the time has come for us to rethink our viewpoints and look for new approaches,” he said.

The professor also criticised the tendency to celebrate individual heroes and acts of self-sacrifice without examining whether they brought lasting improvements to society.

According to him, meaningful change requires collective action involving people affected by injustice and poor governance, rather than relying on individuals to transform society on their behalf.

He said, “Maybe if we didn’t think of things from individual perspectives, individual heroism, perhaps a collective struggle to change things, a collective struggle involving the victims themselves, not changing things for people, but changing things with the people.”

He called for workers, peasants and other members of society to be actively involved in efforts to bring about change, stressing that the country must move beyond repeatedly changing governments without addressing the attitudes that sustain corruption and poor governance.

Turning to the role of literature and theatre, Osofisan said the works of earlier African writers and playwrights had helped challenge perceptions that the continent lacked a recognised cultural and dramatic tradition.

He noted that Europe had, at some point, maintained that Africa had no culture or drama, with Africans regarded as “barbarians.”

Osofisan said the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka in 1986 brought international acclaim and prestige to the country while inspiring other writers and artists.

“The Nobel Prize brought us acclaim, brought us respect among all the world. Of course, it also brought the winner himself so much prestige. He became an international statesman,” he said.

The professor, however, explained that African playwrights faced considerable challenges in developing a dramatic tradition rooted in the continent’s experiences.

He said they had to transform oral traditions, in which stories and performances were passed down without being written, into plays built around written texts and performed on conventional stages.

According to him, the pioneers also struggled with the choice of language that would make their works accessible to audiences across Nigeria and Africa without restricting them to particular ethnic groups.

“You are writing for Nigerians, you are writing for Africans. What language do you do that? If you don’t want to be a tribalist, what language do you use?” he asked.

Osofisan said early playwrights had to develop new dramatic structures, styles and forms that would make African stories believable to audiences despite the challenges of adapting traditional performances to written drama.

Using the character of Baroka in Soyinka’s play, The Lion and the Jewel, as an example, he explained how playwrights developed techniques that enabled audiences to accept characters speaking English in settings where they would ordinarily be expected to speak indigenous languages.

He said the pioneers’ ability to develop such styles helped establish African drama as a recognised literary tradition.

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Osofisan also argued that art was never neutral, maintaining that writers should use their works to question oppression, expose corruption and encourage society to examine itself critically.

He said African writers had previously been encouraged to treat literature as entertainment without recognising the political and ideological positions embedded in artistic works.

“All art is propaganda. Every art has a perspective, a point of view, that’s there to convince you of it,” he said.

The playwright urged writers to use literature and theatre to improve society, particularly by challenging oppression and satirising corruption.

Osofisan also called for a reassessment of how history was told, particularly accounts of wars and political struggles that often celebrated generals, rulers and victors while overlooking ordinary people who suffered the consequences.

He said historical narratives should reflect the experiences of ordinary soldiers, women and other victims whose lives were disrupted by conflicts they did not initiate.

The playwright noted that women had played significant roles in Nigeria’s history, citing the Aba Women’s Riots and the women’s resistance in Abeokuta as examples of their contributions to political and social struggles.

He urged writers to pay greater attention to these often-overlooked perspectives and challenge narratives that portray men as the principal actors in history.

Osofisan further warned that Nigeria and Africa must rethink their position in a rapidly changing world, particularly in the face of the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and the growing influence of global powers.

He expressed concern that while other regions were exploring ways to strengthen their collective positions, Nigeria and Africa remained divided, with little evidence of a common vision for the future.

He also expressed concern that the arts were threatened by the growing influence of AI and social media.

“We must begin to think of the position of the black man and of our continent now that we are faced with the dangers of AI and the dangers of growing powers around us,” he said.

He added, “Europe tried to come together, the Middle Eastern world, and yet what you see in Nigeria is just fractions.”

The playwright said the country had yet to think adequately about its future, urging younger Nigerians, particularly members of the Government College Ibadan community, to contribute fresh ideas and approaches to the challenges confronting society.

Osofisan said such fresh thinking was necessary to confront Nigeria’s leadership problems and prepare the country and the continent for emerging global challenges.

“We haven’t really thought of where we are going,” he said, calling on the younger generation to “help us think out a new theatre of the moment and of the future.”

In his brief remarks, Soyinka urged GCI old boys to continue to be known for thinking outside the box.

“GCI will always be GCI, thinking outside the box, performing outside the borders. Thank you for still being what we were,” Soyinka said.

Speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Ogunshola, noted that the influence of AI extended beyond the arts to other disciplines and had become a source of concern.

He said, “I read Mathematics at the university. Top mathematicians all over the world are now concerned that a lot of the unsolved problems in Mathematics, ancient problems not solved in the last 200–300 years, AI is solving them. So, mathematicians are also afraid of being out of a job eventually,” Ogunshola said.

GCIOBA President Babalakin called for introspection into the kind of people individuals were.

“My takeaway from it is the question, ‘What kind of people are we?’ And I think when we all get home tonight, we should all ask ourselves that question individually,” Babalakin said.

He particularly praised Governor Seyi Makinde for allowing GCIOBA to become the concessionaire of GCI, Ibadan, an opportunity the association said had enabled the old boys to demonstrate their capacity to run a first-rate school on an altruistic basis.

He said the concession had enabled the old boys to improve infrastructure, provide learning support to the school and constantly engage the students to pass on the traditions upon which the school was founded.

At the event, Babalakin presented awards of special recognition to Soyinka and Osofisan in recognition of their contributions to the arts.

Adubu Ololade of the 1996 set presented portraits to Soyinka and Babalakin.

Some past old boys were also specially recognised, including Timothy Aluko (1933 set), Cyprian Ekwensi (1936 set), Christopher Kolade (1946 set), Ben Enwonwu (1934 set), Dapo Adelugba (1951 set), Rowland Abiodun (1955 set), Bode Sowande (1962 set) and Abisade Ologunde (1972 set).