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Aare-Ago Arikuyeri, a tragic play written by Lawuyi Ogunniran and published by MacMillan Publishers in 1977 is still very relevant now.
The play is historical. It is set in the era of Ogunmola the Basorun of Ibadan. The major character is Aare-Ago Arikuyeri, a war commander. A hero of so many wars. He has three wives. One of the wives looses three children on the same day. The mother of the deceased children is then convinced by the first wife that it is the third wife who is responsible for the unfortunate incidents. Both of them go to convince their husband of the guilt of the third wife.
The husband kills the third wife.
However, Ogunmola, the Basorun, sends for the husband. The husband is insistent that it is nobody’s business his killing his own wife.
At last, Arikuyeri is forced to Ogunmola’s court. The court itself has the chiefs as panelists.
The two remaining wives are also invited. At last it is discovered that that dead wife is not guilty.
When it becomes apparent that Arikuyeri is guilty of murdering his wife, he arranges to bribe his way through. He is lucky with the chiefs. They argue his case convincingly.
But Basorun Ogunmola smells a rat. The people sent by Arikuyeri to bribe his way through are arrested. The chiefs too get accused of receiving bribes. They discover this because Ogunmola himself is unbribable.
One astounding thing is the level of penalty. The penalty of the chiefs is much greater than what would have accrued to them as bribes. All the middlemen are sold into slavery.
The wife that is found guilty is sentenced to death while the other one is set free.
Arikuyeri himself is sentenced to death. However, he begs that he should be honoured with the death of a warrior. The plan is that soldiers will go and lay a siege on his house and kill him, his wife and children. The soldiers are to burn his property thereafter.
But Arikuyeri, has his own plan. When it gets to the time, he is nowhere to be found.
He has escaped. That is the source of the name, Arikuyeri.
If people found guilty of corrupt had been having to pay more than they allegedly stole, maybe this country would be much better.
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