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Tough Man treats the theme of patriotism, integrity, honesty, ethics and selflessness, probity, and responsible leadership in the Igala Kingdom. In this play, the truth about the past is being made to guide ethical conduct in the present and in the future. The playwright uses the mystery of past historical personalities like Inikpi, Ame, and Achema to express and promote the theme of ethical and patriotic goals, probity, integrity, and responsible leadership as a way of dealing with the political and leadership experiences of today towards reconstructing a better future in Igala Kingdom (Nigeria). To the core, the play dramatizes the Alapaic beliefs, personified in Achema, an Igala patriot and selfless leader who demonstrated purposeful and people-orientated leadership by living and laying down his life in service of his people.
As the play proceeds, an
auto crash takes place and plucks down Steven Achema in his prime in Efile,
the land of the living, from where he transcended to Efojegwu, the land of the
dead to meet other beloved patriots and descendants of Igala land. In Efojegwu,
Achema is accosted by Inikpi and Ame who lift him up to his feet and offer a
seat among them. These three beloved descendants of the Igala people engage
themselves in a discourse on purposeful leadership and good followership in the Igala Kingdom. As the drama unfolds, Inikpi, Ame and Achema agree to take a
look down and watch the activities of characters in Efile, the Land of the
Living. From the echoes of reality in Efile, the land of the living, Inikpi,
Ame, and Achema are stunned and bewildered as demonstrated by the sighs,
shaking of heads, heads resting on the palms and similar postures. Inikpi, Ame
and Achema agree that the future of the Igala Kingdom and the people is indistinct.
Achema provides reasons for the ugly state of affairs in Efile; the land of the
living.
Achema: People who have no regard for selfless service and committed leadership can only move without direction and focus.
Inikpi: Oh, the great Igala kingdom, what has become of your greatness?
Achema: The blood of the souls, willingly shed or innocently cut short, has blurred our people’s vision.
Inikpi believes that the way
out lies in the institutionalization of selflessness, purposeful and efficient
leaders who will spearhead the duty of moving people from submissiveness to
active movement and progress similarly. They concur that the present set of
political leadership cannot move the Igala kingdom forward because they are aliens,
not people who have been living among the people so they cannot lead the people
to any meaningful and purposeful developments. This is captured accurately by
the Citizens:
Citizen II: All
these contestants who are based in the comfort of their homes in Sokoto, Kano,
Kaduna, or Lagos can never, I Say again, can never feel the way we do and lead
us as we deserve Citizen I: We must always look for alternatives when the
appropriate person is absent
Citizen II: I
doubt if that alternative will come with ease. All these self-proclaimed
leaders who are aspiring to lead us do not know us. They do not understand our
problem. They come to Igalaland as aliens, sometimes with all they would need
for the brief period they spend with us before they pre-maturely rush back to
their homes in Jos, Lagos, Kaduna, and even Abuja. Fake leaders and unschooled
people in Alapaic philosophy of selfless services to the people (Idegu, 62-63)
This is however correct with
the current menace of our leaders who have lived all their lives in the
diasporas coming to context with those who have been working in the interest of
their people. They came from nowhere and hijacked the positions of authority
perhaps with the influence of their money and positions.
