Cultural Apartheid and Modernity in Matthew Umukoro's Obi and Clara

Abstract

This essay examines Matthew Umukoro's exploration of cultural apartheid through the osu caste system among Igbo people of Nigeria in the contemporary Nigeria as demonstrated in his play, Obi and Clara, a stage adaptation of Chinua Achebe's prose classic, No Longer At Ease. This is to call people's attention to the societal retrogression of this evil socio-cultural practice, if it is not addressed. The study adopts critical content analysis of Obi and Clara, using Existentialism to argue the connection between the play text and the Nigerian society; probably the lessons presented in the play can go a long way in addressing instances of tribal and ethnic crises that beset the country at present as a multi-tribal and multi-ethnic nation.