Article archive Dama Ninao N°16 #16

The African Diaspora has always sought to reconnect with Africa, find a way home, and build the type of society they dreamt of while leaving the motherland. In Belong, Bola Agbaje, dramatizes the yearning for home and the hideous realities of socio-political life. The protagonist’s struggle to bridge two worlds as a native of Nigeria and an aspiring politician helps set bare the discrepancies between Africa and the Western world. The play also enacts the hindrances of African democracy and development. Through the psychoanalytical perspective, this study analyses how Bola Agbaje dramatizes the call for home and the pitfalls of democratic and developmental advancement. Subdivided into three sections, the study will first look at the dramatization of return to the homeland. Second, it will highlight the encounter with home and the dismaying contrasts and third it will discuss how corruption constitutes a drawback to democracy and development