AFRICAN DRAMA
FEMI OSOFISAN: Women of Owu
Comment on the agreement between Anlugbua and Lawumi to punish the allied forces
Explanation
The Allied Forces have sacked the city of Owu, and the ancestral deity, Anlugbua, looks upon the destruction, dejected. He is met by his mother — Lawumi. From their conversation, it seems that the war is the result of the intervention of the gods in the affairs of men even though the contribution of mortals cannot be ignored. It is Lawumi’s decree that Owu should be punished through its sacking by the Allied Forces for Owu’s arrogance towards the ancestral home, ile-Ife. Like the Owu people, the Allied Forces desecrate the holy places and set fire to the shrine of Lawumi. For this they must be made to pay.
Lawumi is particularly angry because the Allied Forces have not only killed her worshippers but also chased Owu people running to her shrine for refuge and massacred them there. They have even captured the princess Orisaye, who is the vestal votary of Obatala. Lawumi’s anger finds satisfaction in the help she expects from other deitieswho will confound the return journey of the Allied Forces. She avers that the gods are not the plaything of mortals. It seems certain that, being angry because his shrine has not been spared, Ogun, the god of war, will enter the fray. Anlugbua agrees to join.
The agreement that mother and son makes suggests that mortals are mere pawns in the game of chess that the gods play. At every stage of the conflict, it seems that the gods are the initiators of the animosity that leads to renewed aggression in the fight between mortal and his fellow mortal.
The gods seem interested in the daily conduct of mortals; they will cause mortals to fight other mortals to punish their erring colleagues. However, these gods do not control the temper of the warriors or the tempo of the war. In the end, the favourite side in the reprisal game exceeds the mandate to punish and the extent of punishment. Then it must pay for its excesses. The gods are whimsical and capricious.