Hybridization of Metaphysics , Collective Unconsciousness and History in Two Nigerian Plays

Corpus of literary critical engagement globally, tends to explore the interplay and nexus between literature and other disciplines in both science and humanistic studies in order to showcase the complementation and indispensability of various fields or disciplines for the expansion of knowledge and for the advancement and survival of human society. Through the investigation of elements of metaphysics, unconsciousness and history in Ahmed Yerima’s Tafida and Mua’dhin’s Call in this study, indispensability and comparativeness of literary engagement are established in order to address the growth and survival of human society through rejuvenation of history. Patterns of metaphysical elements and dream are examined for critical and textual analyses. Psychoanalysis serves as the theoretical framework that undergirds the discussion and findings. It is discovered that the metaphysical elements and dreams serve as signifiers of characters’ traumatic behavior and revealer of their naïve approach of handling things. They also serve as instrument of flashback to the physical and psychological conflicts in the texts. The social, political and economic imbroglios that permeate Nigerian atmosphere are depicted through the artistic presentation of human psyches and unconscious motives. The paper succinctly concludes that remarkable happenings of the past (history) should be dramaturgically engaged by playwrights that have strong affinity to history, and history must not be ignored because it serves as a pivot to unfold possible solutions to contemporary pressing issues and crises. The mix of metaphysics, collective unconsciousness and history therefore, is a quintessential dramatic talent exhibited by Ahmed Yerima in his quest to unravel the prevailing crisis of governance in his society. Keywords— Metaphysics, Collective unconsciousness, Historical plays, Governance.


INTRODUCTION
The fusion of metaphysics, collective unconsciousness (psychology), history and drama is the central focus of this study in order to bring to the glare the complementation and interrelatedness of humanistic studies in the quest for the expansion of the frontier of knowledge and to enhance the comparativeness of literature studies.Paul Masters (2017) posits that the word metaphysics has become a description of many fields of interest ranging from philosophy, religion, mysticism dreams, transcendentalism, life after death to reincarnation.He sees metaphysics as a spiritual philosophy or way of life with an exploration of reality in the idealistic sense.In a more absolute sense, metaphysics deals with issues that transcend human and physical understanding with more emphasis to the otherworld (Bergson, 2012).Collective unconsciousness is a Jungian perception of multitudinous human thoughts, memories, psyches and motivations (Jung, 2004).History will be seen as actual and remarkable happenings of the past that linger to the present and future (Fadeiye, 2010), while drama is the performance of actions for the appreciation of the audience (Oripeloye, 2017).The centrality of the fusion of these disciplines is to showcase the rationality why historical dramatist reconstructs and rejuvenates history through the use of metaphysical characters and setting by paying particular attention to the unconscious states of the characters' minds.Ahmed Yerima's Tafida and Mu'adhin's Call shall be the primary texts and data; they will be subjected to critical textual analysis.The study will draw inspirations from psychoanalysis especially Carl Jung's model of dream theory as the theoretical framework.The essence of psychoanalysis is to investigate and highlight the metaphysical elements, characters' unconscious motives and patterns in the texts and to undergird the analysis of the study.
Tafida is a dramatic piece written on the life of Late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, one of Nigeria's past heroes who died as a victim of human and political intrigues as well as inordinate ambition of the people he loved, trained and nurtured professionally.He died partly fulfilled and partly unfulfilled.He was partly fulfilled because he died as a retired General and former Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army.But his presidential hope and ambition were shattered by his close associates, lovers, admirers and those he trained to be soldiers.The play is a historical re-enactment that depicts the political and power struggles of the Nigerian military era.It shows the pangs, pains and regrets of the Nigerian civil war in which the protagonist is a principal actor or participant and the unpleasant transition to civil rule from the leadership of Ibrahim Babagida to that of Late Sanni Abacha.As a historical play, it is written in a memorial manner with lofty dialogue between Tafida (Shehu Musa Yar'Adua) and his father, Mutawalli, Alhaji Musa Yar'Adua.The play takes its title from the chieftaincy title of the protagonist who was the Tafida of Katsina.This is a play that takes another dimension in structure.The author comments that he uses metaphysical style.His explanations for its presentation in metaphysical style are two.On the one hand, the two characters in the play are both late historical personalities in Nigeria, that is , Mutawalli, the biological father of Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Late Umaru Yar'Adua, the former Nigerian President and Tafida (Shehu Musa Yar'Adua.On the other hand, the issues raised in this play are facts, with the real characters involved either dead or still alive (Tafida, 9).Yerima, in this play, hybridises history and drama with the employment of the collective unconsciousness of human mind and historical realities that characterise the life of the protagonist.This makes the protagonist to be an excellent historical hero and also an excellent dramatic hero.The setting of the play reveals a lot about Yerima's artistic talent and dramaturgy.The setting is a supernatural abode where two characters met.Their actions can be termed actions in the absence of external stimuli.However, they seem to have qualities of real perception because they are vivid, substantial and have existed at a particular time in the conscious state.This new dimension in historical and biographical play has a similitude of mythical drama, with mythical characters that perform actions that are superhuman but instructive.The intention of the playwright in adopting metaphysical style lies in the fact that he wants the audience to see this dramatic hero as a victim of human acrimony and intrigues, which make the protagonist not to be fully celebrated while living.He also adopts the strategy to revere his hero for his earthly deeds and contribution so that the living can learn, especially the ruling class, that they will give an account of their stewardship one day in the other world.Grassie William (1998) sees the metaphysical style as writing "a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture by explaining aspect of the natural world and delineating the psychological and social practices and ideals of society (3).The thematic inclination of this play is aligned with Grassie's view.The author redefines the fundamental and cultural aspect of Nigerian politics to sift out the psychological effects of what is permissible on the political terrain on which his fictional hero, Tafida, plays.The synopsis of the play reveals the metaphysical meeting of a son and a father.The father tries to bring to the unconscious mind of the son his historical deeds and faults when the son is alive.He (father) reveals to him his greatness and reasons for his untimely dead.In Tafida's response to his father, Mutawalli, he tells the audience the intrigues, betrayal, inordinate ambitions and other atrocities that saturate Nigerian political atmosphere and people.Our focus, is not on the accuracy of the biography of Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and history but on the stylistic element and technique the playwright puts in place.From the author's note, it is vivid that Yerima uses metaphysical style and patterns of dream to reconstruct history.The use of metaphysics involves the use of super sensual realm or a phenomenon that transcends the physical world.Hallucination is a pattern of dreams that equally deals with unconscious memories of the mind.It is a projection of the psychic context of human mind that has various effects on the actual life and deeds of the person that is suffering from hallucination.William Harris (2009:17) sees hallucination as a perception in the absence of a stimulus.According to Harris, hallucinations are perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli, and they have qualities of real perception in that they are vivid , substantial, and located in external objective space.The remarkable difference between hallucination and other patterns of dream is that it has little effect on the thought of the hallucinated person, unlike nightmare and daydream that help in higher measure to integrate the thought of the dreamer.However, in a simpler sense, hallucination is something that is seen or heard when it is not really there.Therefore, the mental images seen and voices heard may not have any semblance with real activities, but they are registered in the mind and at the particular time when the hallucinations occur, and they are capable of controlling the activities of the person involved in it.The hallucinating actions and inaction are therefore not lucid and less effective.The play artistically begins with the exposition of two dead characters whose spirits are invoked to become living characters, Mutawalli and Tafida, father and son respectively.Tafida suddenly begins to perceive some clumsy voices and he is fascinated to these voices until he becomes confused and numbed to his present state and environment …., but this ear, the right one, I hear a voice, an inner one saying come to me.come, son, come and be with me (As if in a trance ).A little glow of light, first as a twinkle, then a strong flicker, then a ray ….A strong ray….A prick of a needle….. and eyes began to close.
(pause) but the voice grew stronger and stronger, until my eyes open….And I saw you.(Pause) Baba… it all comes to me now.Are you… but no, you cant be … but you must be an …are you an Angel?(Tafida, 12) His father's reply to his question shows the level of hallucination that has taken place in the life of Tafida who is already in a world that is devoid of external or, better put, earthly stimuli.His father replies thus: No! I am only a flicker … a speck of the known… a light to help you to next stage (Tafida, 12).Yerima, has used the psychic context of the character to develop the characters and the plot structure.This is so because he has presented Mutawalli here with a god-like character who is more knowledgeable and intelligent than human being.Thus, Tafida sees him as a mythical personality that is endowed with supernatural power to hold the key to his final destination (going to Aljena).Having realised who Mutawalli is in the play, the protagonist begins to depend on him for the rest of his actions.At this very point, the protagonist becomes inactive in his own mind and he sees or feels the need of a helper or guardian in person of Mutawalli to realise his dream, which is to be in Aljena.This is the reason why he tells Mutawalli: then hold my hand, father hold firm (12).Interestingly, Yerima has introduced, artistically, an unconscious mind who yearns and hungers for the uncertainty.His emotional desires and aspirations propel him to be insensitive to the patent and salient truth, that is, only God that determines who makes heaven, not even angels.
Yet, in his wandering mind, Tafida entreats Mutawalli to revisit his pas t life when he was on the earth to ascertain his next stage of transition, whether to hell or Aljena, "then answer me, son.Did you believe in Allah with all your heart while on earth?" (13).As Campell (1991: 520) notes that "the essence of metaphysical or mythical style in drama or literature in general is to support the current social order, integrate the individual organically with his group".From Campbell's view, Yerima employs the metaphysical style through the psychological efforts of Tafida to revisit the current social order of Tafida's society.By this, the antecedent accounts of the lifestyle of Tafida succinctly become the plot structure of the play.Another reason for this, according to Campbell's (1991) view is that it is to initiate the individual into the order of reality of his own psyche, guiding him toward his own spiritual enrichment and realisation" (5).
From the hallucination and quest to go to Aljena by Tafida, the reality of his present psyche is to achieve his spiritual desire.It will be pertinent to observe thoughtfully the past deeds and actions or inactions of the protagonist.It is discovered that Tafida is a godly man who fears God, but he is betrayed by the people he calls friends.His father (Mutawalli) recalls: That was the day I became really scared and worried about you.You were young.Thirty-eight, and I think, and you had lived a full life.What were you going to do with the rest of your adult life, I asked.You are too restless to be spiritually strong.And besides you had made too many friends.Amongst them were also enemies.That was why I insisted we prayed together before leaving my room that day… remember son? (19) In Late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua's life, this is the day he celebrated his retirement from active military life as General and former Chief of Army staff in 1979.His father, according to the play, is overwhelmed with the crowd that celebrated with his son.Philosophically, he believes that not all of them are his friends¸ some are enemies.Yerima thus lays bare the real issue of human existence in any society, the question of who are friends or enemies.There is employment of dramatic irony in this play.The protagonist and hero never sees his people, his admirers and party men as enemies but Muwatalli and audience know that some traitors are among the mammoth crowd.In real life, the people Tafida (Sheu Musa Yar'Adua) trains, trusts and relates with like Ibrahim Babangida and Sanni Abacha ask him to join the presidential race in early 1990.The same people betrayed him and eventually murdered him.After Sheu Musa Yaradua had won the SDP presidential ticket, Ibrahim Babangida cancelled the primary election and later on General Sanni Abacha put him in prison where he mets his mysterious death.Sheu Musa Yar'Adua, as Tafida, a dramatic character, laments over this ugly scenario: Baba, after the ban, and I lost everything, even though I had clearly won the election.I sat down and regrouped.I counted my losses.My friend for reasons best known to him did not want me as president, even after he had given me his word, that he would hand over to an elected president (Tafida, 25).The ensuing social disorder and political intrigues are highlighted here and invariably, these are the areas where who friends and enemies are to be measured philosophically.The playwright has vividly portrayed the thematic message of the play.The fusion of history and drama in this manner validates Adesina's (2012) view which sees as the total "embodiment of humanistic studies that piercingly look in to the global and contemporary spread of ideas and culture…interpenetration of values and a host of others" (4).Therefore, Yerima has piercingly visited the fault lines in the political history of Nigeria through the unconscious psyche of his dramatic character, Tafida.Apart from the evil deed of Ibrahim Babangida who cancelled Tafida's electoral victory, Tafida unconsciously tells his father the wickedness and sadism of Late Sanni Abacha: But, Baba, sadly, we dug our own graves, my friends was an angel compared to the Eblis who came after him.Supreme ruler he wanted to be, eternal ruler he wanted to be but he forgot that only God owns permanence (26) During this stage of hallucination, as part of the collective unconscious mind, the playwright is able to use the unconscious as instrument of history to unfold different stages or eras of historical and socio political developments of Nigeria.Hence, the author has interrogated, reinvigorated and rejuvenated history in drama elaborately and artistically, to show the distinction between reality and illusion.Moreover, he has used the mind of his dramatic hero through hallucination to personalise the social events, political realities and the disenchantment of the entire society with his fictional hero, Tafida.

Patterns of the Unconscious in Mu'adhin's Call
This is another fascinating drama where the author makes a paradigmatic use of the patterns of the unconscious to expose human intrigues and callous obsession with power and fame.The playwright justifies his eclecticism in the fusion of history, the unconscious and drama in the play to show the distinction that exists between human collective unconsciousness, wakeful consciousness and societal realities.The play, contextually, is woven around the circumstance and nature of the actual sickness and death of former Nigerian leader, late President Umaru Yar'adua in 2010.The major thematic preoccupation of the play is the unfortunate growth of deception and uncontrollable desire for affluence, fame and power that are prevalent in contemporary Africa especially Nigeria.The playwright registers his unhappiness with the Nigerian society because the society is impervious to lessons that are inheren t in history.In the author's note, he lamentably exclaims, "…too strange that I wondered how much of his own history man learns from ….why we refuse to learn even when the truth stares us straight in the face" (5).Thus, the events and actions in the play are passionate appeal to human beings to learn from the past, to learn from the good ideals that are interred in the past and stop embracing illusions, as the author calls the play a "wholesome parody of illusion" (5).The play reveals an Emir who marries a queen out of genuine love but the queen accedes to the offer of marriage because of the affluence, honour, fame and dignity that are attached to the position.Having become the queen, she becomes so obsessive with power that she steps on many toes to ensure the continuity of her esteemed influence in the palace.She callously poisons the king using a charm that will make him sick and die slowly without any suspicion of her wickedness.She strategises to make her only son the successor of his father.It is at this point that her wicked and clever intrigues fail to succeed.Fate does not allow her to have the seal of the Emir in spite of the high level of deterioration in the king's health.She eventually commits suicide when she realises the hollowness and futility in the whole exercise.Her sudden death symbolically restores peace and tranquillity to her society.In Mu'adhins Call, Yerima aesthetically portrays human psychic context as the oscillating pendulum that controls human destiny in the play.The images or symbolic creations in the various patterns of the collective memories in the characters' unconscious minds are artistically presented in the play to unfold the events in their wakefulness and comment socio-political happenings around them.The playwright begins the eruptive manifestations of the psychic context through hallucination that occurs to the Emir.He sees strange objects and voices that represent his ancestors, heralding to him to come home, to transit from the devilish world and live peacefully in the other world because he cannot survive the intrigues and wickedness of man.The hallucination also reveals that the only human being to be trusted is the dead one.As a satire, the hallucination ridicules all human deeds and actions which are temporary.It bemoans the restlessness of man after the worldly things.The Emir is so anxious about the sudden change in his health and also about the nefarious activities of Asmau, the queen, and her son.In the midst of socio-political and familial anxieties, he has a hallucination: There was a flicker….adry wind….hugeflies perching on my face.
Where  (11)(12).From this hallucination, the Emir knows that his death is imminent and this is why he disregards the promises of the medicine men which he calls "lies in Allah name" (13).He sees the peace and tranquillity that are elusive in his personal life and world around him in the hallucination.Thus, his actions now are geared towards how to participate in the images and scenes in his hallucination.Artistically, the playwright employs hallucination to reveal the character and characterisation of the Emir as somebody that has been unjustly treated by people he has trusted, like the Queen.For him to see his late trusted horseman handing him the ropes of a horse to ride home in the hallucination makes him happy and fulfilled psychologically, as against the prevailing ill health and situation in the palace.Another aesthetic use of the hallucination is that it arouses curiosity in the minds of the audience in attempting to know why the Emir is in serious health hazard.In this wise, the hallucination acts as part of the plot elements.As Chen E and Berrios G. E. (1996:60) posit that hallucinations are benevolent, telling the hallucinated being good things about himself or herself, the hallucination has revealed the fact that the Emir is unjustly treated through disloyalty and betrayal from the people he trusted.This view of Chen and Berrios comes to stay in the play because the king suffers from human deceit and intrigues.His wife, Asmau, puts poison in his drink and the effect is that the king will die slowly and unconsciously.Meanwhile, during his sick period the queen mischievously carries out her treacherous plot to make her only son the successor of the king when eventually he dies.Thus, the hallucination exposes the conflict in the plot structure and also describes and exposes the characters of the protagonists, the hero and the heroine.Another instance of hallucination in the play reveals the high density of human acrimony; intrigue and uncontrollable obsession with power.Asmau, the queen, puts charm in Dogari's drink to make him unconscious in order to get a valuable information from him.She wants to get the Emir's seal, which she will manipulate to facilitate her son's succession.The hidden truth is revealed through Dogari's hallucination.Another embrace to kill the pain?(40-41) From the hallucinating revelation from Dogari, the tension in the character of Asmau is reduced because the reality has dawned on her that her mischief is all futile.Dogari is neither in possession of the seal nor is the Queen's son mentioned as the successor to the throne.Artistically, Dogari's hallucination produces the climax of the plot structure.The futility of Asmau's disloyalty to her husband and her mischievous imposture of Dogari as one of the trusted friends or palace servants of the Emir whereas he is one of the mercenaries of Asmau.This results in a sudden twist that brings resolution to the inner or psychological conflict and physical struggles of the Queen.Although, this is not a natural hallucination as it is a drug-induced hallucination, the dramatic purpose is still the same: to engender complexity and complication of the plot, to comment and describe the characters of Dogari and Asmau and to reveal the thematic message of the play and the futility and vanity in earthly aspirations.In addition to hallucination, the playwright employs lucid dream.Lucid dream is one of the patterns of collective memories of unconscious mind.Watanabe (2003) defines lucid dream as the conscious perception of one's state while dreaming.In this state, the dreamer may often have some degree of control over his or her own actions within the dream or even the characters and the environment of the dream (26).Watanabe's emphasis is on the conscious perception of controlling the actions in the course of dreaming.Anthony Peake (2012) supports Watanabe's view of lucid dream by expanding the meaning beyond dreaming.Peake sees lucid dream as the psychological or emotional feeling or tendency that reveals the actual happenings or actions or solutions to a particular unsavoury event or environment and situation without being told by a seer or diviner consciously or unconsciously.(77).Considering the concepts above, Yerima penetrates into the heart of Emir with lucid dreams where he consciously sees the real causes of the turbulence in his life, palace and the entire kingdom without the consultation of a seer or diviner.In the play, the Emir has a thorough rumination in his mind and he comes out with the real treacherous conflicts and the cause of the unsavoury things in the palace and the entire kingdom.The Emir says: Like my grandmother used to say, the days come, so we must follow and live them.On this deathbed, I found out many things….. Poisoned brew of those I call advisers and friends.Sad tales of those whose true colour had been deliberately blurred to me by those I called my eyes.Whose innocent names had been mentioned in concocted tales of deceit.(16-17) It becomes lucid to the Emir all the deceits and knots of disloyalty in the play.This lucid dream accounts for his discreet actions of keeping the palace's scroll where he writes the name of his successor safe and intact in spite of the worsened state of his health.Yerima, through lucid dream, creates two strong dramatic effects.He creates dramatic irony because his only listener, Dogari, is one of the "poisoned brew of those I call advisers and friends".Dogari's thought is that Emir sees him as a true palace security guard, which he (Dogari) feigns to be.This also accounts for the careful manner and approach the Emir displays to ensure that the scroll is not missing despite his decrepit health orchestrated by the poison of slow death from the Queen.The second effect of the lucid dream is that it mocks the character of Dogari as a charade, and it extols the virtue of wisdom in the character of the Emir.Thus, this particular lucid dream integrates the plot and develops the characters' roles.Yerima's use of human psyche as a technique in the play may be explained as seeing man as the architect of his fortune and vice-versa.And that, if man can reflect well, all the dark or grey areas in man's endeavour will receive the light of the day.Philosophically, a man must be equal to whatever comes his way and if he does not, he should check himself intrinsically.The next pattern of dream motif in the play provides a similitude to the philos ophical view above.The playwright employs wishful thinking to create and develop his fictional characters that have inordinate ambitions.Wishful thinking is a strong psychological or emotional feeling of getting what seems very difficult or unlikely to achieve.It is a psychological and neurotic crave for pleasure or things that are not easy to come by.The playwright decorates the mind of the Queen, more often than not, in the play with psychological and physical apprehension as a result of her wishful thinking.The essence of this is to lubricate the wheel and heighten the speed of the plot structure of the play and to provide scrutinising insights to the characterisation of the heroine as a character with heavy doses of obsession with power and affluence.It will be imperative to examine her wishful thinking as part of the dramatic techniques of the play.The dialogue between Zango, the Emir's traditional doctor and the Queen attests to her wishful thinking.The "dying slowly" poison is known to the Queen and Tassala alone.Therefore, Zango's thought is that the Emir's sickness is natural.His duty as the palace doctor is to administer a drug that will kill the Emir to avoid the ridicule that his incurable health predicament may portend.Surprisingly, the Queen's nefarious deed and obsessive ambition are yet to come to reality.Hence, her encounter with Zango overtly reveals her psychic context to the whole scenario: ZANGO Let him go, my queen.All these are cries and worries of men who let ambition fire their zeal to live and constantly involve themselves in games of persuasion to change their own destiny.Unless there is another specific task you will have him carry out, let me apply the perfect cure of our forefathers.(30) From this conversation, the over-ambitious preoccupation of Asmau, the queen, is exposed.Similarly exposed is her disloyalty and betrayal of her husband.Artistically, the playwright annexes the reflections in her mind with the conflicting realities in the play.The conflicting issues or realities now are how the king will die and the question of successor.When the news that the Whiteman and the D.O are planning to dethrone the Emir because of health condition and to install, his arch rival Limam, she becomes resolute and plans to decisively make her wishful thinking become wishful fulfilment: By Allah, Tassala, my husband must not be dethroned.Oh the thought of it makes me shiver.If dethroned, it shall seal the dreams of the house of Umar which includes my sons to sit on the throne of their fore-fathers forever.They will be doomed.(Pause.In a whisper,) if this is what Zango meant by the dust settling and covering my husband's name.Fuu….fuu….I blow the dust to eternity.On the faces of the enemies.Never, Tassala.Never! (36) From the analysis of the state of the Queen's mind, it is crystal clear that wishful thinking is the bane of all her actions in the play.If she had not been beclouded by wishful thinking the tragic tension and explosion in the play would have been averted.As a historical satire, the play preaches contentment because human destiny or fate is beyond human and can only be controlled by divine being not by man.Moreover, there is an aesthetic of nightmare in the play.The nightmare in Mu'adhin's Call performs exactly the function of psychotherapy.Hartmann (1995:21) opines that dream, especially nightmare or bad dream, allows the brain to gain control over emotions resulting from distressing experiences and it allows the dreamer to integrate thought that will prevent the manifestation of the nightmare".Dogari has a nightmare in the play and, as such, he makes up his mind not to do anything that may provoke or activate the frightening images and messages in his nightmare to happen to him in his conscious mind.As a result of his nightmare, he has misgivings about the execution of Asmau's assignment of stealing the scroll that contains the name of Emir's successor when he will finally die.It is the nightmare that makes Dogari, the dreamer, to renege on his connivance with Asmau in the plot to ensure the ascension of Malik, the queen's son to the throne.The symbolic creations in the nightmare are so cumbersome and overwhelming that the fear of their manifestation should be prevented by a reasonable dreamer that dreams about them.This can be seen in the dream (nightmare): Of late, bad frightful dreams haunt me.The type the dead inhabit.My last dream saw me chased through dark alleys and bush paths by a whole village of dead people.Why would a devoted believer dream such a punishing dream?I asked myself…..But then again death and sleep are identical twins, ….the images it beholds frightens me.(39).
am I? Am I here in world?But it is the voices of my dead relatives that I hear.My late beloved father, who sat on the throne until the angels came for him, and took his spirit to Aljana!Then, my brother, Shehu Datijo, who was denied the throne by fate.Rabiat and Hamidat, my sisters, and my late uncles, Ibraheem and Abbul-Kadir (Almost in a whisper).