Jude Idada, the winner of the 2013 Association of Nigerian Author (ANA)’s Prize for Drama for his play, Oduduwa, King of the Edos, has said that everything known about Oduduwa “is firmly based on oral myths” that cannot be verified.
“All we know about Oduduwa, be it from the Yoruba origin accounts or the Edo banishment accounts, is firmly based on oral myths that cannot be anthropologically, archeologically or scientifically verified; hence his existence is more in the heart than it is in the brain,” the award-winning screenwriter, author and playwright said.
Oduduwa, King of the Edos has been shortlisted in this year’s edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited.
According to the Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State, the inspiration for Oduduwa, King of the Edos came from reading the memoirs of the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa.
“In reading that book and witnessing the harsh criticisms that followed it from various quarters, I found myself pondering the reasons for the variance of opinion or belief as to the identity of Oduduwa. And then I found myself asking the ‘what if’ questions, why do they believe what they believe, and what are the comparative belief systems of the opposing section,” he said.
Idada, who currently resides in Toronto (Canada) and Lagos (Nigeria), explained that, gradually, a pattern started to form explanations for the divergent beliefs.
To put together the play that is a fictionalised history based in part on the aforementioned memoir, Idada said he embarked on painstaking research whereupon he found things he strongly believed were worth sharing. Hence the play emerged from compelling dramatic account of the research presented in a language that does not just inform but also entertains.
Idada, also a literary critic, said that in writing the play, there is also a greater goal of securing peace, tolerance and most importantly love between the two peoples (Yoruba and Edo).
The playwright, who has worked extensively in the film and theatre as a writer, actor, director and producer, while referring to the cover design that shows Oduduwa’s back, agrees that this lends to his mythical, mysterious and unverifiable nature.
“So also is the turning of his back on the delegation from Igodomigodo in the play, he continually shields his true identity from everyone, which includes the readers, and when one extrapolates, it symbolises the fact that all we know about Oduduwa, be it from the Yoruba origin accounts or the Edo banishment accounts is firmly based on oral myths that cannot be anthropologically, archeologically or scientifically verified…,” he stated.
The winner of the best screenplay award at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) for the multi-award-winning film, The Tenant, said he dedicated Oduduwa, King of the Edos to culture because of his desire to shed light on the contextual nature of culture and how it is shaped by the breadth of knowledge of a certain people at a certain time.
To a large extent, he explained, they are antonyms of reason and logic, because they exist in the context of time and the knowledge base that exists at that particular time. And since knowledge has geometrically increased, and those things that have informed the cultural belief and practices of people over the ages can now be better explained, it makes good sense that those beliefs need to be revised or in some cases discounted as a whole.
For Idada, what we need to do is sit together and discuss the merits and demerits of every new belief system, since it is speaking with respect and love that allows for the adoption of the good and discarding of the bad. Indeed, all men desire to have an easier and happier life, and will do that which is necessary to make that happen.
Idada has also won the Goethe-Institut Afrika Projekt and was a finalist in the New Directions Filmmakers of the Future project by MNET. He was also selected as one of the screenwriters for the Toronto International Film Festival’s ADAPT THIS! Project and the Afrinolly/Ford Foundation Cinema for Change Writers Workshop.
He writes poetry and prose as well.