As part of its celebration of Nigeria at 60 tagged ‘The Future Is Now’, Open Doors Series presents a play, ‘Brittle-ing Diamond’ written by Prof. Ahmed Yerima.
The play is produced by Ayobamidele Aladekomo and directed by Niji Akanni while performance is by the Segun Adefila led youth-focused group, Crown Troupe Of Africa.
According to the organisers, ‘Brittle-ing Diamond’ reflects the sacrifice of the military in Nigeria’s political trajectory, highlighting its role in helping to sustain and consolidate democracy.
“ It was the military that rescued the First Republic from its descent into chaos. But for its intervention at that critical period in history, the entity called Nigeria would have disintegrated, barely five years into its attainment of self-governance from the colonial powers.
“ The Nigerian Army, like the nation it helped to rescue, has had its own plethora of challenges; much of which arose from the nature and structure of the country and the idiosyncrasies of its military personnel. For instance, through its protocol and operations, it helped to stabilize the polity and preserve the unity of the nation while the Nigerian public, in the process experiences the good, the bad and the ugly effects of military rule, especially in those years when trained military personnel became overtly involved in partisan politics, and like politicians, became manipulative of the perceived weaknesses in the system and participated in wasting or mismanaging the resources of the Nation.
However, the military redeemed itself by returning the country to democracy thereby reinstalling our hard-earned independence. And by its continuous sacrifices in the theatre of war, the military has helped to sustain and consolidate democratic governance in the last two decades.
Brittle-ing Diamond puts a mirror in the face of Nigeria as it clocks its 60th year after independence. The play is a re-work of Mirror Cracks by Ahmed Yerima, however the Brittle-Diamond has been refocused to examine the impact and relationship of the Nigeria military with the Nigerian populace. It also takes a critical look at silent issues in the military such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The re-work of this play is done specifically for the 60th celebration of the Nigerian nation and the themes were selected in a series of workshops which involved the producer Ayobamidele Aladekomo and the Executive Producer Teju Kareem.
Prof. Ahmed Yerima is an academician, playwright and Theatre Director. He was former Director General of the Nigerian National Theatre and has previously served as Director of the National Troupe. He is a professor of Theatre and Performing Arts and has been Dean of the College of Humanities, Redeemer’s University since 2013.
Though Yerima writes in different genre of literature, most of his works are historical plays. Prominent among these plays are The Trials of Oba Ovonramwen, Attahiru, AmehOboni the Great, The Angel, The Twist, Uncle Venyil, The Bishop and the Soul, The Wives, The Mirror Cracks, The Lottery Ticket, Kaffir’s Last Game, The Sisters, Mojagbe, Little Drops, Heart of Stone, Yemoja, OrisaIbeji, Otaelo, and Hard Ground.
The overall virtual theatre experience to tell the story of all heroes that have sacrificed their lives to the military and most importantly their civilian families.
Project Nigeria @ 60 is anchored on the strength of five female producers namely Lillian Amah, Project Producer, Dr RazinatTalatu- Muhammed, Associate Producer Adjudication, AyobamideleAladekomo Associate Producer Theatre for Nigeria @60, Haneefat Ikharo Associate Producer Essay: The Future is now and Lynda Amadi Associate Producer Marketing.