Subscribe to our Newsletter

YETUNDE: owner of the hair salon

CLAUDIA: a corps member and costumer

AISHA: a costumer

MAMA BOBO: Yetunde’s apprentice

ACCUSED

EDIDIONG: wife of the accused

MEMBER OF THE MOB

THE MOB

WOMEN OF THE SALON

One side of the stage is occupied by a small makeshift hair salon, the wall are adorned with colorful posters of hairdressing styles. The salon is simply furnished 3with a few hairdressing chairs, medium-sized wall mirrors, and basic equipment. A variety of women are seated in the salon chairs, engaging in conversation and having their hair done. There’s a constant hum of chatter and laughter.

At the other end of the stage is a bustling, open-air market, teeming with activity and the colorful array of goods. Facing the market is the salon’s makeshift entrance made of colorful fabrics hanging as a doorway.

[SCENE STARTS]

Suddenly, a man in late 30s rushes from the side of the market toward the hair salon, fear etched on his features. He is closely followed by a mob of angry market men and women, shouting “Thief, Thief, Thief!” The mob soon catch up with him, bringing him into a circle.

The women in the hair salon are immediately drawn to the commotion. They abandon their hair appointments and rush to the makeshift entrance of the salon, craning their necks to get a better view. Their chatter is replaced by hushed whispers and exclamations.

ACCUSED: Please have mercy, I have a child and a wife.

MEMBER OF THE MOB.: You did not know that before you tried to steal from that poor

woman.

MOB: (shouting) Burn him! Burn him!

A member of the mob drags the accused off the stage, the mob following closely behind with tyres and planks.

[SCENE CONTINUES]

The women in the salon watch in shock and horror as the man is dragged away. Slowly, they return to their seats, their faces a mixture of fear and worry.

AISHA.: Kai Aba mana, What will happen to him like this?

YETUNDE.: What happens to thieves like him, they will burn him.

AISHA: That one no good o, I don forget wetin dem dey call am.

CLAUDIA.: Jungle justice?

AISHA: Yes o, Jungle justice, na wetin dem call am be that. It’s only something that

should be found among uncivilized people not in urban areas such as Abuja.

YETUNDE.: Jungle justice or whatever una call am, it’s still justice o.

CLAUDIA.: Ah, Ah madam Yetunde, don’t tell me you are justifying such barbaric act,

do you not have value for human life. Yes, the man is a thief but the appropriate thing

to do is to hand him over to law enforcement officers. And let the law take it due

course.

YETUNDE.: You see ehn Corper, all this one wey you dey talk na English and book,

where was the law when my shop was raided back-to-back last year September? or

when the vigilantes we employed caught two of the raiders and they handed them

over to the police? Did that same law not free them without consequences? Wo it’s

our people who say, everyday is for the thief but one day is for the owner, I do not have

any empathy for thieves o.

CLAUDIA.: I understand where you are coming from Madam Yetunde, but an eye for

eye will only make the world go blind, if we begin to justify jungle justice, then we are

gradually approaching our certain death, for what is anarchy if not death?

YETUNDE.: Wo Corper, fi oyinbo le fun oloyinbo, leave the things they have taught you

in school and let us talk about the reality of things. There is no justice for people like us

in this country except the one we take for ourselves. Is the country not plagued by

anarchy already or why are we acting like there is a working structure in these

hellhole?

CLAUDIA: I know there is a lot that needs to change about our government but we as

citizens must not further drive this country into anarchy.

MAMA BOBO: (dropping her sleeping baby with a customer) Corper Claudia, my oga

get point o, this people are very wicked, and they deserve everything that comes their

way. If only we know what danger we have been saved from because the mob chose

to carry out their justice. This is how most of the hardened criminal plaguing the

country highways started. Na step by step, if jungle justice will make the world a

better place, then I am in support o.

AISHA: What I am just wondering is what pushed him into stealing, he looks like a very

healthy man who can make honest living.

YETUNDE.: He is just another lazy leech; I hope they beat him very well before they

burn him.

CLAUDIA.: Ha Madam Yetunde, is human life that useless in your eyes? If he had been

arrested, the law would have given him a chance at rehabilitation, and he could

become a better member of the society.

YETUNDE: I have no pity for criminals.

AISHA: Me too o but I feel for his wife and children, they are about to lose their

breadwinner.

YETUNDE: I honestly don’t care, most of them are liars anyway. What if he said that

just to get away? He should have thought about them before stealing from innocent

people.

CLAUDIA: You are honestly angry at the wrong people Madam Yetunde, don’t get me

wrong I am not justifying stealing but the only reason why this man is stealing is

because of the economy.

YETUNDE: How do you know that? Is the man your family?

CLAUDIA: No but I know it’s not entirely his fault, Aisha is right, the man looks healthy,

and he could make a living from honest work, but we all know how it is difficult to get

a job these days. And even when you do, the pay is never enough to fund your bills. I

know a first-class graduate who is been paid 10,000 monthly.

MAMA BOBO: That is true o, the government has to really do something about it.

AISHA: Every time government this, government that, We Nigerians act like our

government is the pinnacle of all our problems. The truth is that we do not have a

working ecosystem to meet the demand of our population yet and the only way we

can do that is by creating more companies and ventures but how many Nigerians are

ready to do that, we all just want to eat our piece of the national cake. Walahi, we are

our own problems.

CLAUDIA: To build an ecosystem, we need sponsorship and funding. You say that

most Nigerians just want to eat out of the national cake but that is false, a lot of us are

birds brimming with ideas waiting to take flight. Nigerians are one of the most

innovative humans to exist on planet earth. A lot of the present youth have great ideas

but zero capital to carry them out.

MAMA BOBO: You are very correct Corper shun.

AISHA: And is the government not trying in that regard, we have programs like N-

power, the Young Farmer’s Forum e.t.c.

CLAUDIA: Apart from the fact that those funds are meagre and scarce, we also have

the issue of nepotism. A lot of people who get access to this fund are not the ones

who need them, and the government barely has an accountability system for people

who are recipient of such funds and sponsorship.

YETUNDE.: It still does not excuse stealing sha, that man could have looked for a

construction site to work or something instead of stealing from hardworking

Nigerians who are victims of bad governance like him.

CLAUDIA: I agree, but desperation make people do crazy things, honestly, I think the

mob is directed at the wrong person. If the root of the tree is rotten, definitely the fruit

will be the same. Their anger should be directed at the thieves in white agbada

stealing billions and billions of naira everyday.

YETUNDE: I agree. A revolution must come if our nation would be healed from its

rotten state.

AISHA: Don’t tell me you people think protest is the solution to the country’s….

Aisha’s question is cut short by a piercing cry coming from the market, the women rushed from their chair toward the makeshift entrance. Outside in the market, a half-naked woman is rolling on the floor, her name is Edidong, she is the wife of the accused.

EDIDONG: Eh Abasi Seyefroe! This man has killed me, he told me he was going to

work this morning o! How did end up in the market.

The market women approach her, helping her standup as they console her. The women soon return to their seats in sober reflection.

AISHA: Ehya, such a pity!

YETUNDE: I know the woman; she patronizes my shop sometimes. She once told me

her husband was a taxi driver; how did he end up a thief.

CLAUDIA: See, we are the architect of our misfortune, the victims of our making.

[SCENE ENDS]