Crisis of Existential Self-Apprehension in Esiaba Irobi’s Nwokedi

This paper interrogates crisis of existential self-apprehension in Esiaba Irobi’s Nwokedi. Consequently, it explores a possible nexus between the playwright’s existential experiences and the framing of his dramaturgy, particularly as it is mirrored in the violent dispositions of Nwokedi, the central character in the eponymous play and his Ekumeku militia group. The papers relies on existential revolt, a key concept in existentialist discourse that rejects all forms of limitations against individuals, especially in a world that tramples on the rights of others to a meaningful existence. The analysis is carried out at three interconnected levels. The first level examines how Irobi’s existential anxiety (apprehension) is projected into the text through the dramatic characters he creates. The second level investigates the extent to which the pursuit of the characters ‘existential cravings predisposes them to different courses of actions and counteractions, leading to dramatic tensions that inevitably escalate into full-blown conflicts/crises at different levels with the others. The third explores the probable consequences of such actions and counteractions, not just on the dramatic characters individually, but also on their communal existence. The study discovers that most of the violent actions perpetrated by the characters in the text are a direct product of the playwright’s sense of anguish and disillusionment about the socio-political structure of the post-colonial Nigerian state which has consigned the majority into a mode of helplessness, dehumanisation and hopelessness, in which they have no other option than to revolt.