NIGERIAN DRAMA IN PERFORMANCE AS A PANACEA FOR NATION BUILDING: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

The quantum of social problems that have bedeviled the Nigerian nation is alarming. This ugly scenario poses challenges to all human disciplines. Over the years, artists, playwrights, directors and others have engaged themselves on the crusade of Nation building. It is against this backdrop that this paper has tried to look at some of these social problems through critical analyses of select Nigerian drama. In these dramatic works, prevailing social problems, such as gender marginalization, racial prejudice, political impunities, corruption and class prejudices are dramatized to show their effects on the society. Examples derived from these plays are expected to be adopted to ameliorate current social challenges facing the Nigerian nation. This paper adopts content analyses as a methodology. The research concludes and recommends that Nigerian playwrights and dramatists should continue with the trend of exposing the nations many societal ills for purposes of social criticism and nation building