Recompense for the resolute review of ‘A Better Tomorrow’, by Michael Olatunbosun  |

The book for today is a play. It discusses the downside of child abuse and the menace of cultism in our higher institutions. The play is titled: “A Better Tomorrow.” And it is written by Sunday Balogun. 

He holds a degree in Educational Management. He currently works in the Personnel Department at the Oyo State Post-Primary School Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM). Balogun’s other works include Early to Dream, The Slow Poison, and No Permanent Enemy.

A Better Tomorrow, published in 2022 by S.O.B. Communications, is his latest work. The play opens with conversation among three secondary school students about the profession of their choice. Debola’s choice is to be an accountant in the future, and her ultimate dream is to be the Minister of Finance of her country someday. On the part of Nelson, he would love to be a medical doctor, an obstetrician by specialisation. For him, an obstetrician saved his mother from death at the point of his birth, and that is enough reason to be an obstetrician in the future – to save the lives of children. 

Bisi wants to be a well-recognised trustworthy politician in the future. Bisi’s ambition is to “change the orientation of people and teach them a dynamic way of playing politics” so that “our nation can have a better tomorrow”.

This Six-Act play discusses in detail the theme of sexual exploitation and sex-for-grades. Bisi seems to face some challenges on the home front and in school. Her sister Mrs Stanley and her husband, with whom she stays, are on her neck to be a better home keeper. But Mr Dan, her mathematics teacher, wants something more. He desires a sexual relationship with her and appears to be attempting blackmail to have his way with her. Mr Dan knows about her sister’s husband, having heard from Bisi herself that Mr Stanley was the one who deflowered her. But hasn’t the damage been done? Bisi is now pregnant and Mr Dan rejects the pregnancy. 

But it turns out that she is not the only prey. Mr Dan is after Debola as well. In the play, Debola alleges that Mr Dan deliberately scored her low in order to use that to bait her into bed. In the ensuing exchange with Debola, Mr Dan boasted that other girls in the school are not that difficult, for they happily give him their bodies in order to pass his mathematics examinations. 

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In the mix is the theme of power play, in which the powerful deploy their power to prey on the weak and vulnerable. At the moment, Mr Stanley is trying to convince Bisi to agree to go for an abortion. He promises to take her to a doctor who will do a tidy job. 

At the same time, Debola is insisting that she would rather take a make-up examination than succumb to Mr Dan’s advances. 

Nelson, her friend, attempts to dissuade her, claiming that the make-up test is tougher. But she stands her ground.

The play, A Better Tomorrow written by Sunday Balogun, plays powerfully on dramatic irony. Mrs Stanley talks glowingly about her husband to Bisi. He pays her school fees, takes care of all things and he is a wonderful caring husband. But we see a man desperately doing everything possible to conceal his other side visible to the reader. He now procures an abortion for Bisi, his sister-in-law but lies to his wife that the doctors treated her for typhoid.

Debola gets rewarded for insisting on due process, but Bisi gets the marching order from her sister’s house after she stops giving Mr Stanley a space between her legs.

The story takes a different shape for all after the departure of Debola to study abroad on scholarship. But things get more complex for Bisi. Even at the university she still struggles with paying her tuition. She decides to do unwholesome things to scale through, including a tangle with Chief Dokun. She also gets into trouble with Rotty and his fellow cult guys because she is campaigning against them in favour of Akindele for the students union election.

The play throws up a number of motifs. One of them is the ugly menace of child abuse, especially involving respected people in the life of young people like teachers and politicians. The play also shows the downside of cultism in our institutions of higher learning. In this play is also the discourse on pervasive corruption everywhere, and especially in the judiciary, which makes it difficult for the innocent to get justice. The unfortunate economic vulnerability which exposes promising young ladies to sexual exploitation and risk of being used for rituals is starkly shown in the play too.

The play shows that dreams can indeed come true if we stay the course, and take a bold stand to surmount the challenges. Everyone gets his or her due justice and recompense. The play potently shows that a better tomorrow awaits those who keep pushing. It is didactic, entertaining and cautioning. 

. Olatunbosun, a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer can be reached via 08023517565 (SMS & WhatsApp only) and [email protected].

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