In Quest of Social Justice: 58 Politics & Women’s Participation in Irene Isoken Salami’s More Than Dancing

Summary

Nona Odaro, presidential candidate of United People’s Liberation Party (UPLP) in Irene Salami’s 2003 play More than Dancing (MTD) summarizes the problem the author tackles in this play. She states:

The political playing field is uneven and not conducive to women’s participation. Women who enter politics find the political, cultural and social environment often unfriendly and even hostile to them. The low level of women’s representation in the decision making arm of the government is a violation of their fundamental democratic rights and as such of their basic human rights…. (87)

The play opens with Madam Bisi Adigun, women’s leader UPLP, angry and protesting that women are dancing to entertain party members at a convention. In agitation, she stops the dancing women, ‘Enough of the dancing! Enough is enough!! Year in, year out, primaries come and party elections go, all we do is dance. Is dancing all we can do? Is that all we are meant for?’ (1). She calls their attention to the fact that the party hierarchy is dominated by men, safeguarded by men and that all the worthwhile positions – chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, secretary, financial secretary, welfare officers, members of the board of trustees, public relations officers and so on are occupied by men. The only things women do in political parties are dance, feed the men and vote for them for pathetic rewards such as bags of rice, salt and clothes. Mabel Evwierhoma, critic and literary writer, confirms the situation Salami portrays:

Erstwhile political parties are structured in such a way that women were seen and heard when dancing troupes were needed to entertain party faithful or they were to be fed. At other times, oblivion welcomed them in the women’s wing where they had no influence over the goings on in the party mainstream’ (34).

Contextual and in-text evidence illustrate a long-standing history of gender-based inequality in politics and public governance. Thus, Salami resourcefully employs historification – the use of material drawn from history and periods in the past – to show that the norm of excluding women and marginalizing them in political processes is an area of social injustice which women have battled for generations.