OTHER CHARACTERS NOT IN THE FAMILY TREE PICTURE.
ÀKÀNGBÉ: Ọlátidé's friend.
KÍKẸ́LỌMỌ : Akangbe's wife.
ATINÚKẸ́ : Abeni's friend.
OLÓRÍAWO: the king's herbalist.
FÁBÍYÌÍ , AWÓKÚNLÉ: other herbalists in the play.
JAGUN, Ẹ̀Ẹ̀KẸRIN, ALÁSÀ, ọ̀TUN,AJÍRọ́BA, AMÒFIN Mọ́GÀJÍ: chiefs.
KÉBÉ:the king's messenger.
ỌLÁWÙMÍ: Kokumo's friend.
AJÉLABÍ:businessman.
FỌLÁKẸ́ : Otun's wife.
WÚRÀỌLÁ: Jagun's wife.
..............................
THE PLOT
ACT 1
SCENE 1 : Àbẹ̀ní visits her 30-year-old son, Ọlátidé, and advises him
to get married and give her a grandchild.
SCENE 2: When his friend, Àkàngbé (who is married with children at the
same age), later arrives to take him to a beer parlour, he refuses.
SCENE 3: Akangbe goes to the beer parlour alone and drinks so much
that he misbehaves and is arrested but later released.
ACT 2
SCENE 1: Olatide has married Adenrele but their first son
(Ọlákùlẹ́hìn) dies in infancy.
SCENE 2: Three years later, they are yet to have another child.
Olatide vists Awokunle , who says Adenrele will soon get pregnant.
SCENE 3: She has a new baby, whom Abeni names Kòkúmọ́ (" he will not
die again").
SCENE 4: At the modest naming ceremony, no alcohol is served so
Akangbe goes to Ìyá Gbajúmọ̀ ( the beer parlour woman who got him
arrested earlier) after eating his food.
ACT 3
SCENE 1: Kokumo starts living with Abeni at 3 years of age. At 5
years of age, he starts school at Primary 2 because of his performance
at the admission interview.
SCENE 2: Five years later, he is appointed the "Senior Boy" of the
school. That same day, he and his friend Olawumi see a purse
containing 10 000 naira on the road on their way home. Kokumo takes
the money to the police station and the owner turns out to be Olorì (=
Queen) Adébísí. The king decides to sponsor his education to the
university level, have him at the palace and give his parents a house.
Queen Adebisi feels it is too much but the king overrules her
objection.
SCENE 3: She tells Kokumo to wash her children's clothes with his,
among other household chores, and must not report to the king. On the
6th day of his arrival, she tells him to stop wasting electricity by
reading at night. He replies, " Please, Ma, it's because household
chores prevented me from reading in the evening after school hours".
Kábíyèsí (= "the king") overhears them and warns her against
maltreating the boy.
SCENE 4: Queen Adebisi consults a herbalist (Fábíyìí) to kill Kokumo
for outshining her children (though he teaches them at home). Fabiyi
gives her a poison to put in his food and a charm that makes whoever
steps across it mad till death. After serving the children's food, the
king calls Queen Adebisi (who tells the children not to eat before her
return). While the other children wait, Adeleke (the crown prince)
gets impatient, eats the wrong food and dies. Queen Adebisi steps
across the charm while rushing back and runs mad.
Some chiefs suspect Kokumo until Oloriawo consults the oracle and
reveals the queen's atrocities.
ACT 4
SCENE 1: Kokumo, now a medical doctor, refuses to abort a 3-month
pregnancy for Ajisafe and his girlfriend, Bolatito.
SCENE 2: The king gives his daughter Àsàkẹ́ in marriage to Kokumo and
the marriage is blessed with children.
SCENE 3: Kokumo assembles all the town's herbalists to cure his
mother-in-law, Queen Adebisi. Only Fabiyi is understandably able to
cure her and gets the monetary reward. However, robbers ambush him,
beat him up and take all the money.
SCENE 4 : The king dies without any surviving son so Kokumo is made
the new king of Ayéwùmí.
ACT 5
SCENE 1: Kokumo consults with his chiefs on ways of moving the town
forward. Among other things, he offers free land to any indigene who
wants to build a company in the town.
SCENE 2: Ajelabi is the first indigene to come. He wants to build a
cocoa-processing company and the king tells him to choose any parcel
of land he likes. The land Ajelabi chooses belongs to Jagun , who
insists on selling the land or getting some of the bribe he thinks
Ajelabi has given the king.
SCENE 3: Jagun plots with Otun and Alasa to get Kokumo dethroned. He
alleges that Kokumo has collected a 10 000 naira bribe from Ajelabi
and is also having an affair with Otun's wife. Otun and Alasa refuse
to come out as witnesses. Jagun loses his chieftaincy title to
Ajelabi.
¤
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