New Telegraph 
Okoedo Adodoh’s historical drama titled “Sword of Justice,” is a classical piece that evokes true African norms, customs, spinsterhood stigma and parental worries, especially in the mind of a reader who is interested in the core traditional practices of the past, present and future, vis-a-vis those who are interested in knowing Africans commendable cultural sanctity in marital affairs.
Even though many modern African ladies no longer have regards for traditional values in marriage in various Nigerian/ African societies, the repercussions of disobeying sanctity of marriage in line with ancestral justice are well dissected in the musings of “Sword of Justice.”
One Chief Ogbeide, a wealthy character in the storyline uses his sweet tongue and status to seduce Oshioiholo, the beautiful wife of a poor but very caring and hardworking farmer known as Ogunamen.
The setting of the play is Uromi (traditionally spelt Urhonmhun) in Edo State, Nigeria where the events showcased were said to have truly happened many years ago.
The drama is a replication of a real life occurrence according to the information stated in the “Foreword” written by N.P. Abeji.
Hence, while digesting the play, the reviewer’s mind was cast back to his childhood days about the repercussions that befell some adulterous women in a highly traditional community in Delta State Nigeria.
The play therefore highlights the similarities in some Nigerian/ African communities cultural practices, such as that of the lshan land in Edo State and Urhobo land in Delta State, where adultery by any woman that is traditionally married, is replete with dangerous consequences.
It is well crafted with idioms, proverbs, jokes and amorous constructions, coupled with divination through extra mundane communication.
Some scenes reminds the reader about similar atmospheres in William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, where Desdemona’s father suspects that Othello might have charmed his daughter to fall in love with him.
It also brings to mind, Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga’s drama titled ‘Passport To Success’, where conjurations at a traditional shrine takes place as an undergraduate visits a traditional shrine to solve her academic challenges, just as Oshioiholo and her mother embarks on a distant journey to find out why she has been consistently refusing suitors coming to seek her hand for marriage, and what can be done to solve her somewhat spiritual problem.
Hence, as the drama unfolds in ‘Sword of Justice’, the reader is jolted as Oshioiholo a beautiful young married lady kills her very caring, honest and lovely husband after committing adultery with Chief Ogbeide.
This she does through food poisoning to pave way for her to marry the sweet tongued deceitful wealthy man. It is the way many women have been led astray by some salacious men fond of breaking others marriage with their wealth.
This is partly because the majority of women are easily swayed by sweet words and their craze for dating rich men mostly.
However, she also meets her waterloo when she is also being suspected by Ogbeide to kill him too, just the way she killed her first husband.
He blackmails her as a murderer and wants the traditional law of the land to be applied to execute her at the traditional ruler’s palace.
While trying to use his traditional privileges as a chief to cajole the traditional ruler and some council of chiefs in the palace to get her executed, Oshioiholo exposes how she was seduced by him and urged to poison her former husband.
A consensus decision is taken by the traditional council to execute both the chief and the adulterous woman to balance justice, for their connivance in the death of Ogunamen.
Nonetheless, the playlet also reminds the reader about a biblical story where David killed Uriah in other to marry his beautiful wife. The difference in this case is that Uriah’s wife was not an accomplice in David’s killing of her husband.
The author has done a highly commendable work by using the book to document a real life happening through dramatic conceptualization stylistics.
It is a noteworthy material that should be read especially by every woman that appreciates sanctity in marriage, to learn one lesson or the other, to avoid falling victim of some lustful rich men fond of breaking others marriages with their sweet tongue and wealth of swaying women.
As no work of art can be said to be perfect, some few typos and grammatical errors were spotted in about five pages of the 86 – page playlet. These requires correction before next reprint.
Irrespective of the pointed errors, the work is a well crafted material embedded with suspense and other condiments that makes a dramaturgical work worth its salt.
The diction is easy to understand and the scenes are well organised with the Narrator and audience participation, as the linear – plot flows flawlessly from the beginning to the end.
In peroration, Adodoh the author, is a London trained journalist whose works have been widely published. The author has won multiple awards in the fields of “Herbal / Alternative Medicine” and African Leaders of Integrity” too. He is a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos chapter.
