The only problem which we all face is one which besets not only writers but citizens in Nigeria: the problem of our unbelievable and unacceptable socio-political situation, which gets more and more reactionary and inhuman with every succeeding regime. (Soyinka, in Wilkinson 91)
Requiem for a Futurologist is Wole Soyinka’s use of the stage farce as provocative witnessing. It makes the audience painfully aware that chaos (penkelemes: “peculiar mess”) governs, that one slip can bring this society down. The ‘hero’ is a trickster figure (like Jero in The Trials of Brother Jero and Jero’s Metamorphosis) who delights in his ability to turn a material profit, to accumulate political power. In pungent and demonstrative language Soyinka stresses, in an interview with John Agetua, the need for “actually using words to punch holes inside people ... to...
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Citation: McLuckie, Craig. "Requiem for a Futurologist". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12840, accessed 05 December 2025.]
