AFRICAN DRAMA FEMI OSOFISAN: Women of Owu Discuss Maye Okunade's reasons for attacking Owu Kingdom...

Explanation

To the casual observer, Maye, a successful artist, suddenly turned soldier, leads the Owu campaign for selfless and patriotic reasons. One reason is the need to punish Owu for attacking Apomu, the commercial satellite town of Ife. The other is to stop the slave trade. However, a close examination of Maye's real motive reveals other reasons.

Maye is essentially an artist, not known to be a warmonger. Rather, he is a lover and defender of all that makes life worth living. And so he will rather go to war for reasons of romance than those of heroism. As events later show, the motive behind the man's war exploits is the burning desire to reclaim lyunloye, his abducted beautiful wife. Against all expectations that Maye will summarily execute lyunloye for her promiscuity, he allows her to defend herself