THE EYE AND LIP STORY - a play

By 'Timi ONAYEMI

Dedicated to:

THE AFRICAN SCHOOL AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN SWITZERLAND

The Eye and the Lip s Story started when a man stood on his own 'jeje' like Lagos Boy. A man walked in and looked at him like an object of Alien. Turned to the right and to the left on his standing and in his stride and walked towards the standing 'Jeje' Man, walked up so close for comfort and for heat and fight and cloose smooth emracement and smooshing to him, pointed his fore-finger at his face and put his fore-finger in his eyes and immediately to the surprise and shock of the standing 'Jeje' Man the Coming Man that actually Came and became The Came Man and did all of this introduced one of his other fingers into the equation and production of the attack and battery y using the two fingers, the other of which we do not know and the fore-finger itself to wards the mouth and actually grabbed the lower lip of the The 'Jeje' Man and moved away with his back towards the right side of the stage that he passed through to come here.

This is a surprising thing that somebody 'some boody', 'some buddy' who knows you very well, with whom you have ate and drank like wild fire; with whom you argue philosophy and the philosophy of reason among other things and issues of great concern to our societies and public today; with whom you have chased young and older girls together; with whom the secrets of men and womn are shared; with whom you go on a demonstration against the forces of Gods and Devils; with whom a great joke and the sorrowful impact of the jiltful state of no bread-no Kobo is shared as the summation of the fall of Man from Grass to Grace. In actual fact, we have fell from Grace to Grass. Something divides us and they are many too. The racist, the fascist, the christian, the buddhist, the Ifaist, the santeria, the catholic, the marxist-leninist-trotskyite versus the stalinist-maoist experienc, the lumambaist, the fela-host, the nkrumahigh, the sankarao, the machelist, the cabralist, the guerre de guevara, the muslim, the pan-africanist, the panther returns and many more.

Your philosopher friend who argues against you and for you about the most sacred of things, the anti-christ… In Nietzsche's 'Anti-Christ'… Dostoievsky said 'If there is no God, everything is possible'… Why don't you want to know that I can't live in danger… For the cause and the peaceful and natural green state where nepotism is a thing of the past in being a thing of the past as it must be… We live in peace…

On my own,

Once again

And I am happy to be alone again…

Where, but where are my people.

Is it just because you can't see them.

These are my people,

Far away

Across the land and sea like a peasant of the world

We shall resume operations soon,

Wait, for th people.

Wait for the people at attention.

To the gaols, yeye rolling.

On my own,

I long for the people.

I want to see the people where they belong

Without a rope around their necks.

My brother, People choke in broad daylight and dark nite-time.

We notice. We choke too and we help ourselves by talking about this choking spree: the economy and the political consideration.

We talk to the People and they tell us everrything: their worries and their hopes.

Sing a likkle song:

Diimmiing hopes

Trimming life

Check the butt and expose the show

If you can't heed us in we shall heel you out.

When we hear this kind of song, we know that someone or something is touching, fondling and playing with the Spirit of the People. The Sprit of the People on Shopping Avenue… On Shopping Avenue, you can see the People Alive but their Minds are gone to Satisfaction Street.

Satisfaction no I can't get

Motivation no I can't get

Contribution no I can't make

Exaggeration no I can't make

To state the facts as they really are

To show that the facts as they really are

Pollution of the facts no we can't make

Solution to this imbroglio yes we have found

If this is Basque Country…

'Southern Comfort'…

Northern Interests…

Afghan Soldiers…

Or Child Soldiers…

A Philosophical Lesson…

A Contemporary Literary Practice…

Elimination of the Inequality…

Living together in peace.? Silence!

If this is the Movies…

On Stage…

If this is real life…

Standing alone and having the greatest dis'ppointment to see your philosopher friend waklking up to you curiously as if he had a new poroposition based on an old proposition and argument he had lost woefully. If you lose in a war? You can only win or lose in a war. A war of personal opinion and public opinions. Something you know moving towards you and he sees you not. The Movies, we shall have the chance to create a new country. Take it easy. But he did not do any of that , as in thought or action. He pointed his finger into your eyes and pressed it down on you eyes-balls and immediately grabbed your lip and walked backwards and back to the point where he came from. The Came Man.

On stage or on land, what will you do?

On stage or on dry ground, what will you do?

On stage or on ordinary land for pomme de terre, what will you say?

On stage or on higher ground, would he have done the same - a philosophic friend?

To your rescue and to you disgrace, agroup of people jumped oon to the stage and shouted woe and nay to your friend if he does not release your lip with immediate effect and automatic alacrity. Unforunately, they do not know, and God of Them and Then and Past and Gone and Dead and Dude and Yoruba Dupeh, Indiko Duzpeh, Yamossoukro Dupeh cannot put the English humpty-dumpty-believing-in monarchy-on-the-war-again!

Indigo Dupeh.

What kind of colour is this?

Moving Colours.

Moving People.

Moving Pictures.

Hieroglyphics.

Egyptian Literature.

He, the one in front said, with a lot of doubt, that'I have a particular aversement to seeing the worng things in the right places, why do we have to be prevented from Bakuninizing the immediate surrounding of the underground and reolutionary society posing as a member of this one ut proclaiming by profaning for idea will do the end in order to make the area of operation of the most progressive idea through.

What is this progressive idea mrgentleman and mrareaboy and mrannan , mrmandela circle obasanjo?

You have no answer and that is most welcome sirs, tel meki that we are ccoming to feed the poor and bring them to europe too!

Wokalasazhgehatoronjokilimadoropasomikilode!

To the rescue, and you are safe now the philosopher friend truned almost evil and worst than evil too did come and do the worst as end of all woes to your eyes and lips and the crazy look he gave you to do all of these abominable things in all kinds of human and animal relations, to do them all and go away and not say sorry or any resemlance of theols oof apology for a woe weldone and signs and symy mistake too.$

Nay, this is intentional.

Dumfounded and rescued you are.

Bloe the Foe.

A real animal of a philosopher.

Why do you call the people poor.

If the shepherd loves the sheep.

In Wales, they put tewo of the upper or lower legs of the sheep in long rain-boots, the both of which I do not know since I have not seen them do it live and have been told only vaguely. I say that the shepherds in Walk make sweet love to their sheep till today. On the internet, you can be diverted by popping up sites or wilful thinking from a news site through an arts, culture, traditon, religious, divinist, or secular humanist and opportunist and brainwashing sites to a Porno site and this sseems to be the end of surfing through a cross-section of toi the very end of your surfing day. Sometimes, your boy friend walks up and you close it all and do it for real.

A Philosophic Lady Friend.

Come and let us talk about receent developments.

I am all hairs.

It was as if he was a she who leaves you with a taste of the blood she drunk outside before you know it all.

How do you feel, brother?

Give me some love!

We seem to have no choice but to share this love that is hard to find.

Give me too some good love!

To show that we are all together in this, we exchange pleasantries and visit the prisons every weekend till we make our way there, on or out of the World. In this World …

Again and again, he pulled your lip and dragged you out.

The people, the people, they came to your poor rescue.

They came with clubs and matchettes.

With prayers and confusions.

How would you eliminate prayers from the drastic situation!
Would it all just fall into place.

This, I reply, will never be.

But before they could attack your tormentor in your state of insomnia and sleepiness, your aggressor disappeared into thin air and we found him no more among men of purpose and character comparable to the human. We hardly use the idiom. We have words. Like 'Do', 'not', 'torment', 'or', 'aggress', 'innocent', ' people', 'by', 'political', 'economic', 'social', 'mental', 'physical', 'biological', 'chemical', 'nuclear', 'transactional', 'greedy', 'racist' and 'conspirational', ''means and ends'. Full Stop!!!

First Rescuer: What happened?

Jeje Man: I don't know.

Secomd Rescuer: What don't you know?

First Rescuer: You hold on, let us take this (pointing to Jeje Man) one by one (pointing at random to all the other Rescuers) , now, what happened?

Jeje Man: It is a surprise to me.

First rescuer: What is a surprise to you?

Third Rescuer coughs deeply and aloud.

First rescuer: (To Third Rescuer) Will you stop smoking?

Third Rescuer: If you promise to follow suite.

First Rescuer: I promise.

All the Rescuers: Stop Smoking! Stop Smoking!! Stop polluting the air!!!

First Rescuer: And with noise too. Stop shouting. Don't confuse our client!

All the Rescuers: Don't confuse our client! Don't confuse our client!!

Second Rescuer: (To Jeje Man) Okay.

Jeje Man: I beg your pardon.

Second Rescuer: Why? (Walking away from Jeje Man)

First Rescuer: (To Jeje Man) Answer us quickly, time is going.

Jeje Man: Where?

First Rescuer: What?

Jeje Man: Time.

First Rescuer: I mean we don't want to lose time in finding out about the genesis of your predicament, so that we can find the culprit. (To Third Rescuer) Go after that Man…

Third Rescuer and two other Rescuers leave the Stage

Jeje Man: The Came Man.

First Rescuer: You know him.

Jeje Man: Let us take it like that.

First Rescuer: But you know his name, you called him the Came man'.

Jeje Man: Let us take it like that.

First Rescuer: You are complicated.

Jeje Man: I am not!

First rescuer: (to Third Rescuer) Go after that Man with some of our people.

Third Rescuer: Apes Obey! ('Shouting Really Hard'* and raising up a fist).

Second Rescuer: You and your colonial joke.

Third Rescuer: If you abuse me again. (Walking up close to Second Rescuer).

First Rescuer: Cut!

Jeje Man look puzzled and overwhelmed. The idea of meeting so many people with characters bordering on the wild and weird enticed him. At down-times or melancholic situations, it is refreshing to the 'thoughts' to see chaos in comic forms. Jeje Man could have said to himself:

Why do this kind of Men, these kind of People love to solve the solved.

Jeje man: He is a Mad man.

Second Rescuer; We shall come back for that Ace!

Jeje Man: An ace it is quite alright.

Second Rescuer: I don't want it now.

Jeje maMan: Who is he?

Second Rescuer: Who?

Jeje Man: Your Man?

Second Rescuer: We.

First Rescuer: Who is that Man and what have you guys been doing here?

Jeje man: Why do you want to know what I do not know?

First Rescuer:: We need facts!

Jeje man: (Like a prisoner) Why? Leave me alone. This is none of your business.

First Rescuer.: We can't go away like that, great injustices have been done to you.

Jeje Man: I do not know why I deserve it.

First rescuer: That is why we want to find out.

Jeje Man: Leave me alone. Good people, tell him to get off this interrogation. I am a free citizen, and I object to this form of questioning too. Agree?

Rescuers: No! No!!

Jeje Man: Enemies of progress.

First Rescuer: Are you insulting the People.

Jeje man: Not necessarily, let me go.

First Rescuer: We are your brothers!

Jeje Man: Any bood relations? And how big is your inheritance?

Second Rescuer: His father is a poor man. He has no inheritance. We share.

First Rescuer: (To Jeje Man) Can we go through this, once more and for all. Once again!

Jeje man: If you guys are fair, 'cos I don't know what you are doing in our den.

First rescuer: Are you guys lions?

Jeje Man: Not necessarily.

All the Rescuers laugh aloud and whisper to themselves.

Two of the Rescuers - the Fourth and Fifth Rescuers - hug themselves and dance around the left side of the stage. They leave themselves. One - The Fourth Rescuer - took a long hard look at the other and walked towards him. The other - The Fifth Rescuer - run away in wild frenzy.

Fourth Rescuer: Come back, it's only a stage thing.

Fifth Rescuer: (Going back to the Fourth Rescuer) Okay, but slowly and gently.

All the Rescuers watch as the Fourth Rescuer repeated what The Came Man did to The Jeje Man and laugh through the episode.

So, on stage or off the stage, if a Man, Came or Not pluck your eyes like that and pull your lips like this (almost touching the lips of The Jeje Man), what will you do?

Jeje Man: As far as your troupe knows, witnesses, you have not given me any chance to go after him or to seek redress, even n your Kangaroo Court.

Sixth Rescuer: We are now a Troupe and not a group of Troubadours, and the First Rescuer has been identified as a proponent of Jungle Justice.

Seventh Rescuer: He said That The First Rescuer runs this plot like a Kangaroo Court. This is Kangaroo Cook, not Jungle Justice.

Sixth Rescuer: I have always warned you People about jumping to the conclusion that all People would subscribe to Reason's way of dealing with issues that history has rendered complex.

First Rescuer: (To the Sixth Rescuer)Save your worst for the last.

Jeje Man: What do I have to say?

First Rescuer: Say what you will… what you wish.

Jeje Man: You don't seem to command a lot of authority in your self-assumption among your troupe…

Sixth Rescuer: Troubadours!

All the Rescuers, except the First and Second Rescuers giggle, talk, laugh and yell.

Jeje Man: Your troupe of Troubadours disagree with this ilegal civil incarceration of a Free Man like myself, a Jeje Man.

Sixth Rescuer: We do not necessarily disagree with the First Rescuer, he called our attention to your plight, the plight of a Free Man. Don't you feel the humanity in us. Take a long hard and soft look. Humanity in us is like a religion. All religions of the past- Our Culture.

First rescuer: Say what you will.

Jeje man: I refuse to talk to you and your people and I must warn you that I have no intention of calling a freely working lawyer from the Legal Aid Council in our town and I do not want the Police to have an in on this.

Fourth Rescuer: He is a criminal.

Fifth Rescuer: He is not a criminal, that is why he does not want to call the Police.

Fourth Rescuer: In Law…

Fifth rescuer: Of where, my Man.

Fourth Rescuer: When you are held under duress, call the attention of the People appointed 'To Protect and To Serve'

First Rescuer: If we ask you to tell us the truth, what will you say?

Jeje Man: I have just told you that I do not want to have anything to do with you, your People and your 'good intentions'

(Pointing, up, two index fingers and making the signs of the apostrophe to signify, that he questions their 'good intentions'.)

First Rescuer: Say something to ease the pain of your humiliation on the sight and thought of humanity. Explain. We are not here to help, we are just being considerate.

All the Rescuers: We are Considerate People! We are very very Considerate.

Fifth Rescuer: Very Considerate.

First Rescuer: Consider him.

Sixth Rescuer: Cooperate!

Jeje Man took a long hard look at the floor and tries to run away. A group of the Rescuers gra him and the Second Rescuer brings a log of wood for him to seat upon. A group of the Rescuers seat on. Murmuring: We can seat down too.

A Voice: Just stay there, I will do it for you.

Fourth Rescuer: (To Jeje Man) I can do it for you too.

Jeje Man: How?

Fourth Rescuer: Just stay there, I can do it for you.

Fifth Rescuer: Same voice.

Fourth Rescuer: I am a Kleptomaniac, sorry… no… a ventriloquist.

Fifth Rescuer: Or both.

Enter Third Rescuer. He ran onto the stage and collapsed on the floor.

All the Rescuers rush over to hold him up and hear what he has to say.

Third Rescuer: (Trying to regain his breathe) He is holding them.

Fifth Rescuer: As hostages?

First Rescuer: Of course. Where?

Third Rescuer: Under the bridge. He is talking about some island and he has so many women with him. The women beat us and we defended ourselves, They bit us and we bit them. We were tired, there were eagles and Poecoews everywhere. I don't think you can find them.

Second Rescuer: (To First Rescuer) Don't you think we should call the Police, to help them regain their freedom, to protect us and serve us.

First Rescuer: No. (To Jeje Man) What is this?

Jeje Man: I don't know.

First Rescuer: Brother Man, it is high time you start knowing sumphin'. Who is that Man?

Jeje Man: A Philosopher.

All the Rescuers: Ha! Ha!! Ha!!! Ha!!!*

First Rescuer: Will you cooperate?

Jeje man: Yes, I will. I am baffled.

All the Rescuers: You are overgasted and flaerwhelmed! Cooperate! Cooperate!!

Jeje Man: This is like Sango Comedy. (Jeje Man jumps up, lands on stage with legs spread out and makes thes the sign of striking the floor with an imaginary sword) Enter the ground!

All the Rescuers move back. They come closer to him again as First Rescuer go closer to Jeje Man.

First Rescuer: What kind of Philosopher is he?

Sixth Rescuer: What kind of display was that?

Fifth Rescuer: Kung Fu.

Sixth Rescuer: Do you mean as in Tasmanian wrestling?

Fifth Rescuer: What? (The Fifth Rescuer approaches the Sixth Rescuer. Attacks him. A punch in the chest. A fight- Gidigbo * wrestling .

Second Rescuer: Do not show your true colours. (To Jeje Man) They are not bad eggs, you provoked them.

Jeje Man: How?

Second Rescuer: What was that?

Jeje man: Instinct.

First Rescuer: What kind of Philosopher is he.

Jeje Man: Stoic. The Came Man is a Stoic. I am a Stoic too.

First Rescuer: Do you feel pain?

Jeje Man: Now? Yes, I do, but I overcome it.

First Rescuer: Where are you going?

Jeje Man: Home. (To all the Rescuers) Bye! (Walking away, out of the stage.

Two Rescuers walk up to him and carry him back to where he had been standing.

First Rescuer: (Making the sign of filing his finger nails) (To Jeje Man: A Stoic Philosopher and well-known by you friend of yours has been crushing your eyes and pullling your lips like this (Trying to pull Jeje man's lip) (Jeje man ducks, moves back.

All the Rescuers: Hey!ë

Jeje Man and all the Rescuers stand still.

Chorus of The Womenar:

It seems to be the same phenomenon

With that that happens when the poor ask for help.

You don't have to become a Muslim to give alms to the poor.

Look at what we do-

Elevation of the People by Speech and Deed.

We have seen a place where we can hide

WE shall not be left alone in peace in this our beautiful place!

They say watch your back when there is space.

Open the door with caution when the dudes does play day.

To solve the mystery to change the World

With your evergreen plan Oh! Reason.

Where is the Came Man and who is he not.

An everything of a bastard.

We thought he will learn a simple lesson and not

Refer to himself as a Philosopher when is a Poor Fool.

We Men are the only beings in our Universe.

If they are there tell them to come see us soon

Before we eraze conclusion

By throwing in the towel on creation

By leaving the World to live in our Mechanical World.

What sort of idea created the Tie and Lip Story.

To heal the Poor. Away with the Missile Defense Bomb Sprayhave nothing more to say

But we shall sing this song:

It seems to be the same phenomena!

I like Nigeriuans that is wha don'0t mess up with them

They Bibliotheque Marajana Every<whger3e

In Lagois

And it was not a Popular Thing Too <Of Them>

To come at the niche of time and arrest the situation

Looking for the Idea Down Under Of IT: A Molestation in Public

Of a man unknown by most unknown in seen actions but unknown and ununderstandable!

It is not your name

To be called Bookers from The Bibliotheque Marajana Every<whger3e

Rescuers Get ToThe Root Of This

Rescuers Solve The Riddle.

And if it your measure and treatment is in rhyme and rythm

With the Prejudice or Reason

As it has been shown in humans you stand a good chance

To find Supporters- More Rescuers of Our Faith in Reason or Prejudice,

The problem being that our predicament is the Support of Reason.

We have the feeling that the UnReasonable is not a predicament.

Satisfy your predicament, become Reasonable.

Jeje Man: I am a Saint.

First Rescuer: What?

All The Rescuers: He is a Saint! He is a Saint!! The Jeje Man is a Saint

First Rescuer: What kind of Saint are you?

Jeje Man: I can hear voices.

First Rescuer: What kind of Saint are you?

Jeje Man: I can hear riddles.

First Rescuer: You seem to be existing in a trance, do you know what we are talking about?

Jeje Man: A Problem.

First Rescuer: What happened to you and the Philosopher.

Jere Man: I am a philosopher too.

First Rescuer: We have not heard a joke like this before.

All The Rescuers: We have not heard a joke like this before.

Jeje Man: What joke, bastard?

All The Rescuers:

First Rescuer: That you are a philosopher too.

*

Jeje: Gentle, Going on One's Own, Minding One's Own Business.

Gidigbo: A kind of Wrestling fought in Yorubaland, West Nigeria

Diplomat: To Hell all of you unemployed people.

Sixth Rescuer: Shoot it up on Big Screen!

Are you not a Diplomat anymore!

To be continued.

Dedicated to THE AFRICAN SCHOOL AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN SWITZERLAND