Literature Guide: Communique by Femi Adedina (Drama Excerpts)

 

Here’s Part 3 of your BECE 2024/2025 Literature Guide — focusing on the drama excerpts from Communique by Femi Adedina, specifically pages VI (pg. 45), VII (pg. 54), and VIII (pg. 60). Designed in blog-post format for Edudelighttutors.com — with SEO-ready structure, summaries, themes, dramatic devices, and questions.


🎭 BECE 2024/2025 Literature Guide: Communique by Femi Adedina (Drama Excerpts)

📘 Communique by Femi Adedina is a collection of thought-provoking short plays, each tackling social issues in Nigeria. These excerpts — Pages VI, VII, and VIII — have been selected for the 2024/2025 BECE Literature syllabus.


🎬 Excerpt VI (Page 45): The People’s Mandate

🔍 Summary

This scene is set in a town hall where a heated debate erupts between a group of elders, youth leaders, and a returning politician. It explores election promises, failed governance, and the demand for accountability.

🎯 Themes

  • Leadership and Responsibility: Citizens question the role of those in power.

  • Accountability: Emphasizes the need for public servants to deliver on promises.

  • Youth Engagement: Young people are portrayed as bold and politically aware.

🎭 Dramatic Techniques

  • Dialogue: Sharp exchanges drive tension and reveal power dynamics.

  • Conflict: Political betrayal vs public demand creates drama.

  • Irony: The politician promises change yet avoids direct questions.

💡 Message

Power belongs to the people. Leaders must serve, not exploit, their communities.

📝 Evaluation Questions

  1. What is the central conflict in this excerpt?

  2. How does the playwright use irony to make his point?

  3. Mention two themes found in this scene.


🎬 Excerpt VII (Page 54): The Stolen Future

🔍 Summary

In this courtroom-style scene, students and parents accuse a corrupt school principal of mismanaging funds meant for educational development. Tension rises as hidden truths are exposed.

🎯 Themes

  • Corruption in Education: Mismanagement affects students’ futures.

  • Justice and Consequences: Wrongdoing is publicly challenged.

  • Civic Responsibility: Citizens must speak out against injustice.

🎭 Dramatic Techniques

  • Monologue: Key characters give emotional solo speeches exposing injustice.

  • Suspense: Gradual revelation of financial theft builds tension.

  • Flashback: A student recounts an incident that highlights neglect.

💡 Message

Every child deserves access to honest education. Society must defend that right.

📝 Evaluation Questions

  1. Who is the antagonist in this scene, and why?

  2. Identify a monologue and explain its effect.

  3. How is the theme of justice presented?


🎬 Excerpt VIII (Page 60): Voices in the Market

🔍 Summary

This lively scene takes place in a local market where traders, buyers, and town criers interact. Amid the chaos, discussions around inflation, fake products, and moral decline in business practices unfold.

🎯 Themes

  • Economic Hardship: Prices keep rising; people are frustrated.

  • Honesty in Business: Vendors are torn between profit and integrity.

  • Community Dialogue: The market becomes a place of truth-telling and shared pain.

🎭 Dramatic Techniques

  • Chorus/Chanting: Town criers and market women speak in unison.

  • Humour and Satire: Comic elements highlight serious societal issues.

  • Symbolism: Spoilt goods represent deeper moral decay.

💡 Message

Economic struggles affect everyone, but honesty and unity can bring change.

📝 Evaluation Questions

  1. What role does the market setting play in conveying the message?

  2. Explain how humour is used to expose social issues.

  3. What does the spoilt yam symbolize in this excerpt?


📌 Conclusion

The three excerpts from Communique showcase Nigeria’s complex social issues through drama — from political dishonesty to education reform and ethical trade. They are perfect for class discussion, performance, and essay practice in preparation for the BECE.


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15 Fill-in-the-Blank Mock Questions (with A–D Options)

  1. The central conflict in Excerpt VI revolves around __________.
    a) Religion
    b) Education
    c) Political accountability
    d) Sports

  2. The students in Excerpt VI show their dissatisfaction by __________.
    a) Writing exams
    b) Walking out of class
    c) Organizing a protest
    d) Cheering the government

  3. The setting of Excerpt VI is a __________.
    a) Marketplace
    b) Principal’s office
    c) School assembly ground
    d) Police station

  4. In Excerpt VII, the mock trial is held to __________.
    a) Announce results
    b) Discipline a student
    c) Judge the principal’s misdeeds
    d) Celebrate school founders

  5. The “courtroom” setting in Excerpt VII is used to __________.
    a) Punish real criminals
    b) Mimic real-life leadership accountability
    c) Scare the teachers
    d) Act out a play

  6. The main symbol in Excerpt VIII is a __________.
    a) Pair of shoes
    b) Broken radio
    c) Rotten yam
    d) School bell

  7. The rotten yam in Excerpt VIII symbolizes __________.
    a) Hunger
    b) Decay in leadership
    c) Sickness
    d) Culture

  8. In Excerpt VII, the students act as __________.
    a) Lawyers only
    b) Principal’s aides
    c) Judge, jury, and observers
    d) Protesters

  9. The tone of Excerpt VI can best be described as __________.
    a) Humorous
    b) Serious and demanding
    c) Romantic
    d) Indifferent

  10. The outcome of the mock trial shows that students __________.
    a) Want school to close
    b) Value justice and accountability
    c) Support the principal
    d) Are afraid of change

  11. The market scene in Excerpt VIII serves to __________.
    a) Represent society at large
    b) Show commerce
    c) Display rural culture
    d) Sell yams

  12. The character who speaks most about “truth” in Excerpt VI is __________.
    a) The head girl
    b) The student leader
    c) The principal
    d) The PTA chairman

  13. A major literary device used in all three excerpts is __________.
    a) Metaphor only
    b) Satire and symbolism
    c) Hyperbole
    d) Repetition

  14. The playwright uses dramatic irony in Excerpt VII to __________.
    a) Create jokes
    b) Criticize leaders subtly
    c) Praise the principal
    d) Scare the audience

  15. The purpose of all three excerpts combined is to __________.
    a) Entertain
    b) Mock students
    c) Inspire critical thinking and civic responsibility
    d) Promote farming


💡 15 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  1. What is the genre of Communique by Femi Adedina?
    → It is a social drama written for stage performance.

  2. What do Excerpts VI, VII, and VIII focus on?
    → VI focuses on student activism, VII on accountability via mock trial, and VIII on leadership symbolism.

  3. Who is the protagonist in Excerpt VI?
    → The student leader who rallies peers to demand transparency.

  4. Why is satire used in Excerpt VII?
    → To highlight real-life issues in a humorous but critical way.

  5. What is the central theme of Excerpt VIII?
    → Moral and political decay, shown through the rotten yam.

  6. How does the playwright use symbols in the excerpts?
    → The yam represents corruption; the trial represents justice.

  7. What lesson can students learn from these excerpts?
    → The power of youth voices in demanding change.

  8. What is the mood of Excerpt VI?
    → Tense and serious, reflecting urgency for change.

  9. What role do the students play in Excerpt VII?
    → They act as courtroom officials to model justice.

  10. What message does the playwright send through the mock trial?
    → That accountability is necessary at all levels.

  11. Is the rotten yam literal or symbolic in Excerpt VIII?
    → It is symbolic of leadership failure.

  12. Which excerpt includes irony and satire most heavily?
    → Excerpt VII – the mock trial.

  13. What dramatic technique is used to engage the audience?
    → Dialogue, symbolism, and irony.

  14. How are school issues linked to national problems in the play?
    → Through the use of school settings to mirror societal flaws.

  15. Why is the play relevant to BECE candidates?
    → It teaches civic responsibility, critical thinking, and social awareness.


🧠 10 Evaluation Questions

  1. Explain how Excerpt VI uses students as change agents in the school community.

  2. Identify two symbols used in the play and describe their meanings.

  3. Compare the tone and purpose of Excerpts VI and VIII.

  4. How does Excerpt VII use satire to address leadership problems?

  5. Describe the significance of the marketplace setting in Excerpt VIII.

  6. What do the students’ actions in the mock trial suggest about youth awareness?

  7. Discuss how dramatic irony is used to convey the playwright’s message.

  8. In your opinion, which excerpt is the most powerful and why?

  9. Write a short dialogue where students debate between silence and protest.

  10. Suggest a new scene that could continue the theme of youth involvement in governance.

 

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