Wole Soyinka has been widely known for his artistic works, ranging from his poetry to prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and his wide sarcastic plays, which has earned him reputation and wide acknowledgement across the globe.

He has been writing to challenge different issues in the country – Nigeria – and African topography at large in a sarcastic way, which ranges from political issue, to cultural issues, ethnic issue, traditional issue, religious issue and other sociological issues in the society.

Beatification of the Area Boys is one of his plays that shows the stinking act of the military in government. How they pretend to come into the governing system to flush our corruption, yet they are being trapped in what they are supposed to flush out.

The play is embedded with the idea of absurdism. It shows the meaninglessness of meaning and the meaning of meaninglessness, it shows that there is nothing in this word that is static, a person that claims to be righteous today may tomorrow turn into a villain or the most corrupt person, therefore constant change is human specific.

The play centers on Sanda, a security man that guides an opulent shopping plaza, makes sure there is law and order in the environment. Judge wakes in the morning and tells Trader (an area boy) that he wants to search for the soulless people and to help them out. He leaves and other characters start to arrive and they set their stalls. Mama Put, who does not like the army at all because they killed her brother during the Biafran war while he was trying to save her from being raped by the Nigerian soldier. She is also a lover of education, she intends to equip her daughter with the right tool for her life though she does not make much from her food selling job, yet she is determined to educate her daughter (girl) to the best.

Barber (another area boy) also joins in preparing his stall, and from there, they all start the discussion. Barber believes in the belief that some millionaires make use of human part as ritual for their wealth, while Sanda tackles and does not believe in such ritualistic act.

Bokyo (an area boy) works for Sanda and helps him carryout his (Sanda) dirty works, he runs errand for him and does all kind of odd jobs for his boss, Sanda.

Cyclist, also comes to buy a tie in preparation for his interview the following day, he rides his bicycle which amazes Sanda, Mama Put, Barber and Trader in which they take fancy of it, because for years after the end of the civil war, Lagosians have not seen bicycle not even to talk of someone riding it. Newsvendor even comments that this is the type of news that journalist ought to record and broadcast instead of the vague ones they do.

A foreign man comes to the shopping plaza to shop and wants to park his car at the parking space but the Parking Assistant (an area boy) insists that he has to pay before parking as it is the custom of the place, but the Foreigner insist that he has paid seven naira already to someone, then he is being asked by the Parking Assistant to produce his receipt which he could not because he was not given by those that he has paid to. Sanda is being called to solve the situation and he told the Foreigner that he has paid into the wrong hand, had it been it was the right people he paid to he would have paid ten naira and would be given the receipt. In his (Sanda) cunning way he does not collect the money being offered to him by the foreigner, proposing that the millionaires in the country built their wealth based on masses’ fund, church and mosque congregation’s offerings, acquiring their wealth through extortion of the masses in the society. He is later tipped twenty naira by the Foreigner for his kindness when he was leaving.

Big Man Shopper, one of the rich people in the community also comes to the shopping plaza to shop but did not bring his car to the shopping parking space, Boyko accuses him of not parking his car with them at Area One, and he said he parked it somewhere else. Sanda cunningly sends Bokyo to check his car at Area Two and bring everything inside the car. Eventually he is being caught and the big shopper threatens to take him to the police, but Sanda surreptitiously prevents it by promising to punish Bokyo and see to the case himself.

A group of people follow a police man who arrests a young man, accusing him of touching a victim and his genitals disappears, this concurs with Barber’s ritualistic belief. But Sanda is able to settle this by putting the accused, the victim and a young lady in a room to see if there will be an arousal of the sensual organ.

The military head of state in Lagos declared that the area between junction of Balogun street to the flyover should be closed from seven o’clock in the evening till the next day because of the marriage that is to hold between the family of Chief Hon. Kingboli and Professsor Semantu. Before the wedding time, Miseyi (the bride) who happens to be Sanda’s friend during their university days has a loud argument with Sanda but eventually comes back to apologies to him after understanding their differences. During the weeding time, Miseyi carries a gourd of palm wine to be given to her groom but instead of the groom, she gives it to Sanda which causes a lot of uproar in the hall.

The military sends in troops to destroy the place and arrest people but Sanda in his clandestine way is able to confuse the military men and help the poor in feeding.

During the pandemonium in the marriage hall, Chief Hon. Kingboli is accused by Professor Semantu for the oil contract they bided for, and sees it as a plot to get back at him and his family.

Judge came in after feeling a bit better after being booted by the military, because the general accused him of touching his uniform while he was pleading on behalf of the Maroko displaced people. He orders his ADC to handle him personally more like him to beat him mercilessly but he is eventually booted but  rescued by the Maroko people ( they are being chased out of their land by the government in the name of redevelopment), he comes in immediately the army arrive to vandalise the hall and he is being shot, but he did not die because he already wore a jacket – bulletproof- when he was in the booth.

The text shows how corrupt the military government is, not showing regard for humanity; how the military treats human beings like animals in the society. This is evident in how they killed Mama Put’s brother during the war, and also when they are vandalizing people’s stall all because a marriage is going to hold in the environment. Also the maltreatment of the Judge is another height of it.

The text also shows that the effect of the war lingers much in the victims of the war and it will forever be a scar that can never be erased. It already forms the identity of the people and the story shall be recounted from generation to generation.

It showcase the kind of news, story and articles written by the journalist, and it is a criticism to it, humorously, it calls their attention to it that clear and original write-ups should be published and not vague ones or the ones the government wants people to hear and know but the truth.

The play is sarcastically able to portray that a person who acts as a righteous person might actually not be a righteous one, and what can even be the prerequisites of righteousness? Sanda is seen as the leader of area boys, who pretends to be a saint, yet he does other dirty things through other characters in the text. The military came into government to flush out corruption, yet they are the bank of corruption, in fact they became worst by seeing fellow human being as not human but as a mere object .

It also shows how people of high class fights over public project and sometimes gets it in an illegal way which will eventually bounce back on the masses.

 The chorus in the play does not only function as a beautiful musical artistry, it compliments the thematic concern of the play, it gives more information about the corrupt nature of the government. The song sang by the prisoners show different level of corruption and dirt, by the warders, police, army, religion leaders, and the government at large, any  position that entails power.

Soyinka has been able to powerfully portray how African society works under military government through a sarcastic and absurdist binoculars.