دور الأدب النيجيري في مناقشة قضايا العدالة الاجتماعية وحقوق الإنسان: دراسة في مسرحية "العميد المبجل"

Abstract

Social justice is considered a fundamental principle of peaceful coexistence within nations, as it contributes to growth and prosperity. It calls for the fair distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within society, and affirms that all individuals are entitled to equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities, both materially and morally. It also ensures social security in cases of income loss, insufficiency, or interruption, which in turn underpins the realization of human rights. Nigerian literature has produced a substantial body of poetic and narrative works addressing such issues. This study focuses on the play The Revered Dean by the writer Zakariya Idris Husayn, as a single dramatic text can embody an implicit narrative that reflects lived reality through performance, while maintaining thematic unity. All these elements are evident in The Revered Dean, which addresses issues of social justice and human rights by centering on moral decline within the Nigerian educational context, while advocating justice and resisting oppression. The study employs a descriptive approach to analyze these issues.