CHUKS OLUIGBO
Twenty-year-old Kemi Olukoju has just been admitted to the Central
European University in Budapest, Hungary, to study Economics and Political
Science. She is full of excitement as it is a fulfilment of a childhood dream
of studying her choice course outside the shores of Nigeria. She hopes to
return to Nigeria after her studies to contribute her quota to nation-building.
It is her first day in class. The lecturer, Prof Jurgen, a German,
while taking the class on Introduction to Political Science, after introducing
himself, requests each student to introduce themselves and their country of
origin. Everyone takes turns to do so.
When Kemi introduces herself and mentions Nigeria, Prof Jurgen
retorts: “Nigeria? Oh, Nigeria. Your people are very bad people. Their hunger
for money is insatiable. Get-rich-quick syndrome. They do everything and
anything for money, including ritual murder. They don’t believe in hard work.
They kill even their own blood for money. Kingship tussle is their trademark.
They are always fighting for one throne or the other, to the point of killing
their fellow human beings. Too bad!”
Kemi is transfixed, lost for words. When she finds her voice, she
manages to ask: “But Prof, how did you come about this conclusion?”
“Oh, why not?” Prof Jurgen replies. “We see it every day. I’m an
ardent watcher of Nigerian movies, and it’s all there in virtually every movie
that comes from Nigeria.”
Like Prof Jurgen, many people consider what they see in movies,
indeed all works of art, as a true reflection of life in the society that
produced such works. Of course, art is an imitation of life, as the great philosopher
Aristotle postulates. This means that a work of art necessarily mirrors society
or reflects happenings in society. And these works of art would include
literary works (prose fiction, drama, poetry), fine arts (painting, sculpture,
etc), films, as well as other forms of art. So, are Nollywood films a true portrayal
of Nigerian culture and society?
What is today known as Nollywood began about 20 years ago,
precisely in 1992 when Kenneth Nnebue released Living in Bondage, a film about
a man who joins a secret cult, kills his wife in a ritual sacrifice, gains
enormous wealth as a reward, and is afterwards haunted by the dead wife's
ghost. Riding on the back of the success of that first attempt, other film
producers followed suit, leading to the birth of a multi-billion naira industry
that is today considered second only to agriculture in the employment of labour
in Nigeria.
Over the years, several themes have been explored by several
filmmakers. Prominently, there have been movies on family life, love and
romance, politics, crime, kingship tussles, among others. But one storyline that
has remained dominant in Nigerian movies is that of rituals and ritual murder –
as portrayed in Living in Bondage: a man suffers abject poverty, does odds and
ends to liberate himself from penury to no avail, is introduced into cultism by
an old friend who seems to have made it big time, engages in ritual sacrifice,
becomes wealthy, and then sooner or later begins to suffer the consequences.
This very storyline has become all too familiar. One can conjecture that over
half of all the movies produced in Nollywood bear a trace of this, only there
are slight variations here and there. The same motif runs through such films as
Living in Bondage, Blood Money, Across the River, The Billionaires’ Club, The
Contractors, The Vultures, Across the River Niger Bridge, etc.
The questions to ask are: Are Nigerians really ritual murderers as
portrayed in these films? Do Nigerians visit native doctors at every turn to
obtain one medicine or the other to eliminate their enemies or those opposed to
their ideas? The answer is a categorical no. While one cannot rule out the
presence of bad eggs in every society, the proverbial Judas in every twelve, it
is indeed regrettable how Nollywood movies have glorified these few bad eggs,
making them the rule rather than the exception that they really are.
For instance, Living in Bondage, written by Kenneth Nnebue and
Okechukwu Ogunjiofor and directed by Chris Obi Rapu, and which featured such
actors as Kenneth Okonkwo (who played the role of Andy Okeke), Nnenna Nwabueze
(who played Merit, Andy’s wife), Kanayo O. Kanayo (Chief Omego), Francis Agu,
Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, Dan Oluigbo, Ngozi Nwaneto, and a host of others, was
hailed for its close resemblance to reality, its verisimilitude. However, there
were others, the critical audience, who saw the movie as taking imagination too
far.
It is therefore debatable whether it is the movies that mirror
society or the other way round. For indeed, many among the critical audience
have argued that the society has actually learnt some of its negative
tendencies from movies. Doesn’t it appear that the evil of ritual murder has
actually multiplied in our society in the wake of the proliferation of these
movies on ritual murder? In fact, it’s as if the movies give fresh ideas to
would-be ritual murderers, pointing them in new directions, to new ways of
doing it.
Again, take the theme of kingship tussle, as represented in films
like Royal Battle, Royal Disaster, Kingdom in Disaster, Royal Bastard, and many
others. In many traditional Nigerian (nay, African) societies, there is a
belief that the king is born and not made. Kingship tussle is very rare because
succession to the throne is usually by inheritance through the practice of
primogeniture. Where succession by inheritance is not the norm, then there
usually will be a solid succession plan on ground as spelt out by the oracle,
and everybody naturally follows suit because any attempt to thwart the wishes
of the oracle will produce grave consequences. But this fact is not portrayed
in Nollywood films. Rather, what we see is a situation where individuals who
stumbled on money but who do not have any claim to the throne suddenly emerge
to fight over the throne with the true heir, and the elders who should speak
out shut their mouths and eyes and pretend not to see anything, and even the
chief priest of the oracle is sometimes bought over. And, most annoyingly, and
contrary to known facts, these evil acts sometimes come without any
consequences to the perpetrators.
As such, today in many Nigerian communities, particularly in
Igboland, kingship tussle has become almost an everyday occurrence. It has torn
communities apart, turned brothers against brothers, led to fratricide, and
stalled progress in many communities.
A very eye-opening script. But are we really sure our society hasn't been that bad, hence, Nollywood taking after its representation and not vice versa? I guess worse things have been happening. But I totally agree that some skills are learnt from the movies.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your writings, pls keep it up.