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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
One monster that has held Nigeria down for decades is corruption in almost every public sector. The insidious act has led to institutional decadence.
This was recently captured in a movie, titled ‘The Book of Nehemiah.’ It was premiered recently in Abuja. The producer, Kenneth Okwu, said the film was inspired by his father who was a disciplinarian and abhorred corruption.
According to him, the project was carried out by his sister and himself to reflect how things have gone from bad to worse.
Okwu pointed out that it was a way of immortalising his late father and to let him know that what he fought for had become a norm.
“The project is actually being done by me and my sister. Growing up, my father was very, very anti-corrupt politics. And so he instilled that into us.
“He would always scold politicians who called him to come and take money behind his scenes. We knew it was something that he was very, very passionate about instilling in us. And so when he passed away, I think we felt like it was right to honor him with this.
“So the Book of Nehemiah is essentially a walk into the troubles and travails of a country. A country like Nigeria, we have a lot of insecurity, we have poverty as an issue that we are dealing with.
“We have doctors leaving, brain drain, and a whole host of things that is afflicting the country. And it seems like there is no end in sight to all of this. And so the movie is a fantasy reality based.
“We are touting it as the first ever Afro beats musical movie. Like it is a movie and it is a musical. But it is done on the basis of using Afro beats.
“Which is very popular around the world right now to tell the story, to drive the story. The movie is essentially to start the conversation.
“Basically, if we are able to educate the people about what is out there, I think you can actually start a good conversation towards what needs to be done.
“The movie actually offers solutions to these problems. And if you watch the movie end to end, you’ll see what we’re trying to do.
“Just basically telling people that yeah, you have a problem, this is a potential way you could actually solve it.
“So yes, the movie is a platform for us to kind of launch a campaign into conversations around issues that afflict the country,” he said.
Also, Okwu raised the alarm over the atrocities of piracy, noting that the malaise has killed so many intellectual works.
He also identified the lack of government’s commitment in the production of movies, especially those that are against corruption.
He said: “I think the issue of piracy is something that is very, very serious.
“It is something that we see people steal a car or steal five naira on the road or steal a fruit. You beat them and all that. But pirates, they do that because they are behind the internet and they are behind closed doors.
“They go get away scot-free. Piracy is something that is crumbling the industry. A lot of people put in a lot of their hard-earned money and work and time just to see someone else rip off of it.
“So what we are hoping to do is, we are hoping to use secure digital platforms that would actually curtail a little bit of the piracy around some of this work. But again, that is another conversation that we are supposed to try to have with the movie as well.”
Speaking on the support crew and cast got from the government, he said: “We definitely did not get any amount of support from the government.
“Actually, they were a hindrances to us. There were times when we actually put in an application to shoot at a certain location. And while we were there, we got approval from a manager.
“And the director walked by and cancelled our production. That day we had rented equipment for millions and paid all the staff. All that money was lost for that day.
“And so the government of Nigeria, they have to do better. They have to do better. Because what ended up happening was, we had to go track a certain director to his office.
“And we stayed four or five hours there while the production team was being paid. And so the government of Nigeria, they need to do better. Can you give me the name of the ministry? That is the transportation.”
One of the casts, Itatu Jonah, described the project as “amazing. It was mind-blowing.” According to him, the project was “very, very interesting. And of course, challenging. The logistics, the technicalities that goes into a huge project like that.
“It was quite challenging at some point. Discouraging. But somehow it pulled through.”
He the government should join hands with well-meaning Nigerians to address the battered image of the country.
“With our image as a nation right now, any such project that will aim at portraying the image of the country in a positive light, and not just in a positive light, also at the backdrop, create a mindset change, should be encouraged by the government.
“Whatever could make for a better society and a change of mindset of young people coming up. It is just something that should be loud and be encouraged,” he said.
Picture 1: The crew and cast members
Picture 2: Okwu (in a face cap) and a guest, Ikyobo Daniels (left) in a sleeveless top.
