Just days after the second Edo State International Film Festival took place in the Ancient City of Benin, the capital of Edo State, between the 31st of November and the 2nd of December, I got a WhatsApp message from a young man who had so much to say. Reading through his messages at first, felt like exhilaration or the ’after-excitement’, like an ambrosia, he felt with the glitz and glam that accompanied the Film Festival. Well, I will not blame him if it was. Who wouldn’t be dazzled to see the legion of stars and celebrities that graced the red carpet or the retinue of talent that graced the panel sessions and film screenings.
For the three days of the Festival, Benin City was agog with fun, fanfare and entertainment. The ancient City of Benin shone like a galaxy of stars. For a city known to be so recluse and considered a ’Civil Service’ town, with its sorry state of security in the past, it beats the imagination to ask, what changed? What has propelled the State from its backwater ranking in the entertainment sphere, to the vantage and enviable position it currently enjoys? What are the factors that have made it the ’bride’ of Nollywood producers and practitioners? What is this magic ’Cinderella’ wand that has been waved to change all the past narratives as we used to know?
That was why I had to take a second look at these WhatsApp messages from Nosazeme, a young creative writer, whose journey started just last year, from a training programme organized by the Edo State Government, through its agency, EDOJOBS, and facilitated by ROK STUDIOS. Young creatives and professionals were given training by experts in filmmaking in the areas of screen writing, cinematography and sound. He was one of those who participated in the screenwriting class and showed some flair. He was further encouraged by the facilitators to try his hands at writing proper scripts for movies. He actually did plunge himself to bolster his learning and training by research, writing and being mentored as well. In the course of all of these, I still remember moments when he sent me messages of frustration because things were not going as he felt. He complained of being tired and wanted to call it quits. Writing jobs were not coming and any young or old creative will definitely be tired of the ’hustle’. I always told him to persevere and keep doing what he believes in, as consistency breeds progress. Now, one year and ten months later, he sends me these messages which I will publish unedited. At a glance, his messages looked like ruminations of his soul. A deep look at the journey of his life. But beyond that, it was deeper. This was his message:
‘I had just started my business. I was broke. Lived in a 1 room apartment. I was told to write out my goals. So I typed: “I will be working with the Edo State and Delta State Government in high profile multi million Naira projects.” ‘Back then, Lancelot was not in Benin City. Neither were you. Or I. Perhaps Aunty Mary Njoku, had not started ROK. Obaseki was not the Governor. I did not know what or why I would be working with the Government of any state for that matter. It was a crazy dream. Benin City was not a filmmaking state. Or For cinema. And it didn’t seem like one. Isreal Wekpe was not doing anything theatrical on an annual basis. There was no film festival. I had no way to see Commissioner not to talk about Governor. Aunty Mary did not even want to come to Benin City. Her chief aim was Enugu or Lagos.I used to spend my life savings to record music in the studio. Yesterday, I sat down with Mbaka. Legemah. Dr Gbovo knows my family, Aimiuwu. Eliel Otote and my father were close.” ‘So now you telling me the best studio in Nigeria is sitting not far from your office? All I have to do is ask for it? I saw Carol King. I saw Akobeghian. Juduth Audu. Eunice Omoregie. My very first feature length film received standing ovation at the film festival. Alibaba just walked in…like….like, wait o, See Victor Sanchez for my front. See the people wey write Shanty Town. See me see Segun Arinze. Am I really just an office away from the man who wrote ’Egg of Life?’ Did Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen just stroll around the office? Nor be Aunty Mary Njoku, be that? Is that not the Governor in front of us? Did I just act with Segun Arinze? Did Legemah just spoke to me about screenwriting? Is Andrew Osawaru actually loving his Pa James character?(that’s a character from the Script he wrote which was shot recently). Did Billy Kings just say, he loves Tony’s character? (a character too from the script). Am I in the same place with the guy who played Ade in Blood of Enogie? Did I just see Charles Uwagbai? Is it Etinosa Idemudia sitting in front of me or someone else? Is that Ben Olaye? I wrote a letter to the Governor today. I haven’t sent it out yet.”
And when I asked him what the letter was about, he said, ’GRATITUDE”. That struck a chord. Not because I felt it was foolish of me to have asked, as his chat messages encapsulated that. But it gave me an insight into much deeper realms of Illumination. I discovered that this is reflective of a lot of youths and people generally in the creative space in Edo State. There has been a new wave and influx of movies coming into the State by production companies and producers. This has created a new buzz of activities; actors are being cast for big and medium budget films, set designers, costume designers, cinematographers, sound recordists, gaffers, directors and producers, are constantly engaged in one production or the other. Even the woman who makes food (welfare) for productions and that woman who fries ’akara’ at the junction have seen a growth in their business, with production vehicles filled with cast and crew, stop by to buy ’akara (bean cake) and bread, on their way to location. Not to forget the store owner who is assured of selling over a hundred bags of pure water and a large quantity of table water to these film sets. The multiplier effect on the economy, small and medium scale businesses, is unquantifiable. But how did this vision begin and what has driven its present success?
It took one man with a vision and a dream to put all of these in motion. A man who saw the endgame from the beginning and understood the fact that, Edo State, with a population of about 5 million people and a youth population of over 60% percent between the ages 15-35years. This demography is a restless breed, as youth is energy and zest. This energy if not well managed, leads to not only Youth restiveness, but a plunging of this ’critical mass’ into negative dealings and social dislocation which bears its effect on security (as some will go into crime, etc) and society. There was a need to engage this crowd of ’latent talent’ for positive good. It is a known fact that the Edo people are naturally very Creative people with enormous artistic talent. These can be seen from our bronze and wooden art that are strewed across museums all over the world. It was thus natural to look at the creative industry.
That was what the ’driver’ of this vision, His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki did. He understood the need to build the right infrastructure that will enable, gestate and incubate, this creativity. This led to the the birth of the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, with its full sound stage, a cinema hall/theatre, world class sound studio, editing suite with the highest of all standards comparable to any one, anywhere in the world. Knowing this was not enough, His Excellency also understood the need to get these places into use and the effectiveness of collaborations was a key factor. This led to the state’s collaboration, through the EDOJOBS Agency, with AFRICA MAGIC and ROK STUDIOS to come to Benin to film. It is noteworthy to state that this creative partnership has led to the filming of the series ’ENAKHE’ by Africa Magic in Benin, and over 50 movies by different producers under the ROK umbrella, as well as the filming of the successful runaway television series: ’Blood of Enogie’ and other Series as well, from LA’VIDA STUDIOS, MELA MOVIES, etc. We cannot mention all of these successes, without talking about the State government’s attention to bring in capital development and investments by private investors in the entertainment space as well. This has led to the construction of entertainment venues, shopping malls and food malls, as well as cinemas. The simple reason for all of this is investor confidence in the economy, security, ease of doing business and the right infrastructure for growth.
To further push this narrative of a vibrant creative Industry and the goal of making Edo State the ultimate film production destination in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, His Excellency took a bold step to create the EDO FILM PROJECT, which is domiciled in the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, to drive this mandate. With a responsibility of making sure more productions come into the State, incentives were provided by the State Government to ease productions in Edo State. It is fact that no state in Nigeria currently offers filmmakers what Edo State offers to them in making their films in the state. From free accommodation for crew members, discounted fees for hotels for artistes, locations, film permits, free production buses fuelled by the government daily, security and more. This has virtually taken over 30% percent of production cost from any production. The Edo State International Film Festival is the testament of that work done by the Governor Obaseki government in the shaping of this creative economy that continuously attracts all to come to Edo State as seen from the crowd that graced the last Film Festival.
Now, you see the reason why Edo is the new capital of Nollywood? You see the reason why many like Nosazeme are out there working hard and contributing to the State with their talent and making a living by it. What else can we say but ’EDO TO THE WORLD!
