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For generations to come and for students of the motion picture industry, they will never forget in a hurry the man who changed the face of movie making in Nigeria and gave the sector an industry today known as Nollywood. Thirty years ago, Okey Ogunjiofor changed the narrative of film making with his hit classic, Living in Bondage followed by other successful films. He thereafter ‘disappeared’ for another 30 years to show up with another globally recognized epic flick; Amina which has received more international recognition and awards than local ones.

Speaking on the evolution of his character name, Paulo, Okey Ogunjiofor stated that “Paul O actually is my name. My English name is Polycarp, that is where the name came from, Paul O. My name is Okechukwu, my surname is Ogunjiofor. So, like I answered my name in another film, Circle of Doom too, I always use my names in most of my films. Paul O is my real name. However, when we grow, sometimes we prefer to answer our vernacular names to have that cultural connection to our roots. Presently, I like to be addressed simply as Okey Ogunjiofor.”

Speaking on his current work making waves, Amina, he said “I started Amina on 8, August 1996. That was when I wrote the first letter to the presidency through the office of the then First Lady, Maryam Abacha who was in office at that moment, because they just returned from Beijing conference and were talking about women empowerment and all that. I wrote a letter to them to say that I can partner with them to create a content, a narrative directing peoples’ minds towards the women folk. They responded that I should come over for the defense. I went. Don’t forget that before the advent of Christianity and Islam, we saw mostly women rule in the African continent. We had Queen Nefertiti of Egypt (1292 BC); Makeba, Queen of Sheba (960 BC) and Empress Candence of Ethiopia (323 BC). Later, we had Queen Amina of Zazzau (c. 1533 – 1633); Queen Anna Nzinga of Angola (c. 1583 – 1663); Yaa Asante Boa of Ashanti Kingdom of Ghana (c.1830-1921); Queen Sarraounia Mangou of Niger (19th Century), Ranavalona of Madagascar; Queen Beatrice of the Congo, to name a few.”

On the point where Africa lost it to the extent that white folks now sell women empowerment, how to raise girl children and teaching us gender equality, he said “Those were very pungent questions on my mind and I put them forward at the presidency that I had research that I would want to put into a film to empower our women especially our children and then answer certain questions so that the white people will know that it didn’t start from them. Isn’t it an irony that each time the white people take something from us, they simply repackage it back to us and claim ownership? They take cocoa from us repackage it and it becomes chocolates and other expensive beverages; they take our gold repackage it, it becomes some expensive ornaments; they take our crude oil, repackage it and it becomes some fuel that is unaffordable to the poor; they take our sugar cane, our palm oil and so on. It gave me the opportunity to present the story of the African women in such a way that they could understand.

“They asked me how I intended to do that. I said to them, one woman epitomizes everything and she is Queen Amina of Zaria. She was a very young lady. Amina’s story is full of controversy as some people believed she never lived, some believed she lived but that she was a hermaphrodite taking men for sexual satisfaction and killing them once they see her nakedness – a lot of controversies! They asked if it is such a person you want to raise as a role model for women? I said, that is where the research comes in because in the public domain people are hearing and reading a lot of things that may not be true. We have to go back to the seven kingdoms of the north, the 13 emirates of the north, the custodians of history to tell us what they know so that we can come up with the real story – the truth. They said, okay, but they would not give me money, that I would have to do the research funding myself. I was prepared to make that sacrifice on my own. I requested something from them, that since they will not give me money can they at least give me letters of introduction to all the emirs, all the custodians of culture, all the professors or those who should know in the north so that I can get easy access to them. They did a letter on the presidency letterhead partnering with my company – Videosonic Studios Limited, and another introducing us to all concerned asking that they grant us audience,” he added. (The Nation)

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