Nkem Owoh is well known for his antics as ‘Osuofia’. But he is a different character in Yvonne Okoro’s Ghana Must Go, which hits Nigerian cinemas this week. In this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, he talks about his role in the film, Nollywood and what he has been doing all along.
What in your opinion is the film, Ghana Must Go, all about?
The film highlights a social problem, even political problem, using the negative to bring about the positive. I think that is what this film is all about.
What is your take on the scripting and production?
Scripting is fine; in fact, that is what attracted me. If the script had been flat , I don’t think I would have involved myself in it. But seeing the twists and cliffhangers in it, I was impressed. I know that this kind of script can bring countries together instead of separating them.
What would you count as the challenges you encounter in the industry?
There are a lot of challenges, just like the ones we used to have. When we get to that stage where the challenges will be minimal, that means we have come of age like we have in Hollywood, Bollywood where you can build your own set, create your own things technologically. You may not even stress yourself so much because technology has taken care of a lot of things in film.
One couldn’t help but notice that you seemed to have been a little restrained in this role; you were not the Osuofia that everybody knows. What really happened?
No, but the thing is that I don’t have to be Osuofia because this is not an Osuofia film. If you look at the structure of the film, you find out that you are in somebody’s house and it is your culture that you are trying to see if you could transfer. So you are not supposed to go there and become so vulgar. You are in somebody’s house, in somebody’s country, and courtesy, at least, demands that you have to mellow down on certain things. But Osuofia in London is like a wild guy; I wasn’t in anybody’s house. This one shows that you don’t come to people’s place and begin to… it is not in our culture.
Is that what we should expect from you in the future?
No, I don’t have to fixate myself to that. There are a lot of things we can do . It is just that we have challenges. If you bring a script that talks about something else, we will face that one.
Do you have any Ghana/Nigeria experience that you would like to share?
No, not in this Ghana Must Go thing. I was around when the thing started and I had my views then. But I was not that politically enlightened at that time to know… When I came up, I said okay, probably through this film we will be able to explain certain things to the people who are coming up because all the people who have caused the rancour are no longer – probably they are less active now – living.
Some people insist that Nollywood is dead considering, for instance, that more movies were produced back then than now.
It is not dead. The person (that said Nollywood is dead) has dead creativity. We are passing through a phase. When did we start? We started just the other day. How many years ago? So we must have some of those things, you know; just like in governance, they say when any of the presidents comes on board, they will tell you we are learning and then they learn for (several years). So I don’t think it is something peculiar to film production. That we have maybe a drop in the vigour of production unlike it was then when we started doesn’t amount to death.
Are you producing a film of your own any time soon?
In fact, I am working on not producing just any film; I have been producing films. I am an executive producer-cum-producer.
How soon is the next one?
Yes, I have a lot. But you see, just like you said, if one angle of pre-production begins to go low, you wait for it to rekindle. Right now, distribution is the thing that is (bothering) everybody in this line. Myself, particularly, I produce a lot of films and I want to produce a film that will create an impact and then make me have my money.
What do you have to tell those who may want to come and see Ghana Must Go?
Let them get the message and imbibe it. It is not just coming to watch it to laugh because this man makes people laugh. When watching the film, concentrate and find out one or two things that can help you, your own creativity, that you know that you can use. For instance, Ghana Must Go sounds very corrosive to a Ghanaian, but when you begin to watch it, you see.
Ghana Must Go creates the impression of a stigma between Ghanaians and Nigerians…
There was. But if you watch towards the end, you will see the reconciliation. The character I played even started to sermonise, to tell them, look, don’t mind us, young ones, please relate, forget about the ills, the mistakes that we the elders must have made in the past. Forget it and then blend and come together. All that is very clear at the end.
Is this Ghana Must Go issue such a big one that the General in the film would hold such a very strong view?
There are some of these old ones, and at times the implication is that they transfer it to the younger generation. So, what this film tries to do is to say, leave it with the old generation. If there is any one of them that still has it in mind, let the person go with it; but please don’t involve yourself in the separation and differences.
