THE LOCAL & FLY

Government and politics are common filmmaking topics and nobody ever stops to ask about how the leaders take them. In reality, leadership is much more complex and so is the relationship that Nigerians have with the government. The complicated relationships brew parallel sentiments which are then expressed in everything the people do as well as in making films about the government. The influence of political Nigerian movies on people is still hard to understand. But, how accurate are they and how does the government take them?

Accuracy of Political Nigerian Movies

The people’s judgment is totally flawed and filmmakers find it hard to make a movie to balance perception. They just flow with the people. Looking at two recent movies, ‘4th Republic‘ and ‘Choices‘, which give us good insights into the people’s perceptions of government and political Nigerian exercises like an election.

They both portray a tangible amount of betrayals, electoral conflicts and clashes. In Nollywood’s best knowledge, the films showed some of the insecurities of Nigerians during elections. While trying to find a balance between what happens and political blunders, we are left to solve some key pieces in the movies’:

• There is a reason people keep thinking that the government in Nigeria is doing everything wrong. 
• The influence of the government on people and the things that give people opinions about the government.
• Films will never be a reason for people to express greater levels of trust or distrust in the government.
• These films are made from the real experiences of the people who long for government attention and getting none.

When Nigerian movies like that are made, it is easy to conclude that they portray the government negatively. They are simply a reflection of public opinion. A few hours on screen does not tell much but it presents to the world questions on the degrees of trust issues Nigerians have. 

How does the government respond to criticism in movies?

Take a public incident like that of the journalist Sowore Omoyele as an instance, this affects everyone in the nation. If this story is made into a movie, what will be the part of the government? How will a story like this be told from the government point of view? Isn’t there anything that the government in Nigeria is able to get right?

People desire to be able to boast about one good governance and to make movies about it. Many movies today make people all over the world understand a defining incident in America’s timeline, the bombing of the world trade centre.

The world still awaits movies that can explain government efforts and place in a defining incident like the missing Chibok girls in Nigeria. Except the government is guilty of all negative portrayals in Nigerian movies.

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