Nigeria Abroad
Books have been written and movies made about the legend of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Biafra protagonist and a major subject of Nigerian history, but little, if anything, is on record about the man’s capacity for pleasure.
But all that will change with Other Side of History, a biopic by popular filmmaker and writer Onyeka Nwelue, who is globetrotting to market the project currently 90% ready.
From the United States to Canada to Ghana, Nwelue, 33, mobilized a colourful cast to tell the story of Ojukwu’s life between 1954 – 1960. The film was shot in different countries, including in Ghana—the Ghanaian highlife musician E.T. Mensah, prestigious at the time, was brought to Enugu Nigeria by fun-seeking Ojukwu.
“Anyone who could afford to bring E.T. Mensah to Enugu in the 50s was really a rich man, and Emeka Ojukwu, founder of Biafra, invited him. So, I thought it was important to include E.T. Mensah in the narrative of Ojukwu,” Nwelue told a Ghanaian TV which wrote on its website that Ojukwu was “frolicking with different women and throwing parties for his friends.”
Speaking to Nigeria Abroad, Nwelue explained why the story needed to be told:
“Wole Soyinka shared a personal story of him and Ojukwu with me. Obasanjo told me that Ojukwu was his friend. So I thought it was important to tell my generation born into confusion, that there was life before 1960. There was a need to make Ojukwu a human being in the eyes of my generation. Kids of my generation don’t know much. They only know how to coin slangs and dance a lot.”
Set for launch on October 1, 2021, Other Side of History was inspired by a 2012 Vanguard Newspaper article by Uduma Kalu: Ojukwu: Sexcapades of the Biafran leader. The article had said Ojukwu was a women charmer who wrote great romantic poetry and love letters.
Greg Ojefua plays Emeka Ojukwu, in a cast that include Nollywood veteran Chiwetalu Agu and some new faces: Juice Egah, Rachael Okonkwo, and Chika Anyanwu (playing Sir Louis Ojukwu).
Others are Makinde Adeniran (Wole Soyinka), Emeka Darlington (Chinua Achebe), Hero Daniels (Chris Okigbo), Emeka Okoye (Olusegun Obasanjo), Ugo Stevenson (Philip Effiong), Jammal Ibrahim (Yakubu Gowon), and Obodoakor (JP Clark).
More on the cast: George Onyebuchi (Chukwuemeka Ike), Fellowship Okereke (Emmanuel Ifeajuna), Mitterrand Okorie (Nnamdi Azikiwe), Eze Justice (Kaduna Nzeogwu), Acharaman (E.T. Mensah), and TerryTheVoice, (Bobby Benson).
Read the full story in Nigeria Abroad
