”We wanted world class actors for Oloibiri”

Oge Neliaku is the producer of ‘Oloibiri,’ a movie set in the community where oil was first discovered in Nigeria. She speaks about the movie and doing more to tell the story of Nigeria’s heritage through films. Excerpts: ADVERTISEMENT Weekend Magazine: What prompted the making of ‘Oloibiri’? Oge Neliaku: The movie is made on a platform we call National Heritage Production Series, (NHPS), where we take heritage stories about Nigeria, historical events and make into world class movies, while telling our stories ourselves. It’s also a way to get the people who will ordinarily not know about such things to do so because it’s important to us as a nation. ‘Oloibiri’ is the first movie made on this platform. The movie has already been premiered and won three international awards, because we went out of our way to do a good movie and tell a story in a manner that can reach any audience. It features A-list actors like Olu Jacobs, Ivie Okujaye, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett, Richard Mofe-Damijo and a few others. We also have one other actor from Hollywood, William Moses of the ‘CSI’ series. We believe the movie will add value to different categories of people in the country. It’s also our hope to draw awareness to ‘Oloibiri.’ Sixty years after oil was found there, the community remains abandoned without any investment made into it. Some of them are unable to watch TV because there’s no electricity. There’s also no potable water. We hope to get the attention of, not just our own government, but other bodies worldwide.

ADVERTISEMENT WM: Why did you decide to start the heritage project with ‘Oloibiri’? Neliaku: It’s actually for a very simple reason. Oil is where Nigeria really made its name from. We felt that it’s strategic to start with a sector that seems to be causing a lot of interest, both for good and evil. There are those that are bombing pipelines and those who are investing. It’s the major area we have gotten our finances from as a nation. Also, being that it’s sixty years of oil exploration in Nigeria, we felt it’s timely. We felt that seeing the movie will help Nigerians understand the reason behind restiveness. It’s amazing. In the course of the project, we have met people at the level of bank managers who don’t know what Oloibiri is or what it represents. WM: What did it take to put the movie together? Neliaku: It took a lot of money. If you look at the A-list cast, a director from the US and so on. It really cost a lot of money, but we cannot come up with the figure now. Ever since the movie was shot, late 2014, we have been spending money on it till date. Until it gets to the cinemas, that’s when we know we are done with spending. As for the figure, it’s a lot of money because doing something very well costs money. WM: Oloibiri is where oil was first tapped and it was neglected. But what are you saying beyond these? Neliaku: It’s about a young man who is a first class student. He gets a job in an oil company, but he works there for a while and doesn’t want to anymore. He feels the company is exploiting his people and that they are causing a lot of damage to the environment and are not addressing those things. So he feels guilty collecting a pay cheque from them while people in the community are dying. He gets very upset with the system and takes out his anger on a white man who came with very good intentions for the community. They kidnapped this man and there’s a lot of torture because he is trying to bring his grief to bear on this one man. Eventually, there’s a lot of violence. The Nigerian army had to come in, rescue the man and end the violence in the community. It’s the story of today. There’s violence there and good reason for their agitation, but the way they have carried on with it isn’t acceptable at all. It comes out in the movie that you may have a case or cause, but you cannot fight the state. Anybody who does that will only have himself to blame. It buttresses the point that dialogue is the best way to resolve issues. The team that came from the US thought the script was the imagination of the scriptwriter, but when they came to Nigeria they discovered that it wasn’t. That changed their perception and there was so much heart put into the work because they realised they were doing humanity good. We are also aware that some of those who condemn militancy don’t understand what is going on except the fact that pipelines are being blown. In the cause of showing the movie to a few other stakeholders, we came across a man who thought high rises exist in Oloibiri. There is no water to drink and we are talking of high rise. It made us wonder because the man is from the community and thinks there are high rises. We are not taking sides with anyone and we are not pointing fingers. It’s a collective negligence for everyone. WM: How much was the community involved in the production of ‘Oloibiri’? Neliaku: We did a lot of casting from the community; all our extras in terms of actors were from the community. We also had some crew members from there. Some also helped in the pre-production research. WM: When you start making money off the movie, are you planning on having some of the proceeds go towards the community’s development? Neliaku: We actually went there and found out through some kind of survey, the kind of projects that will help the Oloibiri community. They include schooling, healthcare facilities, potable water and so on. As a matter of fact, after the command screening, a lady called us and said she will like to invest in a borehole in the community. So, what we do with such contacts is connect them to the host community so they can liaise with them. We also said that after we have recovered the cost of our production, we will like to give back a percentage to the community to help with those projects. Even without recovering our cost, we are already meeting people who want to do one thing or the other and linking them up. We are all Nigerians and for us, it’s not all about making money but leaving a legacy and touching lives. If the Oloibiri people will remember the day actors came and made a movie and this is what came out of it and they were blessed, we will be happy. WM: Did you reach out to get funding and got responses? Neliaku: We spoke to those people we consider our friends and got support from them. Securing the actors, especially from Hollywood, was also a challenge. They always think that nobody is safe in Nigeria. They wanted all sorts of insurance policies to cover them. There was one that we had to get insurance to air lift. As we were getting into the deal with them, Ebola broke out. A few of them didn’t come and one of them said his wife seized his passport. But eventually everything worked out with those that came. WM: Why did you decide to use an American director? Neliaku: We want the movie to be able to come to any platform and be very well done. We are not saying that Nigerian directors are not doing well. They are. But we did not want to take a risk. Also, it’s good to get someone others can learn from. People from our own side, including those from Oloibiri, were able to learn from the best. Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/we-wanted-world-class-actors-for-oloibiri.html