RITUAL KILLINGS IN NIGERIA, THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME

By Odusanya Omowonuola

It was Richard Walter, 78,  a Professor and screenwriting Chairman, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who out of his years of writing Oscars winning screenplays and of teaching screenwriting, categorically stated that, ‘To write screenplay is to play God’.

Walter in his book, ‘Essentials of screenwriting’ posited that, just like Almighty God created heaven and earth with everything therein, a screenwriter creates the world, and characters that live in it. He/she determines who lives and leaves; who is handsome/beautiful and who should be ‘atutupoyoyo’; who is rich and who continues to wallow in abject poverty; which country is led into contraption by clueless leadership and selfish political class; who accepts fate, lives on hope and die fasting; and who opts for a short cut to success or seek self help to become Eze Ego overnight.
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No doubt, either on a plane/plain sheet of paper or on the silver screen of a computer, the Screenwriters play God in their own right. In that case, it won’t be out of place to conclude that, the Screenwriters as Gods are responsible for whatever that is seen in a movie. Could this assertion from Walter Richard be a pointer to the claims on the lips of some Nigerians who strongly believe that, Nollywood films are responsible for the spate of ongoing ritual killings in Nigeria?

The answer is a resounding NO from Nollywood stakeholders. The filmmakers believe that , the gods are not to blame for the alarming ritual killings. And they canvassed their argument with both empirical evidences and logical submissions that rested the case at the doorsteps of governments at all levels, regulatory body and political elites, just to mention few

The stakeholders believe that, Nollywood does not exist in a vacuum. Stories are written based on experiences, real life issues, imaginations and from various sources. Unfortunately, this realism to screenwriting has presented Nollywood as the harbinger of ritual killings in Nigeria, especially amongst the younger generation.

It would be recalled that, the House of Representatives recently called for the declaration of a state of emergency on ritual killings in the country, partly blaming the menace on the Nollywood industry and tasked all stakeholders to begin a national campaign to change the orientation of the people towards the crime.

At the plenary, it was mentioned that Nollywood promotes ritual killings and HoR called on the Executive Director, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Adedayo Thomas, to “rise to the mandate of the agency as the clearing house for all movies produced in the country,” . HoR further charged NFVCB to stop the portrayal of ritual killings as means to an end in Nollywood movies following the spike in ritual killings being experienced in the country, while also mandating its Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values to ensure that the resolution was complied with.

However, Nollywood actors and film makers have come out to counter this notion that Nollywood has contributed to the rapid increase in ritual killings.

Filmmaker and Nollywood key stakeholder, Fidelis  Duker has come out to slam members of the public blaming Nollywood for the present ills in the country. The Director argued that social media is erroneously fueling the notion that Nollywood movies are responsible for the recent rise in ritual killings in the country.

He said “I think to a large extent, I differ. In recent times, the generation of Nigerians involved in ritual killings are within the age bracket of 17 and 26. Most of them did not watch those kind of films. Most of the ritual films were produced about 10 and 15 years ago. What I am saying in essence is that, Nollywood films cannot be blamed for the increase in ritual killings in the country. In films, even those who engaged in ritual killings usually ended up paying the price for it.”

The Nollywood filmmaker who is also the Executive Director of the Abuja International Film Festival, blamed the dearth of moral values as one of the reasons that people no longer question the lifestyle of young people, they just watch and move on. “In a recent Facebook post, I said one of the causes is that we have lost our moral values. A child of 17 years old would bring a new car home and the mother would be celebrating it. What work has he done at 17? A girl in year one in a tertiary institution would be using an iPhone of about N500,000, and one begins to wonder where she got the money from? Those are the issues we should look at. We should not look for an escape route and blame Nollywood films (for all these ills).”

Also reacting to the claims of the House of Representatives, Actor cum politician, Yul Edochie has urged the House of Reps not to blame the menace of ritual killings on the Nigerian movie industry. He stated that Nollywood only shows what happens in society and should not be accused of promoting ritual killings. Yul Edochie, stated that the portrayal of rituals in their movies only mirrors the reality on the ground within the country, in order to draw attention to the ills in our society. He then continued to insist that the lawmakers who have true power are the ones who can bring about lasting change in the country.

“Nollywood is only showing what happens in society. Nigerians are wallowing in extreme poverty. A hungry man is an angry man, fix the country and crime will go away. Don’t blame Nollywood.” he said in the post.

However, a few other celebrities tilt towards the side of the House of Representatives, insisting that Nollywood indeed promotes the act of ritual killings. One of them is music Producer cum Blogger, Samuel Oguachuba, popularly known as Samklef.  Samklef in a post blamed Nollywood for the surge in ritual killings across the country, especially by young men.

The music producer said, the incessant ritual killings were result of what they watch in Nigerian movies. “Igbo Nollywood, English and Yoruba movies are the reason a lot of young boys are doing rituals. They keep promoting fetish stuff in all their movies,” he tweeted .

“Nigeria movies producer can do better. Everything must not be based on juju and religion,” he added.

 

Tunde Olaoye, a Nollywood Director, known for directing the movie, ‘married but living single’ also contributed to the issue saying, “Nollywood is deeply rooted in societal drama and no Nollywood script is written out of vacuum. The stories are written to reflect the life of the people, that is, their history, beliefs, traditions and cultures. Nollywood did not invent money rituals or just brought it from nowhere into their themes and then the society is copying it, it is the other way round. Nollywood is mirroring society. It is therefore disingenuous to claim that Nollywood is aiding the practice of money rituals.”

Olaoye stated, there is no Nollywood movie on money rituals where the villain will not suffer destructive repercussions. So, film industry in Nigeria has only been able to discourage an evil practice that existed in our society long before the advent of Nollywood.

“We have heard about a lot of money ritual cases in our society since the days of investigative Journalist like the late Kolawole Olawuyi. His programme “Irinkerindo” on Radio and “Nnkan mbẹ” on TV told us many gory stories of ritual killings. We witnessed the Otokoto and Ezego stories, all these were not motivated by Nollywood stories.”

“What we need is a better criminal justice system that can always make sure that justice is carried out without any tolerance for crime. We need parents to pay more attention to their kids, clerics to stop promising their congregation that there is miracle money somewhere and ultimately, people in government delivering good governance whereby the economy becomes friendly, and there is reward for hard work and ingenuity. Nollywood should not be the scapegoat for the perennial evil hanging on our necks. It is a very embarrassing socio-cultural albatross that we must get rid of by all means.”

 

 

Picture Credits- Internet and BBC