BOLA TINUBU HITS FILM LOCATION BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
By Dauda Bushirat Adetutu
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the biopic of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jagaban,Last Man Standing would hit the silver screens across the nation to herald the presidential campaign of the former Lagos State Governor and national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) whose long term ambition is to lead the Africa’s most populous nation.
According to the producer of the biopic, Seun Oloketuyi, in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Jagaban,Last Man Standing is one of the biopics from his stable that is meant to fill the gaps of the dearth of historical books about people and places and not a propaganda for Jagaban as speculated in many quarters.
Seun Oloketuyi, a seasoned film journalist, producer, and Chief Executive Officer of Best of Nollywood awards told NAN. “When we did The White Lion, a lot of people said it was a propaganda for Yahaya Bello, and I told them to wait until they see the movie. I believe that, it is time to bring our stories to life, especially for our children who don’t know these histories, ” he quipped.
The plot of the story , according to the producer, is woven around the political trajectory of Asiwaju from 1999 till date, controversies surrounding his academics, creation of LCDAs, the Fashola’s twist up to the activities that led to the emergence of president Muhammad Buhari.
In the same vein, the veteran actor, Lateef Adedimeji spoke about his lead role in the yet-to-be released biopic during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria. According to him, playing the role of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ex-Lagos Governor, in Jagaban,Last Man Standing, was challenging and scary.
Lateef who is known to be versatile in interpreting different personalities in film, has played lead roles in several biopic movies in the past. Prominent among the biopics are; Ige, Strangers and recently Ayinla – an eponymous musical genre on the late Ayinla Omowura, which was said to have grossed 92 million naira from the cinema exhibition only.
According to Adedimeji, “At first, I declined to play the lead role in this new movie because of the fear of politics, but I eventually accepted the offer as a way of challenging my self. But again, I know that it is going to be another opportunity for me as an actor. I am taking this on because I want to challenge myself again; I want to see how far I can push myself .” he said.
When eventually the newly wedded actor accepted the role, he left no stone unturned to give a classic performance, “It is a lot of work, I had to be on YouTube studying his mannerism, the way he talks, the way he moves, smiles and all of that and try to replicate that, it is about forgetting yourself totally for the duration of the shooting,” he said
Whereas, Adedimeji’s solace is in the fact that, his lead role in Jagaban, Last Man Standing is going to be a springboard to further push his career to the zenith. In his words, “I hope that it is going to be another stepping stone for me in my career. That is basically all I am about. This career is about the most important thing to me now.
From his research and understanding of the person of Asiwaju, Adedimeji concluded that “Tinubu is a philanthropist, go-getter and someone who goes after whatever he wanted, adding that there was a lot to say about him and the movie would give people better understanding about the personality of Tinubu.” he told NAN
Jagaban, Last Man Standing featured other Nollywood first line-ups such as; Prince Jide Kosoko, Segun Arinze, Madam Kofo, Shushu Abubakar, Saheed Balogun, Foluke Daramola,Yemi Blaq, Ayo Badmus, Bolanle Showunmi, Gbenga Adeyinka and directed by the prolific film director, Tunde Olaoye.
Additional report from (NAN)
Picture credits- Seun Oloketuyi’s DM
