Igbinogun strengthens fight against injustice

If you train a man, you educate an individual. But if you train a woman, you educate a nation.” This African proverb has long been a motivation for inclusive education in the country. Igbinogun, a film written and directed by Ideh Chukwuma Innocent, gives credence to the saying.

The film, which features Shaffy Bello, Akin Lewis, Ehinna Igwe, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Damilare Kuku, Tina Mba and Nwosu Ego, tells the story of a warrior, Ogbemudia (Enyinna Nwigwe), who falls in love with one of the king’s maids, Itohan. She becomes pregnant and Ogbemudia’s only choice is to escape in order to save his lover Itohan and her unborn child. She eventually dies after giving birth to a baby girl called Igbinogun (Damilare Kuku).

The girl grows up to abhor injustice perpetrated by the king and the affluent in the land. Speaking on the film, Innocent said, “it dwells on women empowerment. A girl should be allowed to contribute her quota to change in the society. We need to start giving women more attention and opportunity to express themselves.”

He said, “in the last 10 years, I have been advocating for the right of women and children in the society. I’m more dedicated to that than ever. My last project, Pillars of Africa, also deals with issues affecting women in the society. It’s a story on sex slavery and human trafficking. I also worked with agencies such as The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

“I have succeeded in helping in arresting sex and human traffickers. Few weeks ago, an Indian woman in Nigeria through our investigation, was arrested for trafficking girls from Nepal to Nigeria. I am so happy that the world is moving from those days when our girls are forced to stay home. Maybe if we elect a female president or vice president in this country, there will be a change. Over the years, men have failed in the area of leadership in Nigeria, so, we need to start giving women the chance.”

He added, “We want to do a film that can stand international market and our plan is to release the film on or after Easter 2021. We left for set on December 2, 2020 and we hope we don’t observe Christmas on location. We will be filming in Owode, Idi-Iroko and there is going to be a lot of computer-generated imagery (CGI).”

Bello, who plays the role of a queen, said, “this film is going to be a tiny drop in the bucket of lessons we can teach our children, especially in this part of the world where we pay more attention to the male child and treat them to think they are kings, while we teach the girl child to feel she is just a helper. We don’t have to get involved in segregation of the male and female gender. We need one another to survive and when a man who is the head of the household is not there, the woman should take his place, so, we hope young girls will watch this film and say to them, ‘I can do that, I can make a difference’, knowing that kings are selfish about their kingdoms.”