Omoni Oboli: The Trial of A Nollywood Brand

(By Zik ZuluOkafor) - OMONI OBOLI:- THE TRIAL OF A NOLLYWOOD BRAND...

Omoni Oboli is the Director and Producer of the movie, Okafor's Law. And she is supposed to be the writer of the screenplay. 

The premiere of this much talked about movie had been hyped to heavens' doors. Film makers, film enthusiasts, corporate players and even ordinary people waited for Friday, March 24 for the opening night of this much anticipated movie at the IMAX Cinema, Lekki Lagos. 

The Friday came. But on her way to the venue of the premiere, Omoni as she is simply called, received a terrible gift. A court order stopping the premiere and further distribution of the movie was coldly handed to her. A company with a jaw-breaking name, Raconteur Productions had handed Omoni this mortal legal blow. And so the premiere couldn't hold.

But on Thursday, March 30, Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, put a smile back on Omoni's face as he vacated the injunction. The high flying Nollywood Director is now free to show her movie anywhere she pleases. An ecstatic Omoni, on hearing this delightful news went on her knees to give fervent thanks to God and pronto announced that the movie would begin to show nationwide from Friday, March 31.

Speaking on Channels' Television on the night of Thursday, March 30, she added, “I will not speak on the case since it is already in court but there has been all sorts of comments out there”. Then she stated with a profound conviction, “but I am certain that at the end of the day, justice will be done”. 

Indeed, it is not my intention to delve into this sizzling controversy since it is already subjudice. Suffice to state that the matter in issue is the bonafide owner of the script now titled Okafor's Law. But one could not help but wonder how Nollywood allowed this copyright matter to travel this far, to a point where the protagonists had to hire Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, to prosecute their case.

Not that there is anything wrong with using litigation to resolve issues. But Nollywood prides itself as one closely knit family where amicable resolution of disputes is the familiar hue. And for this dispute which one gathered had been simmering for almost a year, you cannot but ask the whereabouts of Nollywood's famed dispute resolution machinery. And this again brings to the fore the importance of being part of the guild system in Nollywood. If both parties were members of the Nollywood guilds, this copyright issue would most probably have been resolved at the guild level as all the guilds have in their various constitutions a strong dispute resolution mechanism. 

More critical for this writer however, is the fact that the snide shot at Okafor's Law constitutes a clog in the developmental wheel of Nollywood. This is so because Omoni Oboli has become an exemplary Nollywood brand and Nollywood's next story. Importantly, she represents that emblem that our youth could easily draw the aesthetic picture and value of hard work and tenacity through her remarkable transition from a teenage artisan to an emerging icon. 

Or how else does one begin to tell Omoni's story. She had run excitedly to Nollywood, with two other female friends in toe, all in their teenage years in the mid 90s.

They came coated with youthful zing and zest. They were at every audition, desperate to assert their talent and to shine. But while her two friends faded out unceremoniously from Nollywood's arena, Omoni, convinced that this was her calling, went back to school. When she reappeared five years later, she was clutching a Bachelors degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin. Now, she was a different girl. The intensity of her work ethic, the audacity of her aspiration and even her motion picture conversation were unmistakable.

Zeb Ejiro, a Nollywood icon once remarked that “Omoni is a young woman in the eye of time”. Emem Isong commenting on her performance and attitude to work after a production said, “Omoni is fierce. She is intense She gives everything to acting. She has earned my respect”. Beyond histrionics, Omoni, now married with three boys to her marital credit, soon unleashed a faculty of hers that was yet unseen- script writing. 

But one solemn morning, late in 2009, this Delta state born film maker, strolled into my office at Bode Thomas Street, in Suru-Lere end of Lagos. Her mood was less than cheerful. Her ever springy spirit appeared fractured and smiles wore a fading hope. 

“I am getting a bit tired of this work”, she began, face a portrait of frustration. “I don't like the way I am sometimes portrayed in some of my roles. The shots really worry me. And again, I see the final outcome of some of my scripts after production and I am not too happy”. Explaining, she added, “you see, when I write a script, I have a mental picture of how it should come out on screen. When the final outcome is far from my vision and interpretation, I feel very bad even though a director has a right to interpret a script his own way”. 

With barely enough money in her vault, despite worries expressed by this writer, Omoni, with an unflinching faith in her professional destiny, left the shores of Nigeria for the New York Film Academy in the United States to study Directing. She returned a year later an adorable mix of professionalism and ambition with avant-garde narratives for a new picture of Nollywood. She had become a woman of steely conviction and crystal vision.

Her first directing call was Being Mrs Elliot, a comedy that staggered many a Nollywood practitioner as this movie was premiered in Aso Rock, Nigeria's seat of power in Abuja, with then president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, governors, ministers and captains of industry in attendance. It was a new high for the industry in terms of political endorsement and partnership with the orgainsed private sector, OPS. Then came First Lady, another huge success. But it was with Wives on Strike, written and directed by Omoni that the name Omoni Oboli became a massive Nollywood brand.

Distributed by the highly professional guys at Film One with their distinctive business acumen and reputation for serial successes in movie distribution, Wives on Strike won both artistic and economic acclaim with a box office well over N70 million (about US$200,000). But it is just not about the artistic and box office strides. Wives on Strike provoked new dialogue and dialectics in terms of screenplay with its styli-form and what the cinema audience wants to see. No question, the racy, down-to-earth comedy was both a game changer and a historic chapter in Nollywood cinema aspiration and discourse.

The purpose of this rather long epistle on Omoni is to indeed show that she has an uncommon inspirational Nollywood history and why she is a Nollywood brand. Importantly, that she is an established writer and an emerging icon of Nollywood. For this reason, it is my opinion that this copyright dispute that eventually landed in court could have been better managed through the intervention of the elders and icons of Nollywood.

Yes Nollywood, must not make anyone to feel short changed or given an unfair shake of the dice, in all circumstances irrespective of the stature of such a practitioner. Yes, copyright issues could sometimes be intricate and needs to be meticulously and fairly treated to assure a fair deal. Yet Nollywood practitioners must strive, even at pains, to ensure they do not bring down or destroy one of their own. I hold this solemn conviction that this resort to litigation is no sesame street to solution. If anything, it is a long walk through a misty wilderness. There is still room for amicable resolution of this dispute. Can Nollywood rise? The time is simply now. 

Let Nollywood know there will be dispute. Let practitioners know they must sit to talk. And to negotiate. Like J.F Kennedy said therefore, let us never fear to negotiate. But let us never negotiate out of fear.

Zik Zulu Okafor, a Nigeria Media Merit Award winning journalist.