deji toye

By publishing the restored feature film Iya Ni Wura (originally released in 1984), the estate of the charismatic travel theatre actor turned filmmaker Adeyemi Afolayan, popularly known as Ade Love, has bridged at least two generations. Millennials and Gen Z film enthusiasts who were too young when Ade Love passed away at 56 in 1996 can watch at least one of his films on YouTube. The older generation can also reflect on what early Yoruba cinema looked like and on its similarities with Yoruba travel theatre and popular music traditions.  In a recent post on X, I wrote about how the great thespian Herbert Ogunde is often remembered for his films and plays, but little is said about his music and his vibrant band, which once included an all-women horn section. Remembering Ade Love’s legacy as a lead actor, scriptwriter, director, producer and composer has been the effort of his family, not the Nigerian state. At the forefront of this is Kunle Afolayan, a leading filmmaker in his own right, who corrected a viral X tweet about the first lead actor to play identical twins in a Nollywood film.  It was not Ramsey Nouah in Tade Ogidan’s Dangerous Twins; it is Ade Love in Iya ni Wura. Like most films of its time, as Professor Akin Adesokan opined, Nigerian cinema of this period, Iya ni Wura, is  “...heavy on dialogue and histrionics, and invested in supernatural themes”. I think it succeeds in its medley of interlocking social commentaries on the conflict between tradition and modernity, as well as on the metaphysical aspects of the twinning phenomenon among the Yoruba. It is also steeped in the social realism of the floundering postcolonial nation that was Nigeria in the 1980s. The conflict between record label owner illustrates this and his most popular musician staged both in the courtroom and elsewhere. The famous battle between Sunny Ade and his label boss Chief Abioro of Take Your Choice records may have been Ade Love’s source of inspiration.

An Epic throwback photo of actress, Clarion Chukwura and Sir Shina Peters in 1984. They both gave birth to renowned music video director Clarence Peters

King Sunny Ade performing at Crystal Palace Football Club, London (1984)

These Star Lager ads would have been visualised by, or under the direction of Erhabor Emokpae, the first Nigerian creative director of an ad agency. Lintas, the agency that began as part of the Lever Bros global group, has held the Nigerian Brewery's Star account for circa 75yrs.

Star, Heineken and Top in the 1960s.

Premium aesthetics, visual impact to die for, that speak of layers & layers of history & eons of urban development, generations of striving in a place, unique textures, historical fabric - that properly harnessed can draw million$$ in tourism revenues, while supporting the locals

Prof's post here 👇🏾reminds me that ADC was the first party whose candidate I'd voted in a Nigerian presidential election. I'd hoped at the time it was a modest beginning for building a true national alternative. 18 years on, the part has become a costume for dress-up actors!

"Home-made videos" — Citizen, 1991 Before his mainstream success with Living in Bondage in 1992, Kenneth Nnebue said he was inspired by the rich Yoruba cultural background of Hubert Ogunde's work. When he started NEK Video Links, the company's first major production was a Yoruba film titled Aje Ni Iyami (My Mother Is a Witch). By 1993, Kenneth Nnebue had produced 24 Yoruba and two Igbo films, including Living in Bondage.

This is what I call the 'Big Bang' theory of Nigerian film history versus the 'Living Tradition' approach. Even LiB owes its existence to the fact that Ken Nnebue had marketed DTH productions like Aje N'Iya Mi, which itself borrowed from previous video productions from late 80s.

Peter Obi is the kind of president who will travel across Nigeria, down to local governments, to supervise projects in person. That is why they are scared to put him in power coz they know theft will reduce drastically.

You can live in a city for years and still not know that city. Privileged folks should take periodic excursions away from the bubbles of the toney neighbourhoods in VI, Lekki and Ikoyi into the real Lagos. You don't even have to come to the "accursed" Mainland. Just a stroll into the backwaters of Ikota, Ajah, Obalende, etc and rose-tainted descriptions of the city like this post will immediately disappear.