We toil to promote Nigeria abroad but politicians keep destroying everything -Filmmaker Issac Izoya
Isaac Izoya
Isaac Izoya is founder and CEO of Ehizoya Golden Entertainment, the organisers of Nollywood Film Festival Germany and Nollywood Europe Golden Award which are in their 23rd year. He spoke to ORJI ONYEKWERE on his preparation for this year’s edition of the festival and the ugly experience he had in the hands of the Nigerian Police recently. Enjoy it.
Tell us about your ugly experience with the Police recently?
It’s good to be home. In December, most of us cancelled our flights back to Nigeria because of the level of insecurity in the country. You know in Europe there’s 24-hour Speed Internet and we get to hear everything negative happening here. If you travel to Europe, you will know that it’s the negative stories they tell more than the positives. Most of us cancelled our ticket in December, but in January, I hit the road because a friend of mine had an event.
I came with high hopes, landed in Benin, Edo state capital and I was excited, clean road and all that because the report we get over there about Benin is different from what I saw. That was my first observation. I went for the event I came for but what happened at the event is a story for another day.
I was driving with one of my friends Mr. Philip from Malaga, Spain and as we got close to where we were going, we had to stop to ask for direction. The next thing we heard from behind was a big bang on our GL Mercedes. We screamed because we know that we are in Nigeria. If it happens in Europe, you just have to call your spouse or friend and say somebody just hit me. They will only ask you, who is at fault? Is it from behind? Because anything from behind the person is at fault? They will only tell you, congratulations, that’s all. But in Nigeria, we know there’s going to be ‘long story’. So, my friend said, ‘please, just take some pictures’. I came out and started taking some pictures. That was when I saw about six policemen jumping down from ‘their scrap’. I’m sorry to use that word, but that is exactly what their vehicle looked like with their AK 47. They were trying to intimidate us.
One of them shouted ‘stop your camera’. You can see the way they were commanding us. I looked at the vehicle, no plate number and everywhere was AK-47 and I was like ‘Excuse me. Do you think you can intimidate us? He said, ‘Oga, brake failed’ and I asked, what are you going to do about that?
Brake failed. When you say brake failed, you’re a policeman that’s supposed to enforce law. Brake doesn’t fail just so suddenly. It always sends signals. You will first of all find out your distance. You have to go for inspection and they will detect it and give you the one that will serve you for the next one or two years.
If this had happened to any other person, you will arrest the person, they will pay through their noses. And you are telling me, brake failed. I said, “see what you just destroyed, it’s going to take some millions to repair. Who’s going to pay for that?”
They said, ‘Oga, brake failed and if you are not satisfied, you can go to police. Let us look for the nearest police station, then you would leave your car there”. I said, “no problem”.
The other guy was just barking like a dog and that was the one on the steering. Some two women there were really angry and they said, ‘Oga, you hit someone and no single apology or remorse?’.
I was just thinking. I came into this city having a good impression and see what is happening. I said ‘okay no problem.’
We then sent some messages out and the next few minutes, a call came in from Abuja, from an AIG, and he said we should give the phone to the police officer there. We gave him the phone, when he saw that it was from AIG from Abuja. Oh, my God, you need to see the humility in him.
The other guy that was barking since suddenly disappeared from the scene and this other guy was now facing the whole thing.
The officer said, no problem, just go to the nearest police station, lay your complaint and continue your journey.
The driver now came to us and began to apologise. I said, suddenly you are apologising, what happened? He said ‘Oga, if we go to the station, I am going to bear the consequences of the whole thing because I am the driver’.
I said ‘okay, where are the other guys?’. He said they have all disappeared. I said ‘okay, you guys suggested earlier that we should go to the police station, let’s go there’. I told them not to worry that I know how to change the whole story so the government can pay for the damages.
The guy said ‘no way, it’s not possible’ and I said ‘why were you guys barking all the day like a bulldog? This is how you intimidate people.’
I now told him I was going to pull his cloth and he said, ‘Oga, if you do that I am dead. See your gold chain, your agbada, I cannot afford this one from my one-year salary and this car, I cannot afford it in my lifetime. I know you have been helping people, please, help me’. He was just begging like a kid. You can imagine someone that had been barking since, trying to intimidate us. Being a good guy we are, we looked at this and said this is a poor man and let the matter go.
The policeman said, ‘look if my wife hears about this, I am dead. I am from a responsible family, I am not supposed to be doing this police work, but I am very stubborn. I am a graduate of Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, Benin’. I said without being told you are too stubborn and you are graduate. We just left them and drove off. We are not used to such situation
We’re so confused that we switched on the heater instead of the air conditioner. But the following day we managed to fix the car.
Let’s come back to your annual award and the film festival. Let’s talk about the preparation and how this year will be different?
It’s going to be a banger. If you see me on ground trying to do some scouting, you will know it’s going to be different. Considering the backing we also have, the Consulate General of Nigeria led by Consul General Amb. Yakubu A. Dadu,
I think it’s going to be banger, because last year was so cool. We brought some big names, last year; we brought in Funke Akindele, Charles Inojie, Rita Edochie and others. It’s too early to release names now because we are still doing paper works.
Last year you premiered the movie KARMA at the film festival. Are we expecting another movie this year or you want to do the marketing and promo?
We are working on the release of KARMA and we hope from now till Easter it will be released. We are still doing some screening across Europe. According to those that have been to the Cinema, they say this movie KARMA is exclusive, yes because it’s a true story. That’s what makes my movie unique, it’s always exclusive. We don’t just do something like comedy to make you laugh, we produce a movie you can pick something out if it.
I remember when we did ‘Love in Berlin’ that featured Patience Ozokwor , Jim Iyke, Sandra Achums and others which was directed by Lancelot Imaseun.
There was a revelation that came in that actually made me happy, nice to tell you how our movies affect people. I remember a girl was getting married in Belgium and she sent me an invitation and begged that she wanted me to be there. I said okay diplomatically. Me, I can’t just come to Belgium because you’re getting married,
But she continued to call, she was always on my neck. She wanted me to be there, that there was a reason for this, that was when I promised I would be there. You will actually feel from her tone that there had a reason for that. Then I went there after the wedding, she called me aside, introduced me to the husband and she said, this is the guy that produced the movie.
She was so excited. I said, what is happening? She said, this guy is the first child of the parents, the father is a retired bank director and they are rich. When they were about getting married his parents refused
They said, you are a Nigerian and now you want to get married to a Nigeria. This Nigeria woman will just use you and dump you. Maybe she’s just interested in our assets and all that. But he knew actually that they love each other, but there is no way you can convince this guy’s parents. So, they tried and tried for over a year to convince his parents but it didn’t work.
The boy then said, he is the only son and he cannot disobey his parents but he also did not want to leave the girl. Then came my movie, ‘Love in Berlin’. The movie is a story that has to do with control in marriages, and the conflicts. Many people think you want to get married because you need document, but not knowing whether you are black or white, you can get connected.
Europeans will get married today and divorce and some can marry and still remain together despite their intercultural differences and all that. That is what this movie treated. So, when they eventually watched the movie, they bought it as a birthday present and I gave it to the father.
When the father opened it, ‘Love in Berlin’, he looked at the jacket, black people with white. Why would they send me this DVD he questioned. As they watched it, the movie was hilarious, educative and all that, and the storyline was like we were treating their own issue with their son.
A movie director told me the other time that the whites are taking interest in epic movies now. Are you looking at coming back to do epic movies?
Yeah. The question actually is, what they actually mean? They’re looking for cultural movies with cultural effects. Don’t forget before the coming of social media, the documentation, the BBC and all that European media have always come to Africa to film.
They don’t film our skyscrapers, they don’t film our Third Mainland bridge, they look for truck pushers and they look for the potholes. They look for the dilapidated buildings and they use it to criminalize Africa. They show it. I still remember those good old days when they do documentary about Nigeria, about Lagos. I will be asking, is this my Lagos, Amukoko, those typical areas. But that is not what we want to present to the world.
If you look at my phone now, for example, I was filming, right from Lekki till Third Mainland bridge. When I see beautiful places, I will film, but when we get to a bad and rough place, I will pause because that is what Europeans want to see.
I’m also trying to play my role as a cultural ambassador, to portray my country in good light. Things you can see there, we have it here. Even before they came, Benin city was more developed than London before they came and burn it down. So as a cultural ambassador, I am doing my best, though I’m not happy with some political actors in this country, yeah, that’s a story for another day.
Are you talking of insecurity and all that’s happening in this country? We are doing a lot to promote Nigeria but the politicians are doing so much to demarket and destroy the Nigeria you are promoting abroad. It’s heartbreaking. I know how much of my personal money that have gone down the drain promoting Nigeria. And you see people that are doing everything to kill Nigeria. So yes, when we have a good story that has to promote African heritage, we definitely will do that, which, of course, I’ve already been doing. Take for example, about our movie. When you watch our movies, it helps them to also understand the immigrant issue because they don’t know what we are suffering, what we are going through as an immigrant. When I was coming back, in the flight I took, I saw six police officers, they all surrounded one person and was wearing some hair gadgets. They evacuated everybody except two seats. I called the police officer and asked what’s happening?
I showed her my press card and that first created fear in her because they are very scared not to broadcast their misdeed to the public. She said they are deporting him. Why deporting him? So there are some stories we have to tell and nobody can tell it for us. They are happy when they are deporting you back to Africa because they believe they want to send them back to go and suffer.
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What has been the most significant aspect of having this award consecutively for 23 years?
Consistency. It’s not easy but I thank God we are doing it every year. It has become what Africans are looking forward to every year. The city of Frankfurt is benefitting from this also. During that period you see all hotels are booked. Everyone wants to be in Frankfurt to have fun and mingle with stars they will not see when they are in Nigeria.
During this award, you will see Ministry of Arts and Culture officials, they would be there and on a normal day, the white man will not sit beyond 10 pm, but in this case, you will see them seating till 3: 00am. An ambassador would be there till 3:30 and who are you to keep an ambassador till that time? We are achieving results and that’s why I am always furious when I see the way they are destroying Nigeria. Everyone has been saying Isaac, you deserve national award. Somebody called me and said, go to Nigeria, the FG will give you award. I was laughing and I told him the government does not even know that I exist. They will only know that I exist when I turn to Nnamdi Kanu or Simon Ekpa, they will notice me immediately.
Now that I have been building Nigeria image in the last 23 years they don’t know me. Very sad. I remember the director of cinema we always use for screening called me, he told me, do you know the job you are doing is what we set up Goethe Institute to do for Germany around the world. He said, ‘but I am surprised you are touring and you are not getting sponsorship from your country. I laughed and I said, ‘this man does not know where I am coming from. It’s only what will give them money that they are interested in. You send it they will look at it and say, ‘where is this man from? Edo state, keep it one side, they don’t think of the national interest. I have applied to see the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, whether she will open her doors this time only time will tell.
