BY BOLARINWA AKANDE
Veteran broadcaster, Sadiq Daba, who played Inspector Waziri, in the much-publicized film, October 1, directed by Kunle Afolayan, has described the former in admirable terms.
“Kunle Afolayan is a slave driver,” he said with sarcastically, apparently in recommendation of the filmmaker, whom he said is a thorough professional.
Daba, who was fielding questions from journalists during the press screening of the movie, also expressed his belief in the theme of the film, given the reason he agreed to take part in the production, despite being indisposed at the time.
“When he (Kunle Afolayan) asked me to take part in the movie, it was from my sick bed. I was sick for over six months, and I had the script for another three months before I met the writer, Tunde Babalola.
The broadcaster-turned actor noted that the disunity that exists among Nigerians today is a creation of the colonial masters.
“Here is a story that is a Nigerian story. Here is a story that explains why it is not the fault of the Igbo man or the Hausa man or the Yoruba man, like it is always peddled all over the place. What about the people who were there; the colonialists, the white people? What did they do to Prince, played by Ademola Adedoyin, the protagonist in the movie? That we didn’t see. Every day, every minute, every hour, what we see is Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba. But somebody somewhere did something for us to start talking about all those differences,” he said, with his usual eloquence.
As though an advocate for a re-united Nigeria, Daba, while decrying any form of ethnic crises, urged Nigerians to see themselves as one, despite the ethnic divides.
“I am married to a Yoruba woman; fantastic Yoruba woman – my father in-law, a Yoruba man, fantastic Yoruba man. So, no issues; we only have stupid Hausa people, stupid Yoruba people and stupid Igbo people. Why don’t you look for the good ones, because there are good people out there? The white man came and threw everybody asunder and we are all looking at each other and shouting; you are Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa,” he said, almost in angry tone.
“I grew up in Sierra Leone,” he recalled, saying that, “over there, if you are fighting one Nigerian, you are fighting the entire Nigerians. In fact, I can tell you, that the only time I know that we are different is when I pass Seme border. But out there in Sierra Leone, we are Nigerians; not Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa. Octorber 1 is a story of you as a young man, of me as an old man. In fact the story is put together for you to learn that we are even more together than people think.”
Planned for release on October 1, the film tells the story of a northern Nigeria Police detective, Dan Waziri (Sadiq Daba), who is urgently dispatched by the colonial government to the trading post town of Akote in the Western Region of Nigeria, to solve a series of female murders that have struck horror in the hearts and minds of the local community. On getting to Akote, more murders are committed, and with local tension high and volatile, Waziri has a race on his hands to solve the case before even more local women are killed. Matters take a turn for the worse, however, when Waziri discovers that his prime suspect is none other than the highly influential, university-educated son of the King of Akote, Prince Aderopo (Ademola Adedoyin).
Intelligent, good-looking, charismatic, witty and daring, the prince proves to be a most complicated adversary for Waziri. Set against the backdrop of the national celebratory mood of the impending independence, Waziri and Prince Aderopo indulge in a game of cat and mouse as they try to outwit each other… leading to the climatic end in which the life of a popular local female teacher and village belle, Tawa (Kehinde Bankole), is held in the balance. Waziri has to race against the clock to capture the prince, save Tawa and solve the crime before the British flag is lowered and the Nigerian flag is raised on October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day.