By
SAMUEL OLATUNJI
Nothing
will give one a clue that the man most Nollywood’s stakeholders have come to
love and respect, survives on one kidney. Nobody would even believe it since he
exercises and plays football regularly. But then, the reality is that popular
filmmaker and winner of The Sun’s Creative Man of the Year award, Obi Emelonye
is living with one kidney instead of two. In an exclusive interview with
Entertainer, the producer of ‘Mirror Boy’ sheds light on how giving away his
kidney to his sibling has altered the course of his life. Excerpts:
How
does it feel to win The Sun’s Creative Man of the Year award, the first of its
kind, after just a year of coming into the public consciousness?
We
are all God’s creatures and I believe He guides our path, and He directs our
affairs in this journey of life. So, it is not really our choice, and in the
popular Nigerian parlance, “God’s time is the best”. Actually, it is not
something that I chose to happen or something that I fought for to happen, it
is something that has happened and I give God the glory. There’s no
prematureness about it, it cannot be too early or too late because if you say
it is happening at the early stages of my career, then it’s what I call
renaissance as a film maker. It means it’s the beginning of greater things to
come, and if you put it at the end of my career, it means it is the highlight
of my career in which case it is not so encouraging. So, if it is happening at
the beginning, winning The Sun Creative Man of the Year is my beginning, which
I look at as God’s providence, and I am very humble and very grateful to The
Sun for, first of all, carving out this award because a lot of mainstream
awards have refused to recognise creativity. So, it is a hugely commendable
initiative by The Sun to get a category for creative people and recognize the
amount of work we are doing for Nigeria. I feel very honoured and privileged to
be the first winner of the award.
‘Mirror
Boy’ made over N18 million at the box office, is that the end of the story for
you?
No.
‘Mirror Boy’ did very well in the cinemas. I am not sure what the final figures
are, but it did extremely well and I am grateful for the support of people, the
media, most especially, The Sun, Africa Magic, Cool FM and Wazobia FM which
made it possible for us to get the success we had. ‘Mirror Boy’ just came back
from Canada where it was adapted by Canadian Immigration authorities as a
cultural awareness tool. I also have an invitation to come to Holland with the
movie. The Durban Film Festival in South Africa has just requested for ‘Mirror
Boy’. I have another request from Ireland for the screening of the movie, and a
proposition from an American agency for the review of the movie. So, ‘Mirror
Boy’ has still got life in it and even the DVD is yet to be done. My career is
more than just a film, I had to go and make a new film called, “Last Flight to
Abuja”. In the movie are Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Jim Iyke, and a host of other
established names in the industry who are taking their games to the next level.
‘Mirror Boy’ has done great things for me and it will continue to do, and it
will always be a film in my career that announced the new Obi Emelonye. I am
trying to transcend and move on to greater things as a film maker.
What’s
the big deal about your new film, ‘Last Flight to Abuja?’
There
is no big deal about it. I think it’s an attempt by us to tell our story. This
particular story is a type that Nollywood shies away from, maybe because of the
technical demands of telling that kind of story. Maybe because of the financial
implications of telling that kind of story, but it is one that we haven’t
attempted before and to find the confidence to approach this kind of narrative,
it is what the big deal is. It is about the confidence, the assurance to
approach this type of story and tell it with the kind of technical and visual
details it demands. ‘Last Flight to Abuja’ is a simple story about something
that happened in Nigeria in 2006, and that is told in an entertaining and
sensitive manner.
Why
did you cast Celine Loader in the film?
There
was a strategic thinking behind me casting Celine Loader. It wasn’t just simply
a case of somebody that will play the role, and we filmmakers have to start
thinking that way, it was along the business line. Celine Loader’s part in the
film goes way beyond acting. She wasn’t an executive producer from the scratch,
she was an actress. It was when we had difficulties with finance that she came
in as an executive producer, and because she believed in the project she
decided to put her money where her mouth is. So, she was first and foremost an
actress before becoming an executive producer.
You
are a lawyer and once a footballer, what are you doing with movies?
I
have always known that my destiny lies in show business. I actually don’t
mention it often but I was also a musician, I was the lead singer of a band
called, Jacky’s Family in the early 80s and Charly Boy was our producer. We
were supposed to be signed onto his label when he came back from America. This
was when I was sixteen. I have touched every aspect of what I wanted to do and
have enjoyed it and I feel everything I have done in my life is in preparation
for what I am doing now. It makes me a complete man and it has broadened my
horizon. So, all the experiences I gained in playing football and going
for trials in Europe, and practicing as a lawyer in the UK are now part and
parcel of my life. But first and foremost, my first degree was in drama from
University of Nigeria, Nsukka where I was also a director and writer. Even
when I left and was playing football, including when I was practicing law, I
was still writing scripts.
One
of my most important films before ‘Mirror Boy’ was ‘Echoes of War’. I actually
took time off my Bar exams to direct ‘Echoes of War’ in 2003. So, it has always
been in my blood, I have always known that things would fall in place when the
time was right.
And
in 2007, I made that leap and today, I have been vindicated. Like they say,
fortune favours the brave and I have been brave about it, and I think fortune
is beginning to smile on me.
How
long did you practice as a lawyer?
Just
three years, between 2003 and 2006. I worked with some solicitors in South East
London. I was seconded to a college where I was legal adviser at Lambert
College in South East London. I was working especially in the area of law of
conveyance. It was a short period of practice but it opened my eyes to the life
that I wanted to live; that I didn’t want to go to work everyday. I wanted to
work and enjoy it. It is like a professional footballer who is getting paid
doing what he enjoys. And the more I practice law, the more I realize that the
job is not for me.
In
the first place, why did you relocate to the UK?
I
am a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s when the hippest thing was to go abroad. I
graduated in 1990 from UNN, served the next year and played football
immediately afterwards. I played for Rangers International of Enugu, Julius
Berger of Lagos, and Premier of Onitsha, which I think is defunct now.
Where
did you meet your wife?
This
is a true story. In 2001, I was going with someone to shoot a movie, “Fire
Dancer”. He was using my equipment and I was the director of photography. There
is a part of my history in the UK which involves a white woman and which I have
to do as they say to get to where I am. It was a necessary journey that I had
to embark upon but with respect to my wife, it is something I don’t want to
talk about it. She is my wife and the mother of my children and anything that
happened before then should not be made public.
When
did you come back to Nigeria?
I
came back to Nigeria in 2000 to join the film industry. I left in 1993 and
spent seven years in the UK. In 2000, I came back with my equipment and a bit
of money and shot films like ‘Who’s Next’, and ‘Voodoo’ with Jim Iyke, Ramsey
Noah, Steph Nora Okereke and Chioma Chukwuka. I put Chioma on her first poster.
Jim Iyke was my boy; I put him in every film that I shot at that time which
made a strong impact in the industry. They called me “oyinbo” filmmaker because
at the early stage of Nollywood, I was trying to do things right. What we
are doing now is what we were doing then but I think it was a bit too early and
so, it wasn’t greatly received. I promoted my films so well that I had
billboards in the stadium for “Who’s Next” and it was there for over a year. I
built and got permission for the billboard to be put there. All these things we
are doing for “Mirror Boy”, have always been there, it was just a case of
getting the circumstances right. I came back in 2000 to join the film industry
and I was frustrated by the marketers who released my film and never gave me a
kobo.
I am still being owed millions of naira as we speak by some of these
people. They released the film and never gave me a penny in return. Marketers
are very important but the problem was that they were a monopoly and monopoly
will naturally exploit. And that was what they were doing, they were exploiting
the situation. I’ve not finished the story of my wife. I came back from the UK
to Nigeria and I was director of photography on a film called, ‘Fire Dancer’
starring Genevieve Nnaji. We were shooting in Omole and I had a Jaguar.
So,
how did it happen?
I
gave her my business card at a time when mobile phone wasn’t available in
Nigeria. I was sharing an office with someone in Surulere, Lagos and she
decided to phone me but didn’t get through so, she threw away the business
card. But what God says will be, will be. Eventually, we met again.
Where?
In
the same place, of course. I believe what God says will be, will be.
Eventually, we met again and our relationship blossomed. About five months
after we connected, I went back to the UK, and a few months later, she joined
me. We met on the 12th of February, and February 12 was also the day we got
married in the UK. It was the day we had our traditional wedding, so February
12 is a very special day for me and my wife.
Why
her?
I
don’t know. I was sitting in a car somewhere and someone opened the gate and
immediately I saw her I said ‘that’s my wife’. I think it was a spiritual
connection and with due respect to all the ladies I have been with in the past,
I think I am the best judge of character than women. I am just lucky with
women. Whoever I have had something to do with in the past have been the ones
you can take home to mummy.
If
they were women you could take home to mummy, why didn’t you take them?
There
were more things to consider; was I ready to take them to mummy at that time?
Was I ready to get married at that time? I didn’t take them to mummy at that
time because I was probably too young or not ready financially or mentally, and
probably they were not ready. But I have had a knack for dating ladies who are
very beautiful and
responsible.
Is
it true that you donated one of your kidneys to somebody?
In
2007, my younger brother was diagnosed with a kidney condition; we thought it
was something that could be managed by just taking drugs but increasingly it
became an issue. We went abroad where we were told that it’s in a bad state and
cannot be corrected by just taking drugs, and the only option was to do a
kidney transplant. In March 2010, his condition became more critical, he
started undergoing dialysis and there was need to act very fast. At that point,
we were torn between staying in the US where we were at that time or going to
the UK where it was very expensive to carry out that kind of procedure. Then we
considered Indian and my sister had a good relationship with the Indian High
Commissioner, who recommended a hospital in India. We sent blood to India for
interpretation; all my brothers were willing to make donations including my
sister, who was married. She too was willing to donate her kidney, and it came
down to who was available the most and whose kidney matches that of my brother.
At this time, I was in post-production for ‘Mirror Boy’, I was in the studio
editing the film, and it became a vote between myself and my immediate elder brother,
who is executive producer of ‘Last Flight to Abuja’, to go to India with the
patient. My brother is older than me by five years and he had a business to run
with INEC but I was much freer. I was in post-production of the film, the
reason why I’m saying this is not because I am holier than my brothers, no, but
circumstances led me to being the only person that was singled out.
My
wife obviously had her worries. What risks would I be exposed to? I could die
in the operation. How difficult is it and what would happen afterwards? Would I
be on medication? Will it affect my quality of life, and by extension, their
quality of life? I understand that a woman would want to say that ‘your life is
for us now and not for anybody on the outside’ but I said to her that, ‘what if
it’s me that needs this help, how would you feel?’ In life it is better to be
the giver than the receiver, so if I died trying to give my little brother a
kidney, then I would have died a noble death. Some people die on the road while
going to visit their girlfriends. Some people do silly things and die. Seeing
my conviction on the matter, my wife said ‘let’s go and do it’. It didn’t hit
me hard until the day I was going to India. My brother went from Ghana where he
lives, and I went from the UK. As I said goodbye to my kids, it just dawned on
me that I may not be seeing them again, it was very emotional.
Did
you prepare your will?
Yeah,
I had a reasonable life assurance and I had a will. I contacted my life
insurance company to say this is what I was going to do. I told my kids that I
would be back soon that they shouldn’t worry. I arrived in India and I thought
the whole process shouldn’t take more than two weeks but it was very
bureaucratic, very bureaucratic in the sense that a lot of Indians were selling
their kidneys for money and so the Indian government had a very stringent law
in place, including requirements before you can do a kidney donation. It’s very
easy to take a kidney from a dead person but taking from someone who is alive
like me was a very difficult one. My brother went two weeks before me and
started running tests. When I came, I also started mine and it was a very
thorough one. It took a lot of time, and two and a half months after, the
operation took place. By this time, the work on ‘Mirror Boy’ was waiting. If we
had released the film when we wanted to release it, we would not have been
where we are today, but God said ‘don’t worry about the film, I will look after
you’.
How
did the family react and cope with all these challenges?
My
family did their best, my brother-in-law tried for us; he contributed immensely
to the funds to make this possible. He paid the hospital bills; I was
responsible for mine. After all this, it showed that I was a suitable and
fit-enough donor and by God’s grace, I passed all the tests needed. The
operation was scheduled for the first week of October; I was having issues
calling home because of the time difference, about five hours. The night before
the operation, I called my wife but didn’t tell her the operation was the next
day because I knew she won’t sleep, but somehow she knew because I told her I
would be going for a test the next day and my phone would be switched off.
During the operation, the camera broke and they had to go to another hospital
to bring another, it’s a microscopic camera to see what’s going on. The
operation lasted over 10 hours, something that shouldn’t take more than four
hours. It was like coming back from hell and by His grace, I woke up. And as
soon as they finished mine, they started on my brother, cut him wide, because
his was a more detailed procedure. They cut him wider than they cut me, few
days later, I left the hospital, went back to our hotel, continued to visit my
brother who was now in intensive care.
When
did you leave India?
A
week after the operation, I left India for the UK. As God would have it, a week
after I came back from India, my phone rang and it was CNN. They heard about
the ‘Mirror Boy’ and wanted an interview. Since that time, my life as a
filmmaker has never been the same. God healed my brother; he was in India for
another month, now he is back in Ghana, and his kidneys are probably better
than yours. The only thing is that he is on medication to control his immune
system but he is working perfectly. So, I went back to the UK, saw my doctor in
the process, I told him I just got back from India, he said ‘oh, that’s nice,
so what took you there?’ I told him I just donated a kidney to my brother. He
literally fell off his chair, saying he has been hearing about kidney
transplant but it’s the first time he would come in contact with a donor. This
is a medical doctor saying this and he knows that I wasn’t paid to do it and
that I even paid all my bills while in India. The blessing that I got from my
mum alone would last me a lifetime, the kind of goodwill I enjoy from people is
amazing. Some people told me not to do it that I should think about my family
first, others thought I was going crazy. They look at me now and say I inspire
them. After a while, there was a rumour that my kidney failed and that I was in
India for an operation because I was dying. I felt I needed to manage the story
so, I started writing an internet blog, it attracted traffic at the time, many
people would visit the blog and write all sorts of comments but I didn’t let it
deter me. In the end, they realised I was serious about it. Right now, I feel
lighter with one kidney; I am not on medication, I still play football, I am in
perfect health and will continue to be by God’s grace. It’s one of the most
fulfilling things I have ever done as a human being.
Are
you sure there are no health implications?
There
are no health implications; the body can function very well with one kidney. I
would say ‘good health’ is my middle name. Going through what I went through in
India was serious because the government wanted to be sure I wasn’t forced to
do the operation, which I found very frustrating. Now, I understand why they
did what they did at that time. My brother had to go back to India for a
review, I did my review in the UK and the tests showed nothing was wrong.
Absolutely, I’m in perfect health. My mum said my life has been prepared for
this because I had always lived a healthy lifestyle since I was a small boy. I
didn’t use to take beer, wine, champagne or anything alcoholic, even when I am
celebrating, I don’t take any alcohol.
Did
the kidney transplant affect your sexual performance?
Absolutely
no, it doesn’t affect any aspect of my life. Like I said earlier, I still play
football.
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