'GANG OF LAGOS' MOVIE RECEIVES KNOCKS AND KUDOS WEEKS AFTER ITS PREMIERE

A few weeks following the premiere of 'Gang of Lagos,' a controversial film, there have been ongoing reactions around the country.

While many people praised the producers' work on the storyline in the film, some stakeholders in the state, particularly those of Lagos origin, objected to how the Eyo masquerade was depicted in the film. They also criticised the image depicted in the film, claiming it violated state culture and tradition.

The film, which was released two weeks ago, depicts the thuggery and violent lifestyle of some parts of Lagos, getting up close and personal with Lagos politics and demonstrating the deeper weight behind street power.

The Lagos State Government, through the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, expressed dissatisfaction with the film, calling it a cultural distortion. He claimed that the ministry, as the regulating agency and protector of Lagos State's culture, saw the video as a parody of Lagos' heritage.

Similarly, Lagos Prince Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu, the Apesinola Eyo Oba Alakete Pupa Okalaba kun, a cultural group, asked the film's promoters to pull it immediately, calling it "ethnic profiling, sacrilegious, and outrageous trash."

In addition, the National Association of Emerging Artists, NAEA, expressed its displeasure with the portrayal of artists as "criminals" by director and producer Kemi Akindoju and Jade Osiberu in a statement signed by its spokesman, Unadey Jones.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Olusegun Runsewe, called for calm in the aftermath of the production of the Gang of Lagos film, noting the need for strategic rethinking on related cultural narratives by Nigerian filmmakers to avoid public resentments and reactions.

The Isale Eko Descendant's Union, IDU, has also requested that the film be removed from public access.

The union released a press release regarding the film's defamation of the Eyo masquerade in several moments.

In an interview on Thursday, Femi Salawu, a public relations specialist and media strategist, said that, while applauding the efforts of the movie makers, stakeholders must be prepared to support the development of movies in order to determine the narratives they want to be exhibited to the public.

According to him, the filmmakers did not set out to distort the culture, but rather to highlight areas that require immediate attention in order to address a number of societal concerns.

"And whether we like it or not, every society has its own negative side, and so is Nigeria. I'm sure the intention of the producer is not to misrepresent culture. Their intention is to mirror society and call for solutions to open the eyes of the people and then help us begin to see how we can solve some of these problems.

"We just came out of the election, and we saw some violence cases in some places. Those are our realities. The movie is not saying something that happened in another country. We need to face reality and begin to look for solutions to see how we can elevate justice in our society, and when crime happens, people should pay and get punished for it", Femi Salawu stated.

He said, "But the truth of the matter is that why are the proud sons of Isale Eko, the Lagos government, not taking it upon themselves to fund the movie? Why have some people not taken it upon themselves to commission movies that will help to project culture positively if that's what they want to achieve.

"Because Gang of Lagos was funded by Amazon Prime, and that's what happens when we don't support our people. We leave it in the hands of foreigners who will come and fund it and dictate how the story will look like. They will dictate the narrative for us."

"The movie is a well-put-together story," noted popular Nigerian filmmaker Emil Garuba. While watching the film, you will notice that it is a Nigerian production.

"I find it very interesting that in the film called 'Gang of Lagos' where gangs were doing gang's stuff, killing people, there's violence, there's blood and murder, political corruption, and everything is being mentioned there, but this masquerade issue is the one that they are saying is bad in Isale Eko.

"But then again, everybody is going to find what is important to them and take that out. I call it selective outrage, actually."

In relation to the recently concluded general election, Garuba stated that 'Gang of Lagos' is very timely due to how some people are used to influence elections.

"I think it's absolutely very true to the height of grassroots politics. We just see what happened, and I think every Nigerian realises that," he said.