Stepping Stones Child Empowerment Foundation

Saturday, May 19th 2012.

De-witching Times; A Review of "THE FAKE PROPHET" - By Nnorum Azuonye

Over the last few years, many people have been dismissive about Nollywood with such statements as; “What’s the point of watching Nollywood movies? To watch juju?” Such people have not been successfully swayed by the fact that not all Nollywood movies are about juju, or have juju content. They have also failed to contend with the fact that the portrayal of people killing each other, trapping lovers, or robbing innocent victims with juju is fuelled by a national state of mind. If a man falls in love with a girl his mother does not like, his mother will most certainly say he has been a victim of juju. If a young man goes to Lagos, Abuja or Europe and fails to make the big money his mates make, there must be a cousin or uncle responsible. If a man swans through the city having unprotected sex and gets the HIV virus, then the enemies must be working overtime.

Against a backdrop of such scenarios that are commonplace in Nigerian movies, Stepping Stones Nigeria takes the view that such portrayals in a powerful medium such as film makes it easier for crooked men and women of God to convince spiritually fragile families that all their problems stem from evil works of child witches. The Fake Prophet, a new Nollywood movie produced by Stepping Stones Nigeria in association with TFP Global Network and directed by Teco Benson, the czar of the action genre in the Nigerian film industry, attempts to counter the status quo. The new movie which received its London premiere at the Amnesty International Centre on July 24th 2010, is raised on the premise that false accusations against, and destruction of, children can only further impoverish and ruin the ignorant. Whereas two decades of Nollywood movies have sold the story that every misfortune is a result of juju, The Fake Prophet argues, not that there are no principalities and powers, but that not every misfortune is caused by the supernatural.

James Udofia (Charles Okafor) is a courier in a human trafficking racket run by Honourable Igbinosa (Big Fred Ezimmadu). Between Udofia and Igbinosa they ship off girls in rotten situations from Nigeria to Europe, where they are thrown into prostitution. When a run fails and Udofia loses Igbinosa’s cargo, Udofia flees to his village in Akwa Ibom State to hide from Igbinosa’s wrath.

Without any known talents, without any education, without any marketable skills, Udofia’s life soon becomes pure drudgery, until his eureka moment, when he gets the idea to start a church. Soon enough he begins to performing miracles with hired actors, and begins to accuse children of witchcraft, taking huge sums of money from their parents in order to deliver them. Despite his inability to successfully deliver any child from witchcraft, he establishes a powerful base on a platform of terror and blackmail. Prophet Udofia is soon responsible for several deaths of children and exile of others, notably Ekaette (Grace Amah) and Inyang (Samuel Ajibola) – the duo accused of killing Ekaette’s father and banished from the village.

It is easy to misunderstand The Fake Prophet as an anti-Pentecostal church or anti-Pentecostal Pastors rhetoric. The film is not as simple as that. The church and its pastor are only a vehicle by which the film-makers anchor their tale. There are, inevitably, some allusions to the norm in Pentecostal churches that for anyone to receive blessings or deliverance from God, he or she must give large sums of money to God, meaning the church, but that’s not what this film is about.

The theme of greed runs through the film like a haunting soundtrack epitomised in the lives of James Udofia through his fraudulent ministry and Honourable Igbinosa through his human trafficking and prostitution racket. The film also explores an unfaltering friendship in the face of adversity as exemplified by Inyang and Ekaette, and the capitulation of principles on the account of self-preservation in their school principal. about the child, that parent will know.

The makers of this film in fact tackle so many important issues as sub-themes in just under two hours, but the most fundamental question it raises is, do parents not know their children? If a father or mother knows his or her child, has raised the child, has played with the child, has eaten with the child, if there is something unnatural. The ease with which parents are turned against their children in the environment that feeds this film is shocking. The wickedness that the parents deal out on their own children is even more mind-numbing. Prophet Udofia and others like him only survive for as long as they do because many parents are busy trying to preserve their own lives or their businesses, which they fail to do their primary duty which is parenting – and parenting involves trusting one’s child, loving one’s child unconditionally, and protecting that child. Parents in The Fake Prophet simply don’t know their job description and that’s why evil triumphs for as long as it does.

Right then, The Fake Prophet has a lot to say and says it eloquently. But is it any good? Teco Benson achieves a nice pace and suspense, and thankfully, the movie achieves a resolution of the conflicts it raises without that intestine-chopping ‘watch out for part 2’ or ‘To God be the Glory’. This is a complete film and audiences will be pleased with that. The picture quality is good, and the sound is perfect. There is never that Nollywood annoyance of background music becoming foreground music which drowns the voices of the actors. With The Fake Prophet, one can see the film without being forced to become a lip reader. There are however some editing issues. Several scenes don’t get resolved before others are cut to. This may be down to the multi-layered story, and trying to do so much in one movie. It may also be that the director does not wish to spoon-feed the audience, giving them room to fill in the blank spaces. That is not such a bad intention, but it is not clear if that is what he intended. The screenwriter does not particularly have a good ear for dialogue, but that is only evident because the film being what it is; a social information, social education vehicle that cuts it fine between entertainment and moral instruction, it tends to get preachy in parts, over-explaining things as if the audience won’t get it just by the message conveyed by actions. Again this is forgivable because the only way this film will achieve its objective is to be comprehensible to the ordinary folks, especially the semi-literate or illiterate citizens who hang on to every word of their religious leaders without question.

On the performances, Charles Okafor sparkles as James Udofia. His energy, charisma and screen presence is what essentially keeps the heart of the film pumping. Big Fred Ezimmadu as Honourable Igbinosa has his moments and his diction impeccable. Grace Amah’s Ekaette and Samuel Ajibola’s Inyang as pawns of pathos are just too sweet and their roles over-contrived towards achieving the film’s objectives. It is not in the film’s interest that these two central characters are so under-developed and just so docile. Unfortunately too much is packed into passing the message that the characters have no room to breathe properly.

Overall, The Fake Prophet proves more entertaining than it promises. The treatment of the topic of witch children is sensitively handled. There is never a dull moment, which is a clear evidence of Benson’s skills in dealing with suspense and drama. The intense passions expressed in the post-mortem after the premiere attests to the power of the film. The Fake Prophet scores 4 out of 5 stars, and anyone who pays money to see it in a cinema or buys the DVD will get value for money and take away a lot to think about. This is a film that will ultimately save many lives. It will surely raise the controversy surrounding child witches and the roles of spiritually-bankrupt pastors in the murders and ostracism of innocent children. The Fake Prophet is well worth supporting. Well done.

We work with >>