Hi guys, this review is quite unusual because it’s going to be pretty short. It borders on the worldwide stereotype view held about Nigerians.
The Nigerian Prince, a 2018 movie by Faraday Okoro explores the story of a teenage boy who although is originally from Nigeria, is unhappy to identify with his routes. In a bid to make him well-grounded in the culture of his native land, his mother sends him to Nigeria for what he believes to be four weeks. The discovery of the fact that had been hidden from the young boy would eventually lead to his desperation to salvage his situation. This results in the tragic ending we come to see.
Now, formalities aside, I have no problem with Eze; poor boy, I can easily excuse him for being “unguided”. But you see, his mother ignorantly put that boy in what she is even yet to realize is a ditch that keeps getting deep. No, I don’t mean this as a sarcastic reference to this country, I mean to say that the supposedly trusted individuals are hungry people who take a typical: desperate step -pounce on everything that looks like food, well, in this case, anything that looks like an opportunity.
Before I digress so much that it becomes impossible to get to the main point, let’s go into the main reason we are here -the critiquing. This movie does well to portray the reality of the Nigerian society. And although most critics categorize this production as being xenophobic, I dare say that it did portray the truth. From the corrupt police force to the baba that is a con artist, to the masses who readily hop on the next best opportunity, making them vulnerable to fraudsters, and to the roles of Pius and his mother who are opportunists and do not care about what it cost other people. I mean every progressive and honest Nigerian who sees this movie would be angry, not because of the plot or its execution, but mostly because it spells out our horrid reality so profusely. You know that feeling you get when you are part of something that is not so great, especially when there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it and someone spells it out? At that point, you just feel pained at how terrible the situation is and how it is no longer something you can mask because it is not a secret.
To be fair though, this does not account for the majority of Nigerians, but as they say, the bad eggs always spoil the mix. We do hope that our reputation as Nigerians would be redeemed one day.
Like I said, this review is short, so to end I’ll say that I reserve my comment for the execution of the production simply because these people dragged us in the mud for credible reasons.
Annnddd that would be all for now, until next time, stay jiggy! xoxo.
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