‘Movement-Japa’ Rekindles Hope in Nigerian Youths

Vanessa Obioha

On Monday, November 1, a new TV series ‘Movement-Japa’ from the stables of Zuri24 Media will premiere on Africa Magic Showcase. The series is among the list of new programmes that will begin airing on the DStv and GOtv platforms in the last quarter of the year.

‘Movement-Japa’ is an intense drama exploring the journey of typical Nigerian youths and the challenges of survival that forces them into making tough choices and sometimes bad decisions that trap them into criminal activity, according to the executive producer Femi Odugbemi.

“It is difficult enough for many to see their way out of poverty and several other challenges of daily survival, but when you add unnecessary things like police harassment and exploitation of our young people by arbitrary police arrests, SARS, EFCC etc, they become desperate. And a desperate mind can be very dramatic,” he said.

The filmmaker who is known for stellar TV productions such as ‘Battleground’ and ‘Brethren’ is bringing an action-packed and suspense-filled drama in ‘Movement-Japa’, going by the teasers in the trailer. Hot chases on muddied streets, bloodied hands and frightening screams are some of the scenes that will have viewers glued to their seats.

Shot in Ghana and Nigeria, Odugbemi revealed that the production crew built a set that was a full replica of the interior of a merchant ship. Over 100 actors —day players and extras — and over 45 crew members were deployed.

“We filmed from early in the day through late nights on many days. We faced challenges of location permits and security issues. There were accidents and uncertainties throughout but thanks to God Almighty and kudos to our really exemplary team of cast and crew, we concluded successfully. And thanks to MultiChoice Nigeria and Africa Magic for taking on the production,” he said.

The most daunting challenge for the crew was the production task, having to work with a low budget while shooting a story that traverses two countries. They had to move actors and crew from one location to the other and in some cases, there were spaces that a lot of people have never shot in and they needed to get access to those places. Odugbemi said that they had to put in a lot to achieve some of the scenes featured in the series.

At the heart of ‘Movement-Japa’ is a story about youth emigration, human trafficking and the desperation of young Africans to escape to seek better economic opportunities abroad.

“I think this subject is very important and it cuts across Africa. It is the first thing that we realized just preparing to make the show. It is also important to make the show as realistic as possible and in doing so, we needed to ensure that the characters and those who are playing the characters had the right level of emotional capacity to create performances that were connecting emotionally. Obviously, we also followed the story not just in Nigeria but also outside of Nigeria,” noted Odugbemi.

The series stars some familiar faces like Gideon Okeke and Sambasa Nzeribe. Others include Shaznay Okawa, Chioma Agwunobi, Valerie Dish, Adjetey Anang, Chris Iheuwa, Steve Ogundele, Segun Obadare-Akpata, Esi Hammond, Ibe Breakthrough and Leo Oji.

For Odugbemi, ‘Movement-Japa’ seeks to rekindle hope in Nigeria and to an extent, the Nigerian youth whom he described as the future of Nigeria. Innovation and creativity, he argued, build a nation and if the country can fix the various infrastructural deficits of the country such as electricity, bad roads, and have institutional efficiencies, then the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nigerian youths will be seen as Nigeria’s biggest blessing.

“It is our human capital that will make Nigeria great and if what we are told is true, that our youth make up 60% of our population, then shouldn’t their welfare be a national priority. We need to invest better in their education, their safety, their healthcare and their access to technology so that they can be truly empowered to succeed.”

He added that leaders need to be intentional in rebuilding hope in the future of the country because by doing so, it gives them owners, grants them access “so that they begin to be involved in politics, in governance, and building institutions.”

Citing the End SARS protest that was held last year, Odugbemi said that the protests showed the capabilities of the youths when they are invested.

“They were able to organise a seamless demonstration for days using social media and technology to organise in several locations, creating an information stream, empowering those who come, feeding them and sustaining everything that they needed to do to make the demonstrations impactful.

“That happened because they were invested. That little window of capacity that we saw needs to be appropriated and aggregated and unleashed in the path of growth for Nigeria,” he concluded.