This piece has long being coming; others who know this story are unfortunately late, Alhaji Sagir Mohammed, Leo-Shukra, Sadisu Mohammed, a.k.a Yekondunu(Sadisu and Yekondunu are one and same person,it is used interchangeably here) Hussaini Yusuf Kodo, Yahaya Alfa, Mohammed Bala Loguma, Others who are still alive, Yahaya Shehu-Yahaya Nugwa, Prince Ahmed Tsado, MB Yahaya Babs Muktar Mb , Abdullahi Bida, John Gana Muwo, Abdul Gambo Yunusa,Tina Damisa, Fatima Abdullahi Mohammed (Yekondunu’s younger Sister) are all unfortunately not readily available to render this service but myself, who is a person of letters who could take pains to put it down and here it is finally. I consider myself lucky and privileged to unload this burden on my shoulder for posterity’s sake (So those who’s interest and are Researchers in our institutions should take notes now) . Instructively however, this piece is a result of prompting by one of the star Nupe musicians, Muhammad Zubis Abdullahi , DJ Zubis. For months now he has being urging and kept calling non-stop for the history, how Nupe Films started, whatever informed this I can’t tell but I bet someone told him or maybe he found out that I am about the most credible source who could tell it as it is today; certainly I am about one of the five (5) who started it, in order of importance this way(1) Late Alhaji Mohammed Sagir (2) Late Sadisu Mohammed (3) Abdul Gambo Yunusa (4) Jibrin Bala Jibrin Yikangi(this Writer)(5) Abdullahi Mohammed Bida, others include (6) Late Yahaya Alfa (7) John Gana Muwo (8) Prince Ahmed Tsado (9) Fati Mohammed (10) MB Yahaya Babs.
The list above features players who are directly connected to and involved in the production process but there’s this one individual who is indeed the maestro and mastermind of today’s Nupe film and music, only those in the list and late Alhaji Mohammed Sagir ‘s family knows his connection to the topic, Honorable Ibrahim Ebbo , a former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Niger State and a former member Federal House of Representatives; indeed this Man is the first ideological and moral mastermind of the Nupe Film and music industry today.How? your minds must be brimming with this question; well here is how it goes; The first Producer of modern Nupe Films was late Alhaji Mohammed Sagir. Late Sadisu single handedly sought him out to come and produce a Nupe film.Then we were running an actors outfit, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) Niger State Chapter since 2004;Yekondunu was the Interim Chairman, I was the Interim Secretary and Abdul Gambo Yunusa was the Interim Treasurer back in 2004. Sagir’s coming to picture was a deliberate attempt by Yekondunu; Here (then) we (a good number of us Nupes) running a Nollywood outfit without us promoting our own mother tongue films.
Sadisu-Yekondunu approached Sagir and he agreed to give Nupe film a trial. Let’s not miss this, from the title of this piece I wrote earlier “Modern Nupe Films and Music” here is the meaning; there were other Nupe “Film” productions before we started, alas there weren’t exactly what we call “film ideologically” but video dramas because they weren’t properly produced, they were dramas; dramas because the editing and mode were video cassettes and non-digital, no proper editing of shots, no wide, close-ups and establishment shots and proper montages, hence they weren’t films but dramas until we started in March 2005, precisely march 5th. Prior, there were other drama productions across the Nupe land from the “Ndakulogi” dramas of the NTA Minna and Bida in the 80’s down to “Eyegago nawu wo” of the early 90’s, that famous Nupe “Abdul” films up to the Melody Tutijinba film productions, Yanma Dogo and Yaba Nanceta Bida drama groups of the Bida local government cultural units, and the Baba Issa/Babannakwa Mokwa drama groups. That time too, other drama groups in Patigi and Lafiagi of kwara were existing but nobody had produced anything worth the name of ‘film” until Sagir’s time who introduced digitization to it,He was the first to invest in this area; He brought in a digital camera, video nine (9) and pioneered burning/duplicating of CD plates right in his bedroom in Tachi Complex area Tunga, Minna. After we shot in the fields/locations, tapes were returned to his bedroom where they were loaded into the computer system via “capturing”, then there weren’t experienced editor but Sagir used to invite Abubakar Rijau, MPEG, from Kano whom he knew through Sadisu for digital editing. It’s worthy to mention here that all these was made easier through Sagir’s familiarity and professional practice of Information technology, IT. He was one of the people in-charge of Zainab Kure’s “Project Yes” Basic computer skills acquisitions unit during the Kure administration years in the early 2000’s… so the combo…
…To be continued in Part 2…
Jibrin Bala Jibrin Yikangi,
Is a Poet, A Teacher and a Social Activist
He writes from Gbako.
