He is one motion picture practitioner and a later day festival organizer and content provider who has shown a high degree of commitment to the development of the Nigerian movie industry or Nollywood as the industry is called. Here is the inimitable Madu Chikwendu who has left no one in doubt since he left entertainment consultancy for a full time career in the movie, a little over a decade ago, that he is on the side of 'positive' and if you like sustainable change for the self styled Nigerian home movie culture. When Madu talks films, he does so with so much passion and in all cases; he is usually in his eloquent best, demonstrating a sound knowledge of the vocation and development in and around the industry.
At a time President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Madu's first love as a tot was not movie making. He wanted to be a 'writer…. a publisher…just anything to do with writing'. Unlike his peers, he was not attracted to the glamour of the tube and so did not hanker with it. He recalled how he would proudly declare to some of his friends then that he wanted to be a writer-in the mould of "the great Soyinka and or Achebe". So to prepare himself, he read widely and wrote as much as he could. Fortunately Madu lived and grew up in Aba, a town 'where you could walk into any bookshop and find so many titles to read'. So he bought and read as many titles as he could and concluded after reading through each that he could do better if only given the right training and exposure.
So after his early education, all of which were in Aba and when it was actually time to choose a course of study, his choice of a course to study was informed by his unquenchable taste for writing. He opted for Literature, which he thought, would guarantee him an enduring romance with writing. He chose the University of Port Harcourt and the University of Nigeria as his first and second choice respectively. When the University Matriculation Examination (UME) results were released, the University of Port Harcourt found him eligible and so offered him the opportunity to actualize his dreams. As an undergraduate, Madu found himself taking most of his electives from the theatre arts department. He found the course content there so fascinating that he spent so much time at the department and almost gave in to pressure from some of his mates to switch course. "In fact a lot of my mates thought I read Theatre Arts because I was always at the theatre and at the theatre arts library where I read a lot about the legendary Ogunde and Duro Ladipo'.
Indeed his attraction to the theatre and film got him to do his Bachelors of Arts degree project on Oba Koso. He took part too in a number of productions and recalls how his mates almost re-christened him Everyman, a role he played as an undergraduate. With a first degree in Literature from the University of Port Harcourt Madu journeyed upnorth, to Sokoto, for the compulsory National Youth Service programme. This was in 1990. About a decade later, Chikwendu reputed to be a quietly efficient administrator registered for a Master of Art programme at the University of Lagos. He graduated eighteen months later precisely in 1998 and launched back fully into movie production.
But it was shortly after the National Youth Service programmme that Chikwendu's bond with the movie was sealed. Madu opted for off screen roles-that of churning out scripts and calling the shots either as a producer or director at the time when it was profitable to be an onscreen personality. Through a close friend Madu got a referral to work closely with Chris Obi Rapu, formerly of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) who was contracted to direct the widely acclaimed home video- Living in Bondage. He moved on and was to later be actively involved in the production of the commercially successful two-part movie Taboo. It was indeed from there that the name Madu Chikwendu became a household name in the Nigerian home movie culture.
Publisher of the movie quarterly called Movie in Nigeria and director of the Lagos Film School, a training facility in Lagos, Madu's first full credit as a producer cum director was with the 'controversial satirical comical excursion 'Sculptorico'. It was released in 1995 and it came with it, a number of controversies. The one that rattled Madu to his very foundation was a claim that he robbed 'the original copyright owner of his due credits'. A claim which Madu said he only read in the papers and had not been confronted by anyone. He however dismissed the claim as a 'non issue'. He had said: 'so I did not see any harm in adapting the work for the screen. I actually meant well but as it is in life, your best intention can be misunderstood and it's still significant that I have still not met anybody that said he created 'sculptorico'. And we begin to wonder whether it's not the press again. I am sure if someone had come up to me to lay claim to being the originator of 'sculptorico' we would have been able to discuss. But really as I speak I don't really know the trouble and the 'why' of the controversies then. I didn't know whose right was been infringed. 'Sculptorico' is been done all over our campuses with so many variations. - I did it because I saw and still see it as a very wonderful piece of comedy'.
After Sculptorico, Madu moved on. He did a lot of work for True Tales Publications, publisher of Hints Magazine who had then joined in the production of movies but mostly dramatic realization of the magazines hit stories. Madu produced three films for that stable and functioned as supervising producer for - "When the Sunset"- a movie that threw up the acting potentials of Kate Henshaw Nutal and a host of others. From When the Sun Set, Madu moved on to Millionaires are Saint 1 and 2, Rampage, Born Wicked and many others. Madu recalled that Born Wicked set him back because he lost a lot of money because of distribution difficulties. That gave room for a forced break and in between Madu decided on getting involved in the politics of the movie making. He ventured into advocacy and then administration and since then he has remained at the top and has been very visible too. 'I was convinced at a point that it was time to help in getting things done the right way. So I decided to devote a little time to advocacy -all about trying to get things on the right footing'.
Madu's interest for 'getting things done as it should be' as he later summed, culminated in his founding of the Directors Guild of Nigeria popular as DGN - a body that eventually became a strong force within the sector but which later became heavily politicized. He later teamed up with some forward looking practitioners to set up the now moribund Filmmakers Cooperative of Nigeria (FCON) and much later he joined in, in the effort to put the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) on the right footing. Years later, Madu became the Associations President. He only recently relinquished power to an equally experience practitioner Paul Obazele.
As AMP President, Madu took a number of giant strides all with the aim of sanitizing the industry. Madu ran a virile AMP that became a standard for the other arms of the sector. Indeed the business of movie making got into full gear under Madu's tenure as President.
As a key player in the burgeoning Nigerian movie culture, Chikwendu is not in any way surprised at the giant status the home movie culture here has assumed. He recalled how participants at an earlier conference he had organized prior to the home video boom had projected that the film business was a gold mine waiting to be exploited. "So it's not strange to me. I had always seen it. In fact I was ruminating on this recently. I remember all those conferences we used to organize and the resolutions from the conferences. We projected then, that the movie was going to grow into a multi-billion-naira industry. Has it not come to pass? We now sign cheques of huge sums. In fact if you had such a dream 10 years ago, you would think you are going crazy. But I think that the movie industry has greatly inspired this other aspect of entertainment business in Nigeria. So everybody knows that look if Madu can do it then I can do. So I had always seen it and now I can comfortably say that we are in the process of building structures.
As a strong advocate for the restructuring of the movie, Madu stoutly agrees that Nigeria films are now a global phenomenon. 'It's no longer a local thing' he contends stressing that the industry has grown rapidly even beyond the expectation of its founding fathers.
"It's a global phenomenon. I know now many foreigners receive here I receive on a monthly basis' he says.
Looking ahead now, Madu is optimistic that things will soon stabilize for the movie and that the movie will match Hollwood, "force for force". He disclosed that though he is working at making films that will change the world; his plans may be hindered because the distributors use their control of the market to control the content. This means that offerings that they fund may not get to the consumer. 'It's a global phenomenon' he says 'Hollywood uses control of global infrastructure to foist all kinds of products on the world. That is why my present career focus is on the creation of distribution infrastructure. That is why I attended the European Film market at the last Berlinale. It was to seek new partners. I will be in Hong Kong in a couple of weeks to finalize discussions on co-production possibilities'.
How far has Madu gone with the Lagos International Film Festival dubbed LIFF? 'LIFF is already airborne. Remember am a builder. I founded Directors Guild of Nigeria, FCON, revived AMP…i have founded or co-founded so many institutions in Nollywood.I am a tactician. For us it is a marathon not a hundred meter dash. I Challenge you to ask me this same question about the Lagos International Film Festival in 10 years time. We know where we are going and more importantly we know how to get there'.
Asked what the regional Secretary of FEPACI, the continental movie body, can be caught eating all the time, Madu says he prefers 'local dishes'. He says: 'I think my choice is right because virtually every foreigner that visits Nigeria falls in love with our food. Am an Ngwa man from Abia state so my best meal is probably our ceremonial soup, Egusi with Achara and Mgbam. Try it with eba and you will understand what real pleasure means. As for music, I have no preference. I like any one that sounds good. I listen to the radio a lot particularly Rhythm and you know they play a lot of music that means I do a lot of free listening.
Any regrets? Madu offered a loud 'No' and adds: "I am a very happy man because most of my mates are very wealthy but I don't really feel bad. And funny enough a lot of them envy me. They chose money but I was courageous enough not to join in. I am extremely happy. It's not giving me all I want but there is joy. My wife said she couldn't imagine me not doing film and I am glad that she has always stood by me. Not too many women can cope with our work schedule and all that. I am very fulfilled. I am very happy with the decision I took to join the movie industry and I think it is the greatest thing anybody can do. May be it's the power to change life and to affect people's thinking that's has been providing the kick'.
by Shaibu Husseini
