An adaptation of the Akinwunmi Isola book of the same title, Tunde Kelani’s Saworoide is set in a fictional Yoruba community called Jogbo. This community is blessed with an abundance of wood, which attracts timber investors and lumber companies.
That Jogbo represents Nigeria is quite apparent: its wood is a stand-in for Nigeria’s oil. It is perhaps no wonder that the film has a few things to say about the real country. 25 years after its release, some of those things still ring true—or have become even more true now.
Below are 5 ways Saworoide speaks about Nigeria today.
1. Power Struggles and Corruption in Leadership
Saworoide opens with the ascension of King Lapite, who, driven by a disregard for communal values, bribes his way to the throne. He refuses to undergo traditional rituals, which foretells all too common reports of Nigeria’s political leaders rigging their way to power.
2. Environmental Degradation
The process of extracting timber from the community devastates Jogbo. Oil exploitation has devastated the Niger Delta. This is not particularly prescient but nothing has changed over decades of obtaining oil from communities having it crude in abundance.
3. Suppression of Press Freedom
In Saworoide, a journalist is intimidated and faces imprisonment for questioning the community’s leaders. Nigeria continues to rank among countries with significant violations of press freedom.
4. Youthful Agitation and Military Repression
Youths in Jogbo stage a protest to bring attention to their suffering but are met with military force. In 2020, during the #EndSARS protests led by young people, a similar thing happened. Just this year, another protest, tagged #EndBadGovernance, led to the arrests and awful treatment of mainly very young protesters.
5. Empty Promises of New Leadership
Although, democracy was just returning to Nigeria in 1999, the year Saworoide was released, the film gets what would become a pattern correctly. In the film, military leader Lagata ousts Lapite, promising to restore order. He turns out to be even more oppressive. The cycle of promises and brutal reversals are unfortunately very familiar to Nigerian voters.
6. Political Alliances for Personal Gain
Former rivals join forces to exploit Jogbo’s resources in a manner that anyone can see in the rampant cross carpeting by Nigerian politician. In Saworoide, Jogbo’s chiefs connive with the new leader, instructing him to get rid of critics. As the rapper MI Abaga has said, “Half of APC na PDP before.”
