There is an ongoing fascination that Nigerians have for indigenous language movies. This fad was arguably kick-started by the Oscar-nominated movie, ‘Lion Heart’, but no one is really sure. Nigerians also like a good underdog story. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Kayode Kasum-directed movie, ‘Afemefuna’ won hearts across the country, quickly becoming a fan favorite. The amalgam of the movie’s indigenous narrative, coupled with the highlight trope of an underdog finding success was simply had to resist.
The quote from Ndubuisi Ekekwe’s famous Harvard article of 2021 featured in the first few seconds of the movie was a great way to spike expectations. Who knew that a crude stakeholder capitalism system practiced by local eastern merchants in Nigeria would interest the refined minds at Harvard enough to give it a mention?
The movie draws attention to this renowned apprenticeship institution that has become synonymous with the South-Eastern part of Nigeria, and it does it well.
Featuring celebrity casts like Kanayo O. Kanayo, Segun Arinze, Stan Nze, and Alexx Ekubo, ‘Afamefuna’ is positioned nicely as the highest-grossing movie in Nigeria so far this month. It’s a well-told story about brotherhood and betrayal layered around the merits of hard work based on a single benefactor’s perception. The lead character Afamefuna’s ingenious idea to take matters into his own hands and help his master solve an issue with his goods which were seized by customs officers, led to the fast-track of his status apprentice to being settled by his master, at the expense of the most eligible choice his ‘senior colleague’, Paul.
Kanayo’s proverbs light up the scenes giving meaning to hard-to-explain outcomes and concepts like ‘apiriko’, the agelong sale system of ‘playing a customer’ by first appraising them and providing a price tag based on your assessment. Kanayo’s solemn verdict of ‘Apiriko isn’t bad. Its part of business’ promptly settles the angst between Afamefuna and Obum even though its origin and logic remained unexplained.
The story of the 20 pounds start-up fee given to all Igbo traders who lost their thriving businesses in the civil war, helped give credence to the success of the famed apprenticeship system.
As expected, no storyline boasts of perfection, so Afamefuna’s glaring gullibility based on his extreme loyalty to Paul was rather stretched; down to the point of paying 5 million naira monthly to gangsters on Paul’s behalf even whilst being blackmailed by him; but the impasse does nothing but amplify the stakes and the eventual outcome of the story.
Amidst the accolades that trail Afamefuna, there is a missing piece that is a central feature in any Igbo apprenticeship system; religiosity.
Anyone that knows anything about the Igbo apprenticeship system, knows that it goes hand in hand with religion. Stalls are closed till 10 am one day a week to seek God’s favour, and this is not based on choice; it’s simply a part of the business. So the absence of anything regarding the average Igbo man’s strong belief in God was an irreparable error.
But the absence of religion doesn’t take anything away from the layered storyline and clever plot twists of the movie, Afamefuna.
Afamefuna‘s success underlines a clear interest among Nigerians for stories that speak to their collective experiences, not the recent spate of Hollywood rip-offs, complete with dialogue that can never be found in any Nigerian household.
