The official trailer for Obi Emelonye’s forthcoming Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida biopic Badamasi (The Portrait of a General) has hit the internet. The film will mark the first political biopic from Nollywood. Enyinna Nwigwe will be playing the general in the epic political thriller which follows IBB from his childhood in Wushishi, a small village in Northern Nigeria to his days at the uppermost seat of the Nigerian military. Badamasi also tells pivotal moments in Babaginda’s life: the civil war, the military coups and the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections.
A powerful Army general attempts to guide Nigeria through a viciously strained era in this first of its kind authorized biopic.
Although there are concerns that the biopic might attempt to be whitewashing of the actions of the man who is most known and reviled for his role in the annulment of the June 12 elections, it is still refreshing to see a Nollywood biopic on one of the most important figures in Nigeria’s history. 2019 has birthed three Nollywood period films on important people and events. 1929 focused on the 1929 Women War (read our review). The Herbert Macaulay Affair is centred on the life of the foremost Nigerian nationalist, Herbert Macaulay. Badamasi is a portrait of IBB.
Badamasi stars Charles Inojie, Sani Danja, Yakubu Mohammed, Okey Bakassi, Kalu Ikeagwu, Julius Agwu and Erick Didie. Opens in cinemas nationwide this November.