Review: Jadesola Osiberu’s “The Trade” (2023) Is An Appetiser To “Gangs of Lagos”

“Man wey no fit take care of im family, na man?” or a variation of that, goes the mantra of Eric (Blossom Chukwujekwu), the protagonist of The Trade, an organized crime boss who specializes in the abduction of societal bigwigs for ransom. There are at least two times in the film that he uses the expression: one is when his driver requests financial aid from him; another is during a telephone conversation with his sister, during which he spites his own father. It’s pathetic that, on both occasions, he appears to acquit himself of financial incapacitation which an inept family man could be guilty of. But even as he seems to justify his manliness and appreciate his ability to cater to the material needs of his children, within and outside wedlock, the irony is that he fails them as a role model, more than just a poor man. 

The Trade joins Jadesola Osiberu’s filmography as yet another manipulation of the crime thriller genre. This is coming after the release of Brotherhood (2022) directed by Ugandan Loukman Ali, a more riveting, action-packed movie that is based on the premise of twin brothers stuck on opposite sides of the law. Brotherhood was the highest-grossing Nollywood film of 2022 and occupies the 6th spot on the industry’s all-time highest-grossing list. Obviously, Osiberu the chief architect is still relishing the positive reactions and domestic success of the film, and this aura overhangs her current project only birthed in January 2023. It’s already three months since The Trade went commercial, but If you have seen both The Trade and Brotherhood, you do not need a soothsayer to tell you that nowhere in the future will the former overtake the latter in box office success. With the talk of the town now being Gangs of Lagos, and its release only a few days from now, this moment might really be the last respects to The Trade.

Starring Rita Dominic, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Shawn Faqua, Gideon Okeke, Stan Nze, Ali Nuhu, and Chiwetalu Agu, among other A-list actors, The Trade navigates the story of a notorious kidnapper with his network of cohorts that have been on the prowl for years in the Southern region of the country. When one of the abducted, a powerful woman called Doris (Rita Dominic), is helped to escape from captivity, it is only a matter of time before the police clamp down on Eric’s underworld. Although Eric has managed to keep his profile out of the public and hidden for long, he cannot be too careful as the police, aided by Eric’s side chick and baby mama Nneka (Nengi Adoki), scheme their way through the impasse until he is eventually nabbed.

For Assistant Commissioner of Police Bukar (Ali Nuhu), whose largely excellent track record is threatened by a monumental mistake he once made, the arrest of one of the country’s most wanted criminals is a moment of career revamp. It’s only quite pitiable, and ironic too, that his overzealous new police officer Charles (Shawn Faqua) does not get enough chances to prove his worth, with his untimely death showing how unflattering life can be, even to the most professionally gingered-up.

In The Trade, Osiberu brings up a plot that is unencumbered with subtleties, with the resolution unraveling in a manner that downplays the much-talked-about evasiveness of the protagonist. The police study how slippery Eric has been, but the film does not commit sufficient time to show this before the criminal is hunted down. Should the filmmaker have introduced and leveraged three to five of Eric’s successful kidnapping missions with foiled police attempts, an argument on this would be baseless. What the film lacks in mettle appropriate for the genre of crime thriller, it now has to make up for in other ways. This is where the speculation about being an interim material comes to play, the personal hypothesis that The Trade may just be something to snack on before the real meal, Gangs of Lagos.

Gangs of Lagos is set to premiere globally on April 7 on Amazon Prime Video as the streaming company’s maiden African Original movie, but the publicity has been ongoing since 2022 before the release of both Brotherhood and The Trade. This has kept Nollywood fans around antsy as they count down to D-Day. It’s going to be Osiberu’s third crime thriller in a row, and perhaps her best interpretation of the genre given the luxury of partnership she has in the mix. 

Themes such as betrayal, diligence, loyalty, and, of course, criminality are easily spotted in The Trade as we are furnished with vices and virtues that are no strangers to us in society. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this film is how it relives the case of popular wealthy Nigerian kidnapper, Evans who was arrested in 2017. Currently serving a life sentence in prison, Evans was known to have built an enabling network and orchestrated kidnapping activities in which he made up to a million dollars. In a similar vein to the fictional Eric, Evans had a family of his own who appeared to be oblivious to his shady dealings before his arrest.

In the early scenes, we are informed that the film is “Inspired by True Events”. This validates the Evans connection. Thus, while The Trade may not be tipped for cinematic longevity, it rouses an ugly reminiscent account of crime just as it fills an anticipatory gap, forging a palpable link with an expectedly more ambitious crime thriller project. 

Watch the trailer of The Trade here:

https://youtu.be/9tzTUeEIy1M