“Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip”: Donald Tombia Mediation on Artistic Process

Minutes into our conversation with Donald Tombia, it was clear: he’s a process-obsessed filmmaker. With nearly a decade in the industry, Tombia has written and served as Head Writer for some of Nollywood’s television series and films including Slum King, Shanty Town, Masquerades of Aniedo, Introducing the Kujus and others. These films and TV shows which rely on dramatic flair have secured, for the writer, a coveted spot in the Nigerian film industry. Beyond screenwriting, Tombia also has a Medium page where he asks critical questions, documents his process, and shares autobiographical details amongst other things. 

“Cinema is a global language, spoken fluently only when the filmmaker stops performing for applause”, “for Nollywood to reach heights unimaginable, it needs its storytellers and screenwriters to go deeper and higher in their storytelling and writing” and “The Nigerian education system, coupled with the economy, isn’t primed to birth researchers and innovators, rather it is designed to cultivate consumers and crammers” are some sentences that fragmentarily carry the urgency of his thoughts about Nollywood, its filmmakers and the Nigeria society. And, in our hours-long virtual conversation with the writer who just made his directorial short film debut with Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip, the importance of process becomes the recurring theme even when we talk about his new film, Nollywood storytelling problem, Nigerian film schools and Nigeria. 

Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip follows the story of Ejikeme (‘Chukwu Martin) and Akumjeli (Doris Okorie) and their daily realities within the Nigerian system. Although the film mostly takes place in their cramped room, the film shows how Nigeria, with its broken system and toxic environment, affects Nigerians even in their most private and vulnerable spaces. As the couple struggle to repay a debt, organise a birthday and deal with a toxic boss, Tombia’s film stretches our understanding of how Nigeria and its dysfunctional systems affect everyday Nigerians. Using surrealist and psychedelic elements, the short film explores poverty and the rise of loan app culture in Nigeria. The question of how young, artistic and hardworking Nigerians navigate unemployment, inflation and other pressing issues get situated in Ejikeme and Akumjeli’s story. 

But the film – and its socially-resonant subject matter – wasn’t the start of the conversation with the director. It began with a lengthy and revealing conversation around artistic process and ritual  and their place in art. “I measure my ability to communicate with people as one of the metrics for success,” Tombia said, explaining his process. As a writer, he has always been curious about the fading momentum of public discourse, that reluctance to engage, network and foster  quiet intimacy through conversations. 

“Conversations,” he said, “offers an opportunity to share fears, hopes and views.” Writing, while essential, only allows for a one-sided exchange. It often isolates  readers from the writer’s evolving thoughts and opinions. Physical conversation, in contrast, compels participants to verbally agree or disagree in real time on established talking points. 

Tombia’s background in cybersecurity shaped this belief. He gained real-time perspective, secured deals and improved his finances by meeting potential clients in person rather than sending emails. However, when he entered Nollywood in 2019, he was stunned by the scarcity of real and meaningful conversations. There were a lot of festivals, programmes and panel sessions consisting of talking heads that didn’t translate into measurable impact. Tombia’s opinion echoes filmmaker Mildred Okwo’s frequent tweets about how impact bereft most of Nollywood-focused talks and panels are. 

What is the quality of these conversations? and what benefits do these conversations have to the film industry? Tombia asks. Too often, what gets praised is the effort behind creating these panel sessions, events and festivals, not the strength of their programming. But, as Tombia argues, the world doesn’t just reward efforts but results. As an industry, that coddling of the “efforts put into making a film” has desensitized Nigerian filmmakers from receiving critical engagement. While it takes painstaking effort to make a film, curate panel sessions and organize a film festival,this constant praise of effort makes brutal honesty impossible. As Tombia told Culture Custodian, “The only way Nollywood can become rich is if it becomes globally competitive.”

The absence of craft and expertise around filmmaking has left Nollywood films barren of artistic and technical qualities. The result is the unending cycle of substandard titles that flood Nigerian cinemas and streaming platforms and TV series that don’t understand the nuance of TV writing. The Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC) inability to find suitable  Nigerian titles worthy of being selected for the Oscars International Film category reflects the general ‘anyhowness’ that permeates the industry. In Tombia’s postulation, these happen because the industry doesn’t prioritize processes. It’s this commitment to  process that led Tombia to spend a full year making Ode! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip. His intention was to create a film capable of competing at the Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film. It’s this appreciation and recognition of artistic ritual and process in filmmaking  that Tombia wants other filmmakers to adopt in writing, production, post-production and marketing. 

Our conversation shifts towards understanding why Nollywood’s storytelling problem persists. Tombia identifies two reasons: the low barrier to entering and lack of documentation. The film industry’s entry point is so accessible that producers often employ novelists to write screenplays, even when they don’t understand the nuances and rhythm of scriptwriting. Crew members become touted “professionals” despite the glaring technical deficits in their works. Survival, and not a love for cinema, has drawn many Nigerians to the film industry. This has created a space and industry missing the pedantic obsession with being cinematically educated and studying the masters. 

Another factor is the absence of Nigerian filmmakers documenting their process, with the exception of Taiwo Egunjobi who has chronicled his filmmaking journey in his books and journals. As Tombia argues, there is a scarcity of media that documents cinematic greatness within the context of Nigerian cinema. There are no YouTube videos, essays and other media that highlights what it takes to create what can be considered cinematic greatness within the context of Nollywood. In developed film industries, there’s an abundance of media available to younger filmmakers willing to learn from the masters. This makes art appreciation impossible, both at the industry level and for individual filmmakers. The Nollywood system isn’t designed to reward high-effort films and craft. The Nigerian audiences have been trained to doubt and reject any appearance of “high art.” And for art-driven filmmakers, it takes individual commitment to rebel against the system. “Watching and studying the masters is a critical step towards becoming one,” Tombia says. “But, that apprenticeship mindset is missing in Nollywood. And even the film masters, if they exist in Nollywood, don’t have the process documented or available for understudy.” 

Filmmaking is a profession that doesn’t particularly require formal education. Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher didn’t attend  formal film schools yet they remain devoted film students studying the craft of cinema and storytelling. In Nollywood, the situation is different. Many filmmakers who stumble into the industry and leisurely watch what’s trendy for replication not appreciation. The culture of self-education and rigorous study of cinema as an artform isn’t commonplace. 

This lack of rigor explains the mostly shoddy filmmaking and films produced by young Nigerian filmmakers who attend Nigerian film schools. The students who are lucky to be admitted to film schools still lack the agency and discipline to watch and study films. Despite Tombia’s critical interrogation of the industry, he still doesn’t believe he is a master yet. This isn’t  humility-driven talk but one made with realization of where he’s at as a storyteller. He becomes a master when he can point to films he has made as a source of inspiration and reference for other filmmakers. “We have too many practitioners who don’t understand the need to consume, interrogate and fixate more on art that produces it,” Tombia says. “And, in the absence of viable film schools, the only way to become a master is by watching a decent amount of good films.”

Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip went through seven drafts. The writing process wasn’t measured in days but in the ideology and aesthetic choices of the film. During this time, Tombia was intentional about the films he consumed, choosing works by directors who believe in and produce high art. He sees this as part of his writing and directing process, rooted in his belief in energy transfer by continually immersing himself in high art whose craftsmanship left an undeniable mark on him. As a creative, he has realized that this tough choice of relentlessly watching films and consuming cinema works for him. “Until you understand, interrogate and contextualise your success and make them part of your process, you will do things and just expect stellar results. ”he says.

The process for Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip began with a clear intention: Tombia wanted to reintroduce himself to the industry as an art-driven director whose short films could compete on international platforms. He envisioned a film that could get accepted by Mubi. After over five years of writing African Magic stories, he wanted to tell a story that deviated entirely from his previous work including Shanty Town, Slum Kings and other African Magic titles with violent themes. 

Tombia wanted to tell a story that could address pressing societal issues. He was interested in questions like the ethics of alternative financial institutions, and the role of love in survival. To do this, the writer-director adopted Kishōtenketsu, an East-Asian storytelling style, to write the story. Although he’s aware of the unpopularity of this storytelling style in Nigeria and Nigerian audiences “preference” for Hollywood storytelling style, his vision for the project and the intent of establishing himself as an auteur grounded his decision and resolution. 

Different films shaped the story elements in  Òdè! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip. To explore the film’s psychedelic elements, Tombia immersed himself in Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, and HBO’s Euphoria. He was also inspired by titles like Leaving Las Vergas, Nebraska, Original Sin, Death Game, Knock Knock, and Requiem For A Dream. He saw these films in-between writing and completing drafts so as to allow the story’s elements (psychedelia and eroticism) to simmer in his mind. Watching Skin: The History of Nudity in the Movies made him understand how to shoot erotic scenes in a way that was more artistic rather than exploitative. Lanthimos’ ability to tell quirky stories in a non-jarring manner influenced  Òde! There Is No Bus Stop On This Trip’s tone while Euphoria’s empathetic capacity for its characters showed him how to approach emotional depth. “I watched these films not to adopt ideas and technicalities that I implement in my films. It was to allow, study and understand the sensibilities and style of these films and filmmakers to stay with me,” Tombia recounts. 

From the outset, Tombia knew Okorie and Martin would play the lead roles. He was grateful they and other cast members embraced the nuance and madness of the story. As part of the character development process, characters, even minor ones, were given lengthy backstories.  As a first-time director, he sought crew members who understood the rhythm and language of his film. “The project is made with the mindset of competing globally and position Rocks & Badgers, my company for global partnerships”

The film’s title is reflective of the unending cycle of destruction, tragedy and stagnacy Nigeria has witnessed post-independence. Nigeria’s social systems –education, security, family and social spaces are broken and underdeveloped. This raises the question of how to remould the broken structures. Renovating the current broken structures is an exhausting ordeal but the filmmaker asserts that a recognisable starting point is important. As the film’s title states, there is no bus stop on this trip.