By Khalid Idris & Mahdi Garba
Islamic Movement-owned production giant, I.M Production has unveiled plans to premiere its latest film on the life and struggle of the 19th century Islamic reformer Sheikh Uthman Danfoddio in Bauchi. The company said the film which has been in the pipeline for 14 years will be premiered in cinemas before it will rock the market.
In an effort to solicit support from the Bauchi traditional emirate, last Saturday producers of the film paid a homage visit to Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji (Dr ) Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu. When told about the plan to premiere the long awaited film in Bauchi, the Emir expressed his joy, saying it’s a right step in the right direction. He further added that his Emirate is ever-ready to support this film that would help the people of Bauchi and the world as a whole.
During the visit, the Producer Ali Babba said the rationale behind choosing Bauchi is because of the crucial role the emirate played during the Danfodio revival mission. He continued saying "we choose Bauchi because of their resilience in the epoch of the jihad. Our notion is; standing here is like standing before Sheikh Usman Danfodio because we know what this Emirate meant to him.
The Emirate was the only only one granted a flag by Sheikh Danfodio, which further dispelled the claim that the jihad was a Fulani jihad " he added.
Going down to memory lane, the Producer said "when we started preparations, we visited the late Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammad Maccido and introduced ourselves and what we are up to, he was very glad, .there, he linked us up with some Historians. We also visited History Departments of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Bayero University, Kano. Despite this, we still met some erudite scholars of history at individual level to get an unadulterated account "
He said at last the storyline was built on a book titled ‘KIFA ‘UL MANSUR ‘ authored by Sultan Muhammad Bello a son to Sheikh Usman Danfodio.
According to him "The history is us, because every society boast of its history and that is the building block for development".
While narrating the hurdles crossed throughout, Ali Babba said " we faced many challenges because anything that consumed a long period like this must be accorded with challenges. The palace we were aping no longer exist, so we have to build ours that will serve the purpose. Also training of how to act perfectly was also another task. The welfare of the actors that ranges from logistics to feeding was also a problem because of their number. To God be the glory we have overcame it and now everything is history ".
While estimating the amount of money gulped, the Producer said "It had gulped a lot of money aside the edifices we built with mud and rain washed away, we have spent about 80 Million naira "
The Producer solicited support of the Emirate, saying; "we hereby solicit the support of this Emirate as we pass the message to people ".
While responding, the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji (Dr) Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu described the production of the movie by the company as a holy war, saying only Allah would reward them. He further said "in view of this sacrifice made, not only Nigerians would benefit from your resilience, but other parts of Africa and even beyond ".
The Emir continued saying the importance of history said "during our secondary school days, we thought that students of history were studying fiction because they were studying something that they haven’t witnessed. Only Allah knows the positive impact the movie would make to our society".
He also expressed his gratitude to Allah and thank the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar who advised that Bauchi should host the premiere owing its pertinent role during the jihad of Danfodio.
The Emirate reiterated its commitment to support the project. "We are ready to support this project with all we are capable" the Emir said.
He also prayed for success throughout the premiere with the hope that others would emulate I.M Production in making films that would send an important message to the world.
Meanwhile, one of the executive directors, Sayyid Muhammad Ibrahim presented the faces of stars that acted the role of Abdullahi Gwandu, Shehu Danfodio and others that aped the despotic Emir of Gobir, Nafata, Umaru Ma’alkamu among others who appeared in the movie that would be launched in Bauchi very soon. A copy of the poster of the film was also shown to the Emir.
So far, preparations are still ongoing to premiere the film in Bauchi which they said is crucial at this critical time.
Here is the thriller of the movie: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8FtcBsRhSHU