Film maker seeks support from Diri, Sylva to complete movie project on historic Nembe-British war

Yenagoa—A Nigerian filmmaker, Mr. Timipre Sylva Olali has sought the support of the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, and the minister of state for petroleum resources, Chief Timipre Sylva in an ongoing project to adapt the 1895 Nembe British war into a movie.

Olali, who sought the support through a post on his Facebook page said as a Nembe man he feels the need to bring that part of Nigerian history to the limelight.

He stated that the story when told through a movie would contribute immensely to the precolonial history of the country.

“It is a very big story that would contribute greatly to the history of the empires that existed in Nigeria during the early colonial times in the nineteenth century.

“It is on record that King Koko who gallantly fought the British colonial forces, was the only King of that period who was not exiled by the British, as was done to “King Ovueramen of Benin, King Jaja of Opobo, and King Nana of Koko (Itsekiri kingdom),” he stated.

The Bayelsa-born filmmaker said many A-list Nollywood actors, directors, and screenplay writers have already shown interest to feature in the movie with some already incorporated and working on the project.

He revealed that before the main movie, an initial short movie of fifteen minutes about King Koko would be released to the public as a preamble and teaser to the main movie.

“We, however, want to tackle the project very professionally by starting with a short film, as a teaser of fifteen minutes of King Koko arriving at Nembe port, with his full war fleet after one of his exploits that would serve as an appetizer for our would-be sponsors.”

Olali noted that the movie would be a big boost to the Nigerian movie industry, adding that it would feature in the international film market and festivals including the Abuja International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival France, Toronto international film festival Canada and many others.