''Badamasi: Portrait of a General'' is a biopic about former Nigerian head of state,

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

(IBB). It was directed by

Obi Emelonye Obi Emelonye Emelonye a Nigerian film director. He is known for directing award-winning films such as ''Last Flight to Abuja'' (2012), '' The Mirror Boy'' (2011), and ''Onye Ozi'' (2013). In 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, which shut do ...

and stars

Enyinna Nwigwe Chief Enyinna Nwigwe (born September 18, 1982) is a Nigerian actor, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for playing Nonso in '' The Wedding Party 2'', and playing Tamuno in ''Black November''. Early life and education Nwigwe was b ...

in the lead role as Babangida. It is the first

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

political biopic.

Plot

''Badamasi'' tells the story of Babangida from his origins in the village of

Wushishi Wushishi is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Wushishi. Wushishi is located between Longitude 9°43'N and Latitude 6°04'E and it has an area of 1,879 km and a population of 81,783 at the 200 ...

in Northern Nigeria to his joining the army and time as a Nigerian military head of state. It also portrays significant events in Babangida's life including the period of the

Nigerian civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

where Babangida sustains injuries in an attempt to rescue a colleague. The subsequent military coups and annulment of the June 1993 presidential elections were also portrayed.

Cast

as Babangida *

Charles Inojie Charles Inojie is a Nigerian actor, comedian, movie director and producer. He is predominantly known for his comedic roles. Early life and education Charles is from a royal family. He grew up with his grandmother, and hardly recollects his mot ...

*Sani Danja * Yakubu Mohammed *

Okey Bakassi Okechukwu Anthony Onyegbule , popularly known as Okey Bakassi (born 3 October 1969) in Imo state is a Nigerian stand-up comedian and actor. In 2014, he won the "Best Actor in a Leading Role (Igbo)" category at the 2014 edition of the Best of N ...

Kalu Ikeagwu Kalu Egbui Ikeagwu is a British-Nigerian actor and writer. As an actor, he has received several awards and nominations for his performances on screen. Early life Kalu was born in England but was relocated to Nigeria by his dad at the age of 9 ...

Julius Agwu Julius Agwu (born April 7, 1973) is a Nigerian stand-up comedian, actor, singer and MC. Julius Agwu is the MD/CEO of Reellaif Limited, music, and movie production company. He is also an entertainment consultant and motivational speaker. He is th ...

*Erick Didie

Production and release

Production for ''Badamasi'' commenced in 2017. The film is set in 1980/1990s Nigeria and was shot on location in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Minna Minna is a city in Middle Belt Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. It consists of two major ethnic groups: the Gbagyi and the Nupe. History Archaeological evidence suggests settlement in the ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

and the University of Nigeria (UNN),

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively referr ...

. The film director told a ''Pulse Nigeria'' interviewer that it took him 4 years to convince Babangida to allow him make the biopic. The film was initially billed for a 29 November 2019 release date but was delayed due to reported "powerful people" who were against the circulation of the film. There were concerns that the biopic might be an attempt to

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used ...

Babangida's story as the annulment of the June 1993 presidential elections earned Babangida condemnation. The first look trailer was released in September 2019. ''Badamasi'' premiered at the Cineworld O2 Arena in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

on 12 June 2021.

Critical reception

A reviewer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised the film for its production and attention to technical details noting that "It did not ‘feel’ like Nollywood" and was in keeping with Obi Emelonye's other films including ''Heart 2 Heart'', '' The Mirror Boy'', ''

Last Flight to Abuja ''Last Flight to Abuja'' is a 2012 Nigerian disaster thriller film written by Tunde Babalola, directed and produced by Obi Emelonye, and starring Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Jim Iyke. Shot in Lagos, the film received 5 nominati ...

'' and ''

Onye Ozi ''Onye Ozi'' is a 2013 Nigerian comedy film directed by Obi Emelonye. The film won two category awards at the 2014 Nollywood Movies Awards. Background and production ''Onye Ozi'' was shot in London and was premiered on 18 October 2013 at The Li ...

''.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Obi Emelonye, state=expanded Nigerian drama films English-language Nigerian films Biographical films about presidents 2020s English-language films