Eddie Ugbomah (1940

•A versatile filmmaker and producer departs

A celebration of his retirement, planned for April, was overtaken by events. His autobiography, titled Eddie by Eddie Ugbomah, and a documentary on him, titled This is my Life, were to be unveiled to mark the occasion. It was to be a celebration of Eddie Ugbomah’s pioneering role in the Nigerian film industry, popularly called Nollywood. He was a trailblazing veteran.

Before Ugbomah died in a Lagos hospital on May 11, aged 78, he had hoped to raise money for his treatment abroad. “We’re looking to raise N50m for my own intellectual property, not that I’m begging anybody cap in hand. I have something to make my money,” he had said in an interview.

“All I need is everybody to support by buying the book, by coming to launch the documentary, by going to cinema houses to watch the films because they’re classics – Black President and Desert Warrior and Black Gold. They’re all made in celluloid. I’ve taken them to America. They just came back this week in HD and DVD. Then, the documentary has been shot; it’s going through editing now. The book is already written and going through compilation to print.”

Such was his self-belief and self-worth. Ugbomah was a passionate filmmaker who took pride in his work. His first film, made in the 1970s, was The Rise and Fall of Oyenusi, based on the life story of a notorious armed robber. Ugbomah played the role of Ishola Oyenusi, who terrorised Lagos in the early 1970s. Ugbomah’s second film, The Mask, released in 1979, focused on the looting of Africa’s artefacts by European colonisers and the campaign to bring the cultural treasures back to the continent. Ugbomah played the protagonist who tries to steal the Benin ivory mask from the British Museum and return it to Nigeria.

His roles in these films showed his acting talent, just as the thematic concerns of the films showed his social consciousness as a director and producer. Credited with 13 films, some of which were inspired by real-life events, Ugbomah showed the power of film as a change agent.

Ugbomah’s filmic career, which spanned two decades up till the 1990s, produced, among others, Oil Doom (1980), The Boy is Good (1982), Vengeance of the Cult (1984), Death of a Black President (1984) , The Great Attempt (1988) and America or Die (1996). He was later involved in Yoruba video films, which reflected his versatility.

The filmmaker was quoted as saying he got interested in filmmaking at 17 when Charlton Heston, a popular American actor, visited Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos. A native of present-day Delta State, Ugbomah grew up in Lagos. He travelled to London after his secondary education, and studied journalism, drama and film. He had a stint at BBC and was a member of an Afro-Caribbean drama group. He formed a film production company, Edifosa, after he returned to Nigeria in 1975. Two years later, he released his first film.

His works, “which cut across history, performance, music, and biographies, among others,” he said, “would be of immense use to students in the Departments of Theatre Arts, English Language, Filmmaking, Creative Arts, History and also, for anyone that wants to know the Nigerian story.” He added: “As a resource person in one of the Nigerian universities, I asked a final year student what was ‘cutaway,’ and he could not explain it. I did not blame him anyway because many Nigerian universities do not have libraries or galleries students could go to. So, my works would be of help to these students.” His words indicated the strength of his legacy.

Ugbomah was appointed chairman of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) in 1988, which was an acknowledgement of his filmic experience. His Nigerian national honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), was further testimony to his outstanding cinematic contribution to the Nigerian narrative.