U.S.-Supported Drama Sends Nigerians Message of Unity
“In Love and Ashes” brings plight of the Northeast into the mainstream
As a long-time friend and ally of Nigeria, the United States is always looking for creative ways to promote social cohesion and national unity.
One inspired effort by USAID and unveiled this spring taps into the vast platform of Nigeria’s entertainment industry with support for a new television drama that tells a story underrepresented by Nigeria’s Hollywood, aka “Nollywood” — the struggle to live, love and survive in the embattled northeast.
The tremendous popularity of Nollywood dramas provided an ideal medium to frame the messaging — it’s easy for people in Lagos and other large cities in Nigeria to relate to well-produced drama played by actors they know well.
Over the course of eight episodes, the series “In Love and Ashes” touches on universal themes such as the social and emotional challenges of marriage, the status of girls and women, the rise of poverty fomenting radicalization, the influence of political “godfathers,” and the hardships of life for the internally displaced.
Set in restive Maiduguri, “In Love and Ashes” sends the message that love conquers hate and draws the moral conclusion that to overcome extremism, all Nigerians must rise above ethnic and religious differences and jointly work to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation across the nation.
The series unfolds as a bittersweet tale about the social, humanitarian and moral challenges that bedevil communities in the country’s northeast whose inhabitants have experienced violent extremism.
“We’re here today to make sure this message gets out, to make sure this story becomes your story,” U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria W. Stuart Symington said at a gala launch of the series on two national television networks. “It’s a universal story about love bringing people together.”
“In Love and Ashes” stars Charles Etubeibi as Emeka, a Lagos-based humanitarian assistance administrator who makes the 750-mile trip from Lagos in the southwest to check the accounts of its Maiduguri office — not knowing what he will encounter in the remote corner of his own country. What he finds are people in whom he recognizes a common human spirit as they struggle to make the best of their lives under the untenable stress of conflict, violence and deprivation.
“Everybody knows what the insurgency did to the northeast,” series director Ali Mustapha explained. “But it also addresses the issue of prejudice.”
“In Love and Ashes” also tells the story of Maryam, a northeastern woman who struggles to pursue a career as a photographer against her family’s wish that she get married as soon as she is of age. Nafisat Abdullahi, who plays Maryam, said with a shrug that as a Muslim Hausa woman herself, she can relate.
We also meet Mallam Laminu, a hard-working taxi driver who wants nothing more than to provide his son a good education and raise a responsible citizen.
“Unfortunately for Laminu, the boy’s mind was not in studies,” said Tijani Faraga, who plays the disconsolate cabman. “But the temptation for youth in a terrorist haven is to join the dreaded Boko Haram group.” Eventually he lost his only son, a situation that many parents in the non-fictional world in this area face.
After all eight episodes aired, USAID conducted a follow-up survey of 600 people who had seen the series. Among them, 71 percent of respondents said the show increased their awareness of northeast Nigeria; 51 percent agreed or strongly agreed that issues facing the region are relevant to their lives; and a majority felt that “all Nigerians” are responsible for solving issues facing the northeast. Most encouraging: 94 percent of the respondents said they are interested in being part of the solution.
For producer Ishaku Dashon, the story sends a core message that through all the violence, hardship and death, these characters share the common Nigerian qualities of strength and resilience. “Despite the tragedy, they are able to find hope, and find love,” he says.
For its soundtrack, “In Love and Ashes” harnessed the star power of singer-songwriter Innocent “2Baba” Idibia. A video directed by award-winning Unlimited LA teased the series with a montage of clips interspersed with the musician-entrepreneur’s performance of the track.
At the launch, 2Baba spoke with disarming frankness about the need for north and south to come together.
“This is a beautiful movement,” he said. “I hope as Nigerians we can get in the spirit and wake up from our slumber. We have to stop being naïve. We have to stop being ignorant. . . We must be geared toward creative peace.”
In his remarks, Ambassador Symington likened Nigeria to a giant heart, divided into three chambers by the mighty rivers that run through it. The Ambassador’s intuition, honed through a long diplomatic career in Africa, tells him that despite the vast distances and cultures that constitute the country, Nigerians are — and will continue to be — one people.
