THE TRUE STORY OF THE MOVIE AKI NA UKWA, AKI, PAWPAW, AMAYO UZO PHILIPS AND KASVID. LET’S CORRECT THE MISINFORMATION.
This lie has lingered for too long in Nollywood and beyond, about how Aki and Pawpaw were made and I believe it is time we put the story and records straight and correctly divide the truth of the matter.
MY name is Amayo Uzo Philips a veteran Nollywood script writer, renowned director and producer.
In 1998 I was sent from Lagos to the East to take auditions to most parts of South East, Rivers and South South of Nigeria, for the preparation for the making of the Film King Jaja of Opobo.
After the shooting of King Jaja of Opobo, I decided to stay put in Enugu though there were few or no movies coming to Enugu then. So I got hooked up with the New Masquerade (Zebrudaya’s) group to write scripts for them and sometimes also feature in some of their stage shows.
When I joined Nollywood, it was all about rituals and blood money flicks which were actually not helping the image of Nigeria, especially when you traveled to other countries. I decided to change the narrative then by starting to script and submit comedy scripts to financiers/marketers, who outrightly threw most of the comedy scripts back at me with the baseless reason that ‘nobody would be interested in comedies’. I didn’t give up because I was determined to succeed with my resolve to change the prevailing movie genre with comedies. I kept writing and submitting my cherished genre till I wrote and produced for OKWITEX, a marketer at Iweka road Onitsha a flick we called ‘One man One Wife’ which didn’t do very well. My second accepted comedy script was ‘Last Burial Part 2’ which was directed by the late NDUBISI OKOH. After this I wrote another one ‘Conspiracy Part 2’ (UGO shave me) bankrolled by the ZELEX productions. By now, productions have started trickling into Enugu. I must note here that ‘Last Burial Part 2’ had the highest role played by CHINEDU IKEDIEZE because when I was writing the script, he approached me to write plenty scenes for him, as he wasn’t getting the kiddie’s roles then. So I did his bidding by writing much scenes for the character he played then.
Then the late CHUKWUKA EMELIFEONWU (KASVID) approached me at the Presidential Hotels (Enugu) where we had moved in as Nollywood hotel during the filming of King Jaja of Opobo, and asked if I could do a script like ‘PROBLEM CHILD’ or ‘HOME ALONE’ two foreign kiddie movies. I answered in the affirmative and decided to create and write the script which I originally titled the ‘THE DWARFS’.
I must clearly note here that KASVID never knew what my story was all about till he received my completed ‘DWARFS’ script which story was all about my life as I grew up as a child during the war in my South Eastern Village of Okporo in Orlu now in Imo State of Nigeria.
Every activities captured in ‘THE DWARFS’ which was later re-titled ‘AKI NA UKWA’ by the late KASVID were my personal childhood growing up activities. When I gave the script to KASVID, he never believed in it because it was a comedy and because of my unbelievable low budget of ₦950, 000, but he decided to take the risk to bankroll it anyway.
The ‘hunt’ for Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme who were never recommended to me by KASVID, took me two weeks because then Chinedu, after completing his PGD program with the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu, had become frustrated because the kiddies roles in Nollywood were not coming for him, and followed Lancelot Imasuen as a continuity secretary. When he finally got my msgs and came to see me in Enugu, I sent my associate producer then ISMAILA MOMO to Aba to get Osita Iheme. They met in my NAIKO hotel room in Enugu for negotiations. After the negotiations that night, I put them in one room and by the following morning, they had started bonding as we shot the movie for two and half days.
Let me clearly state here that the only contributions made to that job by Kasvid was as a financier, the renaming of the movie from the ‘dwarfs’ to AKI NA UKWA, and his suggestion for me to do a script like ‘problem child’ or ‘Home alone’.
I, Amayo Uzo Philips created the story of Aki na Ukwa solely, created ALL the characters, Aki, Pawpaw Dorcas, Miss Koikoi and all. Kasvid never suggested anybody to me as artiste for that job and there was no auditions held for it. I, scripted, directed and produced Aki Na Ukwa as can be seen on the movie today. Kasvid may have met with CHINEDU and Osita but it was never for the production of AKI NA UKWA. All role casting was done by myself and it was not with or in any audition. This is the real story and truth of the movie AKI NA UKWA bankrolled by CHUKWU KA EMELIFEONWU (KASVID) and screenplayed, directed and produced by my self, AMAYO UZO PHILIPS.
Those who wish to tell stories should do their researches well in order not to misinform and mislead their followers or audience.
AMAYO UZO PHILIPS, remains the creator of the characters of AKI and PAWPAW in AKI NA UKWA and CHUKWUKA EMELIFEONWU was the financier of the project. There were no public auditions for the job and the whole story was some of the things I did as I was growing up as a little boy in my village.
Let’s keep the records straight and true.