There are lots of methods to help individuals.
Some people start businesses.
Some make institutions.
Some people build bridges and roads.
And some people make memory, which is less obvious but just as vital.
Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen is part of such group.
Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, who is best known as The Governor, has made a name for himself in Nollywood and in the larger theme of preserving culture and identity through film.
He selected a different path in a world where we often read stories written by other people and told through their perspectives. He knew that those who don’t tell their own stories could be left out of history.
That thought alone is worth respecting.
For decades, he has been one of the hardest workers in Nigeria’s film business, directing, producing, mentoring, and helping to develop one of Africa’s most important creative fields. But there is more to his success in the business than that: his dedication to stories that are based in home.
That’s why his famous movie from 1897 is important.
It might be a title for a lot of people. To the inhabitants of Edo, it is a scar, a memory, and a point in time. It brings to mind the Benin Expedition of 1897, which was a violent end to the Benin Kingdom and the theft of precious cultural artifacts.
It wasn’t just fun to bring that chapter to life on television.
It was a memory.
It was definitely a cultural duty and an educational one.
When younger people can recount histories from far ago but don’t know much about their own, works like 1897 become more than just movies. They turn into classrooms with no walls.
That is what stories can do!
Lancelot’s work also reminds us that success isn’t limited to politics, oil, contracts, or business. The arts also have honor. Creativity can also have an effect. Culture also has a role in developing a nation.
And the people of Edo have always known about culture.
Our civilization has never been empty, from bronze to palace custom, from language to ceremonial, from craft to fortitude. So it makes sense that one of our sons selected a camera and a script as tools to carry on that legacy.
Men who use their talents not merely to get ahead but also to protect are admirable.
Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen has done both.
We honor him by honoring every Edo son and daughter whose work may not always be in government offices or business boardrooms, but whose work nevertheless makes our people proud.
Because economics alone cannot keep countries going.
They are kept alive by memory, identification, pride, and the people who are smart enough to keep telling the story.He narrated our stories when other people brought them in.
By : Chris Osa Nehikhare
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