The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, described the state as the bastion of entertainment at the premiere of Last Man Standing, a biopic on President Bola Tinubu, in Lagos recently.
Represented by Jaiye Opayemi, the Managing Director of a public relations firm, Chain Reactions, at the event which took place at the Glover Memorial Hall, the governor said, “Lagos State is not just Africa’s entertainment capital, it is indeed the bastion of entertainment. It is the place where we export the very best of creativity to the rest of the world. I must say that every support the government, at different levels, should give to the creative industry is needed. This is to say ‘thank you’ to the producers and the cast and crew, who have put this biopic together in recognition and celebration of my boss— Bola Tinubu.”
The biopic, which had previously premiered in Abuja, is a biographical film on the flow of events during Tinubu’s tenure as the Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.
The executive producer of the movie, Abisoye Fagade, stated that it was important to document certain people and events for posterity sake. He said, “When Seun Oloketuyi conceived this idea, Tinubu was not even in the top three in the All Progressives Congress in terms of projection and perception for those who would get the ticket. He could be said to be an ‘unpopular candidate’ at the time.
“Our major problem in Nigeria is that we do not document things. If our forefathers had documented some of the things they knew, things would be different for us today. I realise that there is no better way to celebrate Tinubu than to contribute my own quota to the history of this country and document it. At that time, it was most difficult getting this cast and crew together. I pitied everyone in the film during the election season because of the abuses. But I also thank them because they did it for the country.”
On his part, the producer of the biopic and convener of the Best of Nollywood Awards, Seun Oloketuyi, stated that it was difficult getting someone to play the role of Tinubu because social media was volatile on the subject of politics at the time. He added, “In many ways, the film shows the dynamism, tenacity and grit of President Tinubu, while he was a governor in an opposition party, and how for eight years, he masterfully withstood federal might over issues such as the creation of more local governments to bring government closer to the people. It serves as a raw showcase of the brilliance of a political enigma who braved all odds to get to where he is today.”
Guests at the premiere include the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda; a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, and others.
