If the aim of the writers of The Black Book was to get Nigerians to watch a replica of the society they live in, they did a good job with this portrayal.
Set in 2020 in Lagos and Kaduna, centering on the theme of corruption, The Black Book is a heart shattering narrative about how easily Nigeria can fail its citizens. It goes way back to the time of the military government where soldiers were trained and used to cover up the dirt of those in high places, carry out assassinations and coup d’etats.
Deacon Paul Edima is a retired soldier and political tool who left that life when he was faced with an ultimatum. Years later, a changed man, his son is falsely accused of being a kidnapper and killed unjustly to shield a politician’s son, the real perpetrator.
Following procedure, he requested that his son’s case be looked into and properly investigated but he was shunned, humiliated and physically assaulted by the police.
Seeing that Justice wasn’t going to be served, he carried an off the book operation, going back to a life he swore he was done with it. He went after the people who killed his son and as fate my have it, the people involved were his past associates. The biggest enemy being his old boss, General Issah, a man he did countless operations for.
The only way for him to have his revenge is to bring to light the information contained in the black book and in doing all of these he would have to face Victoria, a young girl he had committed a grave offence against.
A political trailer that shows how deep corruption has eaten up Nigeria, while the entire movie hits close to home, a few scenes stands out.
At the beginning of the movie we see prison inmates crying out “Oga, we dey here o, Oga we still full here”. This could mean that some of them had been wrongfully imprisoned, while others might have been there for years awaiting a trial that may never come.
Damilola Edima’s death as a result of covering up the sin of another is one of the many things that happen under the cover of dark in this country. Lastly, towards the end of the movie, a conversation between General Issah and Paul is worthy of note;
“In this country, there has always been a hierarchy, people like me, people like you, then, bloody civilians. I give orders, you follow orders, and civilians, sheep as they are, they obey . We allow them a sense of democratic freedom but retain power and knowledge. So their delusions of liberal society do not lead to anarchy. That is the natural order of things.”
Written by Editi Effiong and Bunmi Ajakaiye, the cast list includes Richard Mofe Damijo (Paul Edima), Sam Dede (Angel), Shaffy Bello (Big Daddy), Alex Usifo ( General Issah), Ade Laoye( Victoria Kalu), Ireti Doyle ( Commissioner), Patrick Doyle (Senator Dipo) and Olumide Owoni (Sami Edima).
At its initial release, the movie was one of Netflix’s top 10 and number one not only in Nigeria but in various countries including the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Martinique, Panama, Poland, Romania and Venezuela.
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