Captain: An Excellent Piece of Igbo Historical Fiction
Tochukwu Precious Eze
- 9th December 2024
A pivotal part of Nigeria’s history, particularly for the Igbo people, is the arrival of the European missionaries and colonizers on our shores. A good amount of literature and films have been dedicated to capturing this era and preserving its stories and lessons for future generations. Some of these pieces are true accounts of happenings while others are fictitious stories set around the time of the Second World War. Ikechukwu Onyeka’s 2006 movie titled Captain falls with the latter.
Captain tells the story of the return of a war veteran, Nsofor, to his hometown. Warmly welcomed by his people, he regales them with tales of his bravery and exploits in the battlefields of Burma, where he had allegedly fought and gunned down countless soldiers from across the world. Nkem Owoh plays Captain Nsofor and delivers this role with the mastery and eloquence for which he is renowned and celebrated.
The plot thickens when a canoe ferries two white men to the shores of the village. This poses a challenge as neither the white men nor the inhabitants of the community could understand each other’s language, and they had to turn to Nsofor, the one man who had conquered Burma and earned the title, Captain, for his heroics. Captain Nsofor steps up to bridge this gap, but given to his dishonesty and selfishness, ends up exacerbating the situation.
As with other works of historical fiction, the biggest test the film faces is that of originality. While there is no strict requirement to be accurate with every detail, viewers are often after relatability. The story needs to feel true. Captain is set in such a time when the Igbo community knew about white people but had not encountered them enough to form a strong opinion about them. There were mentions of “ndi ocha” even before their appearance, and the people were not as shocked about their existence as they were about why they had come to the community. The movie goes on to relay its events in a compelling manner.
The stellar cast, including Fabian Adibe, Patrick Onyeocha, John Okafor, Ogechi Obilonu, and a host of others, put forward impressive performances. However, the character to watch is Mark 4, Nsofor’s son, played by Ike Nzenagu. As Ndi Igbowould say, “Agwo aghaghi imu ihe toro ogologo" –a snake will always birth something that is long, and Mark 4 takes after his father’s mischievousness and edgy tongue. His character is a humorous one, and he makes every second of his screen time count, effortlessly delivering an honest and applaudable performance.
Ike Nzenagu as Mark-4Further highlighting the movie’s relevance to our history and culture is the use of traditional Igbo currency as means of exchange. The monies used are cowries and okpogho (ego igwe - aka manillas), which are important markers in the history of trade and exchange in Igboland. We also find that town criers were used for mass communication in the community.
The story deals a stroke of brilliance when Blankson, the missionary’s companion, engages Captain and his son to steal artefacts and carvings from the community. He pays them little ― they could not have known the true worth of these arts at the time― before carting away the elegant pieces to foreign lands. This is a skillful depiction of the general understanding that the Europeans came to us with the Bible and the gun. It further lends credence to the words of the former President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta: “When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.”
The plot reaches its climax when the captain’s cunning ways are discovered and the missionary, now faced with the challenge of finding another interpreter, goes away to pray in the mountains. There, he receives a power akin to that which fell on the apostles on the day of Pentecost, and miraculously begins to speak the Igbo language. This affords him the ability to converse directly with the people of the community, and therefore share his message untainted.
While the movie is guilty of the unrealistic effects and claims around spirituality, as is popular with movies produced around this time, its depth and attention to detail sets Captain apart from other productions. It makes good on its promise to educate, entertain, and preserve the things we hold dear.
