Contextualising change in Nigeria’s leadership question through the film medium: A critical reading of Jeta Amata’s Black November

Abstract

However, change is positive when it is progressive; and negative when it is retrogressive. Over the years, Nigeria, as a country, has been in search of  credible, dependable, focused and result-oriented leadership. This explains the need for regular intellectual discourses on the leadership question that  the country has been grappling with. There is no arguing the fact that, no matter the personal, educational, psychological, economic, religious and  cultural background of a leader, the constitution of his/her power base will have determinate effect on his/her approach to leadership. This is because  leadership is all about using people to achieve predetermined group objectives. In fact, the contemporary Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, has become  a veritable platform to interrogate the leadership question in Nigeria. Consequently, this study examines Jeta Amata’s Black November, a film that  portrays a volatile community in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria ravaged by crude oil exploration and exploitation activities of a multi-national oil  company. The people fight against the evil machinations of corrupt government and oil company officials that collude to impoverish them. The  submission is that only transparency in the policy actions of leaders, at all levels of governance, will mitigate incessant youth restiveness in oil producing  communities. Furthermore, the film medium remains a viable option in managing change in Nigeria’s search for credible political leadership.