Nollywood icon Iyabo Ojo, fondly referred to as Queen Mother, continues to make waves in the film industry with her versatility and determination. In this interview with ADENIYI ADEWOYIN, she opens up on her role in Mercy Aigbe’s latest movie, Thin Line, her production, Labake Olododo, motherhood, and her thoughts on the evolving cinema culture in Nigeria.
You featured in Mercy Aigbe’s latest movie ‘Thin Line’, how would you describe your role?
My role has a little bit of gbas gbos. If you watch it, you will get to see a lot. I enjoyed myself while acting, and I am definitely sure my audience will love the Iyabo Ojo in the movie. It’s a brilliant project and there, you get to see my kind of “black bonnet” vibe. I’m sure those who have seen it can testify.
What attracted you to the script?
It’s the storyline, it’s a beautiful storyline. A lot of situations like that happen in families and how we handle them matters. In ‘Thin Line,’ there are different angles to solving marital and family issues; you stick to the one that best suits your situation.
Tell us about your latest production. How much did you spend on the production ‘Labake Olododo’?
The project took a whole lot from me but the most important thing is that the entire production process was seamless. At the moment I can’t peg a figure to what was spent because the entire process ran into millions of naira and I can bet lovers of great movies will appreciate this project when it is finally out on the big screen.
There must have been an inspiration behind the film, can you share it with us?
I had a story about eight years ago. And it was just about a female warrior who had a dark side to her story and she was someone everyone looked up to but had a bad side, and I just felt like I would produce it at the right time. I was inspired when I watched the ‘Woman King’ movie and I said I have a story that is similar but not the same storyline. And I just kept the story and when I watched ‘Woman King’ I felt like it was time to produce the movie. I was inspired.
How were you able to come up with some of the brilliant cast you had on set of the project?
I have worked with Biodun Stephen. She has directed me twice before and I liked the way she’s intentional with what she does. I have always wanted to work with her. And when we were doing the casting I didn’t make the decision alone. I allowed my team to make decisions as well. They picked and we tried as much as possible not to stereotype people. Femi Adebayo is always playing an action role so we put him in another role that will bring the best out of him and also the same with other talents on set.
A lot of female filmmakers are taking the bull by horns in the creative space, how excited are you knowing that the female actors are doing well production-wise?
I’m very excited because this is something that we have always wanted. I remember when I first wanted to produce my first movie in the Yoruba industry and people were like ‘Don’t use your money to produce.’ They asked me to get money from the marketers. If I start looking at it, I will say I’m one of the first few female Yoruba producers who started with their capital. I produced my first movie in 2004. I didn’t have any capital, I produced it and I said Corporate (movie marketing outfit), this is it and this is how much I want to sell it. They said how are you sure you will make that amount? I said I will make it, I believe in it. I wanted to do that because I felt like we needed more female producers and now we have so many female producers leading in the box office and it’s so exciting to see. That’s why I support a lot of females who produce movies and do cinema because I feel that we need to keep pushing and doing more.
What is your take on cinema culture at the moment in Nigeria?
We are getting better. We are not there yet. If you have been abroad you will know that the cinema culture is getting better. I still feel we don’t have enough cinemas and I still feel that as Nigerians we don’t really go out that much to watch movies. I feel that the younger ones need to start learning how to embrace that culture and watch more of their hometown movies. You go to cinemas and see a lot of Gen Zs watching American movies. We need as parents to tell our kids to go out and watch Nigerian movies because they are going to learn from it and get familiar with their culture. We as producers need to do better technically to make sure that whatever we are dishing out is also of good quality so that the younger generation can be excited to watch these movies.
You wear a lot of crowns as a mother, filmmaker, entrepreneur, philanthropist amongst others; how are you able to marry them all together effectively?
Over the years, I’ve been able to do that because I always surround myself with people that extend love and care to, and in return, they do the same. You can’t do nothing and expect returns. You can’t take care of your children alone, it takes a whole community to raise kids and a good set of people to run a successful business. You just have to make sure that you are very nice to your workers and make sure you are very accommodating and you set your rules. I have time for everything. I have time to rest and work. I give every aspect of my life the time that is needed.
You are an intentional mother, how did you feel when your daughter told you she had found love?
My children were raised to be as intentional as I am. I’ve always said that when we want to have additional family members they also have to be intentional and I give God the glory that her man and his family are also very intentional, they really love Priscilla and we were super excited when she told me.
I believe that she’s in the limelight and she’s walking that fame now and a lot of distractions come along as a young woman, I noticed that when I started making my name. I already had my children and it was an easier journey. I’ve seen a lot of my friends on this journey who were not married and didn’t have kids and the pressure was more.
There was a lot of hastiness to want to settle down and you find out that you are settling down with the wrong ones. I didn’t want my child to be in that position because I knew that Priscilla was going to be a star, or celebrity. I knew that because I groomed her to be that way and that was what she also wanted. I knew that helping her achieve these things would come up and I groomed her to find love early and settle down and have children, build her own family, and journey. God did it.
He brought someone who is in the entertainment world in his own country and he understands showbiz and he knows what that kind of life entails. It’s good, I’m excited.
