Woven around Obalola, Ify and Gift, three characters who started as childhood friends and with each plotting his or her way through life, Gangs of Lagos is built on a great plot with different stories and employing acting talents who are adept at sucking in the audience from the get-go.

As children growing up in one of the slums of Lagos, Isale Eko, to be precise, the three wallow in a life of crime sideby- side with a carefree lifestyle of loyalty to each other and the ultimate goal of survival. Without caring to pause even for a bit about the morality or otherwise of their actions and lifestyle, the movie burrows on, with Obalola’s fondness for Teni on the sidelines. The movie begins with Obalola and Ify snatching a bag from a woman having put a knife on the neck of a little girl in the car to force the hand of the victim, played by Eniola Badmus, into letting go of the bag containing a fortune and her international passport along with her piece of gold jewelry.

Soon, we are introduced to Nino (impressively delivered by Tayo Faniran), the gang lord being primed to take over the role of Eleniyan, the man who calls the shot in the entire area and is widely consulted byand befriended by businessmen and politicians. Known to be deadly, Nino still appreciates Obalola’s street-wise credentials and soon takes him as his son. This would bring the boy a better life that translates into great meals, pampering and perhaps more importantly, being able to see and converse with Teni just across the window.But the death of Nino, orchestrated by those envious of his rise and desirous of his level of influence, changes the equation completely in Isale Eko. This leads Obalola on a path different from that of education and other perks along with his friends as Nino has tried to lay ahead for them.

With his own father having been killed earlier in a ruthless fashion while he is yet a baby, it is inevitable that the older Obalola, played to great understanding by Tobi Bakre, would always take to the road of gangsterism, especially with his superstitious and religious-inclined mother since out of the picture. In the end, the film delivers a breathtaking story that many residents of Lagos, and by, extension, Nigeria and other parts of Africa, can relate with. Boasting a rich cast led by Tobi Bakre, Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Bimbo Ademoye, Chioma Akpota, Damilola Odunsi, Ola Rotimi, Funke Williams, and Tayo Faniran. Also music stars such as Chike, Zlatan Ibile and Pasuma, Gangs of Lagos represents an impressive depiction of ghetto life in a way that puts the people in focus as human beings. According to Jade Osiberu, the movie’s highly rated producer and director, humanising the people on the streets as fathers/mothers, uncles/aunts, brothers/ sisters, sons/daughters, husbands/ wives was at the core of the vision of a project conceived 10 years ago duringthe shooting of another project, Gidi Up, on top of the roof of a building in Isale Eko. This view is shared by Wangi Mba- Uzokwu, Head of Originals at Prime Video in Nigeria, who said the body of work is something viewers will cherish, “as a local language movie delivered predominantlyin Yoruba, some parts in Igbo and also pidgin English and it is subtitled.” For Ned Mitchell, Head of Middle East and Africa Originals of Amazon Prime, the global streaming platform is investing in original stories across Africa and they are proud that Gangs of Lagosleads the line of the great projects lined up. For Osiberu, who worked with Kemi Lala Akindoju, and Akin Omotoso among others on the movie, assembling the members of cast and shooting the movie within 50 days at ‘the heart of Lagos Island in Isale Eko’ is a story on its own which speaks to the vast talents available in Nigeria and the possibilities that abound in the Nigerian film industry. Released on the Amazon Prime streaming platform on April 7, it is no surprise that Gangs of Lagos has dominated discussions in the weeks following its premiere, and millions who love great cinematic content across the globe will do themselves a favour checking it out. As Adesua Etomi-Wellington, who plays the role of Gift, said, the story is incredibly authentic and as she was easily drawn to it along with the director’s repute of bringing forth the aspects of art, craft and even business in film making, so will the audience find it breathtaking on different wave lengths.

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