1960 Segamu, Nigeria

Deborah Edgal
Born in 1945
Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria
Interviewed on Feb 10, 2023
By Ejehi Ihionkhan

It was a Yoruba movie in 1960. I was still in primary school, which is the equivalent of elementary school in the United States. At point, we went to the cinema somewhat often because my dad’s house was house #1 on Cinema Road. My dad was an averagely rich man. Most people could not attend the cinema, but my dad had enough money for us to attend the cinema sometimes. The only cinema in the town was just 6 houses down from where I lived with my dad. I think I would have been about 15 years old when I watched this first film; I attended the theater with my older sister and my parents. I remember that the film was about a polygamist man, who had many wives. These many wives grew jealous of one another and tried to undo themselves, quarreling excessively. Finally, the man sat them all down and found a way to settle it all and to bring about harmony.

I was still really little at the time; we just enjoyed the show and the play and all of the funny moments. The lesson that we took from the film was to tolerate each other. This was a personal message because my father was a polygamist too. It was not an uncommon sight during those days, so everyone knew their limits and their place. Most wives of polygist men were traders; mom was a trader.

My father  was a very neutral person, a very nice father, and he treated us all fairly–all of the kids and all of the wives. He paid our school fees, played with us, and told us stories in the evening. We would walk to the cinema in the evenings, and the fare was very cheap. There were no televisions at that time, no iPads, no phones, so this was the primary source of media entertainment. My dad did not discriminate; he would just take any of the children and wives depending on their availability. They were usually romantic films and very natural stories, none of the crazy stuff that you see today.

They did not have concessions there at the cinema. You eat at home before you go to the cinema; it was not a place where you went to eat snacks or refreshments. Food was something that you enjoy at home, with family, and seated at the table. There were no ushers either because it was a small room that had capacity for about 50 people. We sat in wooden chairs that faced the board that held the 10’ by 12’ screen. There were people in the theater who would stand behind the curtain and explain what was happening in the film. They would explain what to expect before different scenes would happen and tell the general storyline. There was no sound, and I don’t remember if there were subtitles, just the black and white images and actions of the characters.

We called the theater Sagamu Cinema, which was the name of our town. It has been renamed to Joshua Cinema after the famous Nigerian boxer Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, whose grandfather founded the cinema. When we went home after the films, we would review them, and my father would ask us what lesson we had learned from them. After attending this movie, I remember feeling like I had achieved something bigger than the rest of my age mates because most people could not afford such an experience. As a child, I felt happy and proud that I had experienced something innovative and new.

The film was fun and interesting because after all of the fights the women would come together to dance with their husband. The film was trying to say that in polygamy there should still be cooperation and love. It made a commentary that the man in the equation is responsible for curating an environment that would be healthy for all of the women and children. I learned that it doesn’t matter if my sister and brothers shared the same mother with me or not— what matters is that you love your whole family and all of your siblings.