Documentary Review: Ronke Macaulay’s “Green Passport in the Gold Coast”

The first, “Green Passport in the Rainbow Nation: the story of Nigerians in South Africa” has achieved global exposure, and is currently nominated for “Best African Film.”

Most people who carry Nigeria’s Green Passport have had awkward experiences that their peers with passports from other countries may never have to deal with. So yes, we understand that our Green Passport comes with some baggage.

CEO of Angel Works Media and award-winning filmmaker Ronke Macaulay explores the experiences that come with being Nigerian and our relationship with other countries in a series of documentaries which she titles “Green Passport”. The first, “Green Passport in the Rainbow Nation: the story of Nigerians in South Africa” has achieved global exposure, and is currently nominated for “Best African Film” at the upcoming Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival in Canada. 

And now to the second. The Ghana/Nigeria brotherhood has been on for many years; even older than our independence. Long before the Aliens Compliance Order and the infamous “Ghana Must Go”, the citizens of these two countries have leaned on each other for support at different times, in different areas.

 

However, this may be the first time that Nigerians have had to lean on Ghana for academics. Macaulay’s film “Green Passport in the Gold Coast” throws light on this relationship.

She starts on a light note, by acknowledging the Ghana/Nigeria Jollof battle, but soon moves to the meat of her work – why have Nigerians had to go across countries, pay huge sums, just to get an education, and what is that experience like for those who choose to school in Ghana?

Watching it, one gets the impression that the filmmaker is not out to complain about our failing school system and the governments that have made that possible over the years, as much as she wants to share experiences. With a lively pace, she leads the viewer through 25 minutes of interviews and visuals from both countries, including colourful clips from Ghana’s Chale Wote Festival.

A line from Warsan Shire’s “Home” readily came to mind as I watched Damilola - the main subject of this film – and her mother, as they tried to decide where she should school. The line reads: “no one leaves home, except home chases you”. A concerned mother, who would prefer having her young child around, has to look for the best alternative to home because “home chases her”. Strung together by a good narrator who worked with a well-written material, the film takes us through Damilola’s options and the life she would have to deal with if she chooses Ghana.

One has to commend the actor who reenacts an interview with a Nigerian university professor for his exceptional delivery. However, it does feel uneasy that the interview had to be reenacted, partly because it didn’t necessarily contain sensitive information and I feel there were better options available to the filmmaker, like interviewing another professor, using just his audio, blurring his face or one of ten other choices; but then these are very subjective things and the fact that the voice over states that it is a reenactment puts her in the clear of any ethical violations.

 

This is the kind of documentary that makes me (and any other progressive Nigerian) uncomfortable; the statistics shared prove Nigerians’ hunger for quality education and their willingness to pay for it; but then it also shows how much money we lose, because of our country’s inability to cater to this need. I think this discomfort is what Macaulay wanted to achieve. Her choice of soundtrack and when she plugged in each line show this.  The lyrics, “don’t stand there, we’ve been through far too much” are difficult to forget.

When I walked in to see the film, one of the things that kept going on in my mind was, ‘Why did we need to have this work done?’ By the time the credits rolled, I knew that the filmmaker had documented an interesting time in the Nigeria/Ghana brotherhood; a time when Nigeria looked to Ghana to offer its intelligent citizens the much-deserved sound education. Apart from that, Ronke Macaulay has raised her voice to awaken our consciousness to the “unexpected reality” that Nigeria, who “by its sheer numbers” dominates Ghana, goes knocking at the door and pays whatever sum is required to enter just because we failed to develop our own home.

The professor’s closing words sum this all up well, “we must know our history, challenge perception, look ourselves in the mirror and be informed”. This material certainly serves that purpose.

 

Inyang Edoho is a writer and content creator with experience in film, radio and television.

 

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