Documentary on MKO Abiola to open in Nigerian cinemas in October

Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan’s documentary, MKO, will premiere at Lagos’s National Theatre on 1 October before opening in cinemas nationwide on 2 October, according to a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES. President Bola Tinubu will serve as host of the premiere. The film chronicles the life and legacy of businessman and politician Moshood “MKO” Abiola, who was at the centre of Nigeria’s historic 12 June 1993 presidential election.

It examines the election’s annulment by the military government, the struggle that followed and the circumstances surrounding Abiola’s death in detention in 1998. Those featured include former military leaders Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the election, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, whose administration oversaw Nigeria’s return to civilian rule. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, Abiola’s running mate, also appear in the documentary.

The film further includes former American diplomats Walter Carrington and Thomas Pickering, former Canadian High Commissioner Gerald Ohlsen, members of Abiola’s family, foreign journalists and Theodore Zadok, who served as Abiola’s security guard during his detention. Oyamendan said the contributors provided an unusually intimate account of the final chapter of Abiola’s life. The filmmaker said the documentary draws on archival footage and testimonies from people closely connected to the events.

It first debuted at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival on 12 June, where Oyamendan said it received critical acclaim before attracting wider attention on the international documentary circuit. Oyamendan described the film as a record of memory, power, courage, sacrifice and political choices. He said the story offered an opportunity, 33 years after June 12, to examine what happened and help ensure that such events do not happen again.

Nile Entertainment will distribute the documentary and lead a theatrical campaign intended to take it beyond its usual documentary audience. Managing Director Moses Babatope said the project was important for preserving Nigeria’s political history and making it accessible to younger audiences. Babatope said Abiola’s legacy had a personal connection to his family because his father worked at Concord Newspaper, one of the institutions founded by Abiola.

He encouraged audiences across the country to see the documentary when it reaches cinemas on 2 October.