Aba Blues Premiered in Lagos. The City It Is Named After Noticed.
Jack'enneth Opukeme's third film is named after a city whose identity runs through every frame. The premiere was held in Lagos. That contradiction has opened a wider conversation about how Nollywood uses the cities it tells stories about — and who gets to celebrate when those stories succeed.
The film is called Aba Blues. It is set in Aba. The director, Jack’enneth Opukeme, has spoken at length about how the city shaped the tone of the production — its rhythm, its textures, its particular emotional register. “Aba has a rhythm you cannot ignore,” he said. “That rhythm shaped the tone, the pacing, and the emotional core of the story.”
The premiere was held in Lagos.
A day after the event, a video circulated criticising the decision. The critique was simple and it landed: if Aba was good enough to provide the story, the streets, and the cultural identity that made this film worth making, why was it not good enough to host the night the film was celebrated? The video was not the first time this argument has been made about a Nigerian production. It will not be the last. But it arrived with unusual force this time, partly because Opukeme had been so deliberate in positioning Aba as central — not just as setting but as character.
The film itself opened in cinemas nationwide on March 20, produced by Barbara Babarinsa for FilmOne Studios and Inkblot Productions. It is Opukeme’s third feature, following Adire (2023) and Farmer’s Bride (2024), and it completes what has quietly become one of the more distinctive bodies of work from a filmmaker under forty in this industry. The cast — Angel Anosike, Jidekene Achufusi, Prince Nelson Enwerem, Toni Tones, Odunlade Adekola, Patience Ozokwor, Eucharia Anunobi — positions it firmly in the commercial tier. The story, set in the years following the Civil War, follows Amara, a woman whose stable marriage begins to fracture when her former love returns. Aba is not incidental to this story. The film draws directly on eastern Nigerian literature for its emotional texture, with Opukeme citing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as an influence.
That context is precisely what makes the premiere location a real question rather than a manufactured grievance. This is not simply about logistics or distance. It is about a pattern in Nigerian filmmaking where cities outside Lagos are used as creative resource and then excluded from the cultural economy their stories generate. The premiere, the press night, the industry relationships, the revenue from advance screenings — these tend to cluster in Lagos regardless of where the film was born.
Opukeme has not responded publicly to the criticism. FilmOne has not issued a statement. The film opened to ₦19.9 million in its first weekend — a modest debut for a production of its ambition, though Opukeme’s films have tended to build through word of mouth rather than opening-weekend explosions. Farmer’s Bride opened quietly and found its audience over weeks. The pattern may repeat.
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What the premiere controversy leaves behind is a more durable question than any individual box office figure. Nollywood has spent several years making the argument that it is building a cinema culture that belongs to Nigeria, not just to Lagos. The way it chooses to celebrate the films that make that argument will either prove the point or undermine it.
Aba was watching. The industry should take note.
Aba Blues is currently showing at FilmHouse, Genesis, and Silverbird cinemas nationwide. Dir. Jack’enneth Opukeme · Prod. Barbara Babarinsa · FilmOne Studios / Inkblot Productions · Dist. FilmOne Entertainment.
