KFB Movie Revview: Odunlade Adekola, the die-hard Doctor cum robber in ‘Oyenusi’ is damn gooood!

Been a while I last saw a Yoruba movie so you can imagine my excitement when everyone (family) settled for the 2014 hit movie ‘Oyenusi’ last weekend’ after my Grandma’s birthday celebration….we needed to watch something to relax.
It was more like seeing the movie in a cinema becuase the house was filled with peeps and everyone was passing remarks at scenes that amused ‘em.

Just so you know, Oyenusi is the true life story of a man also known as ‘Dr. Rob-and-Kill’ who terrorized western Nigeria in 1971 or thereabout.

‘Doctor’ Ishola Oyenusi is a name etched in the history of Nigeria as one of the most violent armed robbers, a criminal who unleashed boundless terror on many Nigerians.

According to the stories i heard about him while growing up, he was an armed robber who was fearless, arrogant and very powerful; he put fear in people and preferred to be called President or Governor.

This made the authorities look for the source of his power since he could not be killed, it was found and he was killed…..he and his gang met their brutal end at the hands of a 14-man firing squad on the serene Victoria Island of Lagos years ago.

Oyenusi was imprisoned for the first time when he was 21. He then escaped and was imprisoned again. He escaped and was imprisoned. He escaped about eight times and then he decided to become an armed robber and that gave him the cloak of invincibility for some time….he was like a god.

According to Ebenezer Babatope, former Minister of Transport in his book, The Struggle for Power in Nigeria, Oyenusi told journalists minutes before his death that if he would never have become an armed robber if his parents were rich enough to sustain him in the secondary school. He also confessed to taking part in ten major robberies and murders over a period of six years (Africa Research Bulletin, Blackwell, 1971).
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When the real life Oyenusi was arrested

When Oyenusi and his gang finally paid for their crimes

So back to the review 

Movie Cast: Odunlade Adekola, Muyiwa Ademola, Kemi Afolabi, Dele Odule, Joke Muyiwa, Bigval Jokotoye, Adebayo Faleti, Aina Gold, Ayo Olabiyi and Rasaq Olayiwola

Director: Seun Olaiya

I loved the movie, the background track, lightning, acting, the characters, dialogues, awesome!
Odunlade Adekola and his partner in crime, Muyiwa Ademola were hilarious and damn gooooooood, they interpreted their roles well enough.

In the movie, Odunlade Adekola (Oyenusi) was a powerful Doctor, he had so much powers that while trying to take delivery of a woman’s baby, he commanded that the baby’s head should come out and guess what, it did, leaving the other part of the baby in the woman’s womb.

Whatsoever he said came to pass, he could move things with his mind, steal from you without you even knowing it, eat whatever he wanted and mess with your brain…he was a god.

I particularly loved when a Jehovah Witness christian brother came to preach to him, and after all the preaching, Oyenusi with the words of his mouth instructed a book n his shelf to move and this christian brother saw this, he was stunned. Oyenusi then asked if the brother could do the same or if his God could bring back the book to its normal position but the brother ran out in fear and shame….that scene was hilarious!

I hear there were slight errors in the movie though. I wasn’t born in the time of Oyenusi, but according to stories i heard about him, he wasn’t a doctor…he didn’t even finish secondary school, he only fancied himself been called doctor, whereas the movie pictured him as an educated person a medical doctor who also had diabolical powers he used to heal people but had a defect he used to steal people’s things and the hospital staff knew it.

Oyenusi was painted as a man without any feelings from the beginning of this movie but according to history his first robbery was when he snatched a car and sold it for four hundred naira to help his broke girlfriend.

And then according to history, when the source of his powers was discovered Oyenusi the strong hearted villain, he did not BEG, instead he was smiling even when he was shot…..but in the movie, this man who never feared anybody was begging and telling them not to kill him as he was ready to turn a new leaf.

Obviously, there wasn’t any research done before the movie was shot, at least they should have read his biography before writing or shooting the scenes, the scenes weren’t even coordinated at all, at the end of part one he was been killed at the firing squad then he disappeared, then in the beginning of part two he was being hanged, they should have given us details to this arrest even if they didn’t want to emphasize on it, a newspaper clipping, a phone call or someone saying it would have been better.

And then the whole three parts of the movie was a complete waste. The whole movie would have been fine in just one part, there was no need for part two and part three….each part had only a few scenes with lots of annoying and long adverts.

The only thing about this movie was it was enjoyable to watch Odunlade Adekola and Muyiwa Ademola played the arrogant thieves well and I so much loved it, I loved the fact that even though it wasn’t written in history they made us believe he had diabolical powers.

This movie has potentials of a cinema creation if researched and written well what would have made this movie a blockbuster would have been if it was set in the time of Oyenusi 1971.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.