The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the death of veteran film producer Chico Ejiro as a huge blow to the nation’s creative industry in general and to Nollywood in particular.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday, the Minister expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and indeed to the entire creative industry.
He described the late Ejiro as a prolific movie director and a shining star of Nollywood, which has – through its movies – stamped Nigeria’s creative presence all over the world.
Mohammed urged Ejiro’s family and friends to take solace in the fact that his legacy will live on through the excellent works of the actors and actresses he helped to nurture over the years, and indeed in the progressive success of Nollywood.
“Thanks to the pace-setting work of Mr. Ejiro and his contemporaries, Nollywood is today one of the biggest movie industries in the world, which is providing employment for many Nigerians and creating wealth for the nation.
“May God grant repose to the soul of the departed and comfort his family and friends,” he said.
Who is Chico Ejiro?
Born Chico Maziakpono, he was a Nigerian movie director, screenwriter, and producer. Little is known about Ejiro other than he was born in Isoko, Delta, Nigeria, and that he originally studied agriculture, and he was drawn into video production because Nigerians would not buy blank video cassettes.
His enormous body of work was typical of the second generation that started in the 1990s when cheap video-production equipment became available in the country. He owned a production company called Grand Touch Pictures, which is based in Lagos.
Chico Ejiro was nicknamed Mr. Prolific because he directed over 80 movies within a five-year period—each one shot in as little as three days. They feature story lines relevant to Nigerians.
The exact number of movies he has worked on as either director, producer, or both is unknown, but it ranges in the hundreds as of 2007.
Chico Ejiro was profiled in an article in The New York Times, dated May 26, 2002 (“When There’s Too Much of a Not-Very-Good Thing” by Matt Steinglass), and in an article from the international version of Time Magazine dated May 26, 2002.
