I’m happier doing things I choose for myself – Shagari

Daily Trust on Saturday: Why did go into the film and documentary industry?
Bello Bala Shagari: For me, making a living means to be happy. Nothing in this life makes me happy other than doing things I chose for myself. Having loved playing with video cameras since a very young age, I developed interest in shooting and making videos. So it became important to me to do something with it, most especially with the kind of interest I have in history. But for so many Nigerian graduates, it is not the case.  For instance in Nigeria now, majority of us believe that the purpose of working or having a job is just to earn money. I think it is a wrong idea and also misleading. Such ideas lead people to largely depend on government, where they will go and do whatever is available just to get paid at the end of the month. No wonder when you visit government offices, you cannot find efficient and passionate workers. Most of them even become frustrated and end up not contributing positively. 
I remember someone occupying a government office once asked me why I didn’t join the civil service since he thought I could probably get a very good place. I told him it is because I know how to do other things I enjoy, and jobs are scarce now, so I’d rather create jobs than occupy them, since I have the capacity. It is my own way of rendering my own contribution to the progress of our dear Nation. I like to tell about past events, I learnt that history most of the time becomes distorted due to bias. I believe it is history that makes the future. Therefore, we need to get our history right for our future or present to be bright.
DT: What have been the challenges for you in the documentary industry?
Shagari: I am relatively new in the business, having only three years’ experience. In these three years, I have been able to start and finish only three projects. I think every producer in Nigeria will agree with me, that sponsorship is one of the most difficult things to deal with in documentary-making in Nigeria or elsewhere. When you come up with a subject idea, you need to get people involved or affected by your subject to enable you get sponsorship and due to the nature of the country, most sponsors become suspicious that you may dupe them. That brings about the issue of distrust due to corruption; it affects every business in Nigeria. To get a sponsor, you have to know somebody who knows somebody or extraordinarily convince your sponsor beyond reasonable doubt, something that is very difficult to do in Nigeria. Because a documentary can be very costly, sometimes purchasing royalty rights for some of the clips that aren’t available in Nigerian archives is enough to make a sponsor suspicious or even scare a sponsor away!
Secondly, getting an audience from people you need to interview. In Nigeria, you don’t just go to someone’s office, simply request for a documentary interview and get them to open up to you. Documentaries are based on true reports not fiction, like TV dramas. When you try to get the truth out of people, for fear of one thing or the other, or sentiments, they will decide to keep shut or at best, give inadequate responses. I remember in some interviews I conducted, some highly respected politicians I interviewed in two different cases said to me, they know but cannot say it and I insisted, “for the sake of history sir” and they said no! With that, how can we expect our history to be accurate when some things are still hidden in the closet? That brings us to investigative journalism. Some consider investigative journalism to be risky because one will have to act like a detective and research deeply, which might lead to exposing somebody’s long buried sins.
But the moment of the truth for one is now or never. The government, I believe, will have to create a more comfortable environment for investigative journalism. So that documentarians and reporters can feel secure to carry out their job comfortably and successfully without fear or favour.
DT: As a first-time director, has the process been what you expected?
Shagari: The first documentary I made was for former Sokoto State governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. However, he was not able to give me enough time to discuss with him or even have an interview, so I had to depend on excerpts from his interviews and speeches. I understand he is a very busy person, and in the end he apologetically admitted that he hadn’t given me enough of his time. Nevertheless, I was able to come up with something despite the limitation of materials. It became like a standard for me. In similar circumstances, I did one for former speaker, now governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, with little disturbance of his busy schedules. I took interest in telling about his own story because of the way his firmness and determination has impacted politics and democracy in Nigeria. I also did a very short profile documentary for the present speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara and many others. But right now, I am involved in a very big project on the life of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, which has got me to work with former heads of state as well as other prominent personalities in and outside Nigeria. The outcomes of these projects are always improving. I faced so many challenges and have had many disappointments due to inadequacy of time and attention from some of these people. But with experience, I am overcoming most of the difficult challenges usually faced during a production.
DT: How do you come across stories you use for your documentary?
Shagari: I do not pick my stories randomly. I like to tell relevant stories. Stories I can tell because I understand them and feel the need to share them with people to learn. For instance, Nigeria is one of the countries with the most conflict-laden history. And due to certain sentiments many historical accounts are often one-sided. Northerners for instance will not allow any form of condemnation on the likes of Sardauna, even if Sardauna had done something worth condemning. So are most of the south-westerners with Chief Awolowo and the south-easterners with Ojukwu; and these are people who have shaped Nigeria’s history positively and negatively, knowingly, unknowingly.
They are humans. Nobody is perfect, so the truth should be told without bias. That is very important because people will learn from their successes as well as mistakes. I am also of the opinion that most of the history we were taught about Nigeria lacks accuracy. Can you believe that some records depend on mere allegations and accusations in Nigerian history? And when you meet all these people involved, they sometimes tell contradicting stories. There is need for thorough investigation and collective perspectives to set straight the historical records of a country as complicated as Nigeria.
DT: What do you wish to achieve through film and documentary?
Shagari: I want to be able to bring about change in the way that documentaries are done in Nigeria. Most documentarians in Nigeria are often hired for image management. I consider such people as promoters rather than real documentarians who go about making investigation and coming up with a final result that cannot be tampered with by anyone. I am working to earn that integrity as a documentarian so that I will be able to positively impact on my audience.
DT: What is the hardest part of putting a documentary together?
Shagari: The script! Research is also difficult but to script your story is a very difficult thing to do. Finding the right person to put your research together to create a script is a very difficult thing to do in making a documentary. In my work, once the script is ready, all the rest will fall in place. It is the backbone of a documentary project.
DT: How has your background impacted on your work?
Shagari: I have always said that my grandfather, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, has impacted me very much as a documentarian. I became very close to him because I was very much interested in knowing the past and what really happened, and you know he was a history teacher. Interestingly, most of the things I learn from him are different from what is popularly regarded as Nigerian history. I began making my research and decided to not rely on only one particular perspective, not even my grandfather’s. I later came to understand that sometimes it’s all about perspectives. And in Nigeria, perspectives can greatly differ due to the nation’s complexity and diverse sentiments. There is a serious lack of understanding; therefore historical clarifications would really help in fostering mutual respect and understanding. The documentary I am currently producing about him, which I named ‘One Nation, One Destiny,’ is an attempt to set records straight without any bias and to bring about unity and understanding among Nigerians. To make Shagari look good, you don’t have to lie, but he is human too and has made his own mistakes. I decided to start with my own grandfather, to free him from many lies that were told about him and to make him face the reality of his own mistakes. In the documentary, I will interview his best friends and his worst critics and the world will judge. It is going to be plain.