A new movie starring Chioma Akpotha, Kalu Ikeagwu, Toyin Abraham and other stars, which aims to address the ills of child labour and promote education among children through the use of indigenous languages is set to hit the big screens in Nigeria.
Titled Street Kid from the stable of Aulmedia, the star-studded child advocacy movie produced by Wale Muraina and directed by Tony Dudu, chronicles the story of how a backstreet kid who was forced into hawking for subsistence by his stepmother helped a rich kid to win a national schools spelling competition using Nigerian languages.
According to the director of Street Kid, “knowledge provides the bridge upon which providence acts. In the movie, Afolabi finds himself on the street due to no fault of his. He is denied access to school yet he helped Adewemimo, a rich and brilliant kid to win a national spelling competition in Nigerian indigenous languages.”
Ahead of its premiere, the movie has already received the endorsement of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
The movie boasts of big Nollywood names like Chioma Akpotha, Kalu Ikeagwu, Toyin Abraham, Jibola Dabo, Rachael Oniga, Patrick Doyle and Femi Durojaiye.
It introduces Joshua Ani as the street kid and Kenneth Enweremadu as the rich kid.
Set for private screenings in the coming months, the producers of Street Kid are confident that it will expose the latent potential inherent in every child in Nigeria. They are also hopeful that it will become the official motion picture for anyone fighting for the Nigerian child.
“There is the need to bring the plight of the poor kids on the street in Nigeria to the notice of every well-meaning Nigerian, setting a stage for all kinds of interventions,” Wale Muraina, the producer stated.
Meanwhile, the makers of the movie have hailed the efforts of wife the President, Aisha Buhari, towards restoring hope for Nigerian children through her Assured Program which has earned her a United Nations ambassadorial status.
“We are confident that this movie will bring the kids on the lowly side of the ladder to the fore for them to be helped.
The wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has done well in this regard with her Future Assured Programme. But we need to sensitise and mobilise others to follow in that line. This much we hope to achieve with Street Kid,” Muraina said.
Renowned filmmaker, Dozie Eboh, who is also an associate producer of Street Kid, said the movie is a game-changer for Nollywood.
“I have done and supported the production of many movies in the past, but Street Kid comes with a different feel that will definitely change the approach to how issues relating to child labour and literacy in Nigeria are put into motion picture stories,” Mr Eboh said.
The producers said they are looking forward to private screenings with notable organisations like UNICEF and UNESCO in a bid to take the message of hope for poor kids on Nigerian streets above board for appropriate interventions.
