Citation: Sexual Violence in a Kaleidoscope (A Review of Kunle Afolayan’s Citation)
By: Olusanya Akanmu
Tags: Sexual Violence, Rape, Citation, Kunle Afolayan, Nollywood

“Resolutions that lead to an escalation of hostilities are not resolutions. They are proxy wars......"

These are among the conversations that made the 151 minutes of the movie Citation absorbing for me. Kunle Afolayan still has an eye for a rich blend of actors and actresses with this new work. Temi Otedola debuts with the lead role as Moremi Oluwa, a brilliant 21-year-old post-graduate student sexually assaulted by her supervisor, Prof Lucien N’dyare( Jimmy Jean-Louis) who threatens to fail her thesis as things go from bad to worse.

For a debut performance, Temi Otedola delivers a fine performance. She carefully embodies the character and makes up for her shoddy grasp of Yoruba Language with a graceful transition through English and French Languages. Jimmy Jean-Louis produces a vintage performance while it was also refreshing to see Mrs Ibukun Awosika on screen, not as an Economics doyen but acting the role of a University scholar and professor.

The choice of Obafemi Awolowo University as the campus location is fitting. First, the sex-for-grades scandal in the university campus some years back sets a poetic tone as the first scene reminds the viewers of the released audio conversation implicating a lecturer in the citadel of learning in 2018. Then, the university’s majestic architectural designs and the movie’s brilliant cinematography seem to me like a match made in heaven. After all, it is Africa’s most beautiful campus(If I don’t hype my Alma Mata, who will?)

The other stage locations, Dakar and Cape Verde buttressed by the fine quality of the soundtracks reverberated an effusive sense of Pan-Africanism. I particularly enjoyed how we were shown Moremi(Temi Otedola) and Koye(Gabriel Afolayan) fighting their battles with Kate Edunjobi and Kofo’s delightful duet striking as a piece of evocative background music.

The movie addresses sexual abuse and perhaps the director chose a happy ending to encourage people to see that they can triumph when they speak up. However, the price the movie pays for this includes some inconsistencies in the plot. First, Moremi’s story feels partly abstract or hardly represents reality. These days you rarely see students who had their undergraduate degrees outside the country come for their postgraduate studies in Nigeria. For obvious reasons, It’s usually the opposite. Then, a typical student in a Nigerian public university would give a second thought before embarking on an uncertain trip outside the country overnight like she did while trying to get into her Professor’s past. Also, the whole Kadoza script(played by Ray Reboul) seems too good to be true. Irrespective of the financial status, it’s bemusing to think that any father would want a gesture even as good as university employment from someone responsible for the death of his child. Then, how Moremi finds the child who eventually leads her to his father is rather screwy.

The movie attempts to draw from the immeasurable contours of sexual harassment to its very core. Beyond showcasing the victim’s fears, frustrations and bellowing need for approval, it also draws a striking parallel of the disposition advocacy groups may hold to sexual abuse with the Kelvin Carter photojournalism in 1993. Carter infamously captured the image of an emaciated child with a vulture waiting for its eventual death in Sudan. He won the Pulitzer Prize but faced backlash due to his ‘neglect' of the child. It reminds these organisations that irrespective of the dynamics that rule the universe, the victim isn’t just a case study or a number but a person, whose humanity should be preserved with the utmost dignity and empathy.

I am however most intrigued by a comical statement made by one of the victim’s colleague while giving her testimony. Saying "As for me, I know Jesus will intervene" after giving such implicative testimony summarises the utter indifference or perhaps the spineless brand of solidarity that abounds in the society. Sexual abuse(and in a general term, evil) thrives in this fertile ground of hypocrisy. Camaraderie ostensibly returns in the last scene after the victory is won and all is said and done...yet the question remains how do we make our support as bold and loud as the ovation?