By Abba Gwale
Aminu Muhammad Ahmad, also known as Aminu Saira, is a Nigerian filmmaker, director, and story writer. He is regarded as a leading director of today’s Kannywood industry.
Aminu Saira is the director of the hit television series, LABARINA, that is currently showing on AREWA24, a popular Nigerian satellite channel. He also directed Baya da ƙura and Ashabul Kahfi, two of the highest grossing Hausa movies of all times.
SAHELIAN TIMES caught up with Mallam Aminu Saira and had a chat with him. Read excerpt.
ST: LABARINA is a popular series currently trending in the Kannywood industry and has grabbed the attention of the media, especially social media. The series features Kannywood stars like Nafisa Abdullahi, Nuhu Abdullahi, Fatima Yola, Saratu Gidado, Hadiza Muhammad and host of other top actors and actresses. It has become one of the most watched series especially in northern Nigeria. How did you get it right?
Saira: If you said it is the most watched series in the North, I can say you are wrong because many people are following the series outside the country especially in places where there are a lot of Hausa people. So, the film is now global, if I am not wrong.
ST: You have just finished the season 1 and 2, when are you going to start showing the season 3?
Saira: We are currently recording the season 3, and hopefully in the next couple of days we will finish shooting. Hopefully, at the end of this month, we will try as much as we can to complete the recording.
ST: Are you going to continue showing it on AREWA 24 or you are thinking of changing to another channel?
Saira: Like I told you, we are currently recording, so we don’t know what will happen. If AREWA agrees with our terms and shows its interest to continue, we can have a deal and continue but there are several offers from other channels. So, we will see who will suit our demands but as at now I cannot guarantee anything.
ST: What should viewers expect from the next season?
Saira: Well, we have done our possible best to make sure we produce qualitative movie with useful message. It is up to the the people to judge by themselves if we release the next season, but I am sure people will enjoy it because we tried a lot by putting our energy to make sure we produce the best. However, one thing I know is that you cannot please everybody; you can only try your best and move on.
ST: Why did you venture into series? Is it more profitable than movies?
Saira: This is not the first time for me. We started the story of LABARINA since 2015. Our concern is to entertain our people. If you look at the whole Kannywood you can testify that many directors and producers are now migrating to series and for me this is not the first time, and it will not be the last. I usually produce long stories. Sometimes, it is difficult to finish telling your story in part 1-3. Sometimes, we even produce part four. So, a series film can accommodate everything now and the number of people also matters. You can employ many people when you are producing series. That is another advantage of a film series.
ST: How is your relationship with Ibrahim Birniwa, the writer of LABARINA series?
Saira: I don’t know what kind of relationship you are asking for but Birniwa is my friend; a very close one, because we have been together for more than ten years. He wrote a lot of stories for me and we are now more than friends because our families know each other, so we are now a family.
ST: Why can’t Kannywood produce films like “The Milkmaid”, which can compete for Oscars Award?
Saira: All what I know is that Kannywood is producing qualitative films and award doesn’t matter because I can bet you we produce films like “The Milkmaid”. Though I never watched the film, I have watched the trailer and for a film to win an award, sometimes it is not about the story or quality of the production. Sometimes, it’s luck. If you are lucky the organizers or panelists can say every film must have particular thing and if you are lucky you have that in your film you can have it. Sometimes, it is even about connections, but I don’t look at awards as yardstick to judge our industry. Yes, it is good to win an award but our people matter; we produce based on our viewers’ taste and demands. If you look at the stories that are trending in Nigeria, you will realize that they are all Kannywood stories. I could remember when I started spending my money on LABARINA series, many people were laughing at me, saying that I was spending huge amount of money on series which our people don’t even know about, but what happened now? Series is now everywhere. We started this series even before “Dadin Kowa” series and their likes. So, whatever you want to do, just take a risk and do it, God is with you.
ST: Why did you prefer to be a director when your brothers, Naziru and Musbahu, chose singing?
Saira: There is no reason for that. Every human being has a reason for doing what he wants to be in his own life. They have their own reasons and I also have mine, but at the end we are all looking at one goal and we are doing good.
ST: How do you look at the relationship between film actors and Kano State Film Censorship Board? Do you think everythink is ok?
Saira: There is no healthy relationship between the two sides because we are now in the situation where some people would close their eyes and do whatever they want, especially if you are not with them. If you accuse someone of doing something wrong, you can also see another person doing the same thing but nobody will say anything because he is in a good term with another set of people or they are sharing the same political ideology.
What I can say about the situation is that they have politicized things, and if you politicize everything, it will never go down well. What people usually forget is that if you are at a vantage position, don’t use your power against somebody because one day he will get the same chance and retaliate, so what should be good for us is to do everything for the sake of the industry and for God.
ST: Naziru Sarkin Waka was arraigned in court by Censorship board for releasing uncensored song, how do see the whole situation?
Saira: Naziru is my brother; we are from the same father and the same mother. So whatever I say about him, people will say it is because he is my brother. I talked about his situation several times in the past and I don’t want talk about it anymore.
ST: Politics is rampant in Kannywood industry now, some are with the ruling party while some are with opposition, do you think this will help the industry?
Aminu Saira: Everybody has his own right to choose the political party he wants to associate himself with, so there is nothing bad about it. You cannot fault anyone whether he is with ruling or opposition party. Those that are getting chances in the ruling party should know that it is not good to use the chance you have to harm your brother. They should fear God; being at an advantage position does not mean you have the chance to do whatever pleases you. You cannot last forever at whatever position you are and if you harm someone and he does not forgive you, Allah will judge both of you on the Day of Judgment.
ST: Thank you for your time.
Saira: Thank you too.
