TENANTS OF THE HOUSE: The Movie or the Book

After watching ‘Tenant of the House’, an adaptation of the book, ‘Tenants of the House: A fictional account of the Nigerian Parliament’ by Wale Okediran, one would really want to read the actual book because the two-hour long feature-length ‘political drama’ starring Yakub Mohammed, Joselyn Dumas, Rashida Lobbo, and directed by Kunke Afolayan seems to lack depth and intensity that’s probably embedded in the novel.

The movie tells the story of Samuel Bakura (Mohammed) a member of the Federal House of Representatives who wants to challenge the numerous corrupt practices going on in the house but has a hard time getting through due to ongoing political embroil aiming to remove the speaker of the House. Bakura also a widower who has an affair with an influential colleague, Elizabeth meets and falls in love with a bethroded Fulani girl Batejo (Rashida Lobbo) while on a fact-finding mission about two warring towns under his constituency.

Also starring Dele Odule, Tijani Faraga, Chris Iheuwa and Funky Mallam, Tenants of the House had something to offer but the screenwriting by Tunde Babalola failed to drive home a detailed narrative.

The storyline rattles along, bare and without an appreciable amount of kick, the movie ends on a low by digressing from a thematic focus of a political drama to an ill-thought quasi-romantic fiasco.