It is one thing to desire a good life and it is another thing to follow the right path to actualise that dream. In the movie, The Last Step, directed by Dr Bashiru Lasisi of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, the short but informative flick captures the burning desire of many young people to migrate to Europe illegally to seek ‘greener pastures’.
The cast is made up of established and up-and-coming actors like Joke Muyiwa, Lanre Fatoba, Victor Onuka, Isaac Israel, Funmi Oloyede, Alowonle Olalere, Nene Nwayo, Tunji Aborisade and Kola Gbenro.
The phrase ‘greener pastures’ is not one that is new to the Nigerian society and Africa at large. Almost on a daily basis, youths move from rural areas to urban centres or leave the country altogether in pursuit of ‘easy life’ and wealth as a result of the prevailing economic challenges.
It is this premise that guides the plot of ‘The Last Step’, a film which explores the lives of three friends, Jade, Pam and Tile who are determined to make meaning out of their lives.
The movie captures the reality of the dysfunctional system in Nigeria that fails to provide jobs for her teeming youths thereby forcing many young people to seek a better life outside the shores of the country – embarking on a dangerous journey to Europe through the desert.
After many failed attempts in Nigeria, Jade and Pam decide to try their luck overseas.
Nothing, it seems to them, is working. They are both desperate to give their lives a meaning, even though they know they may lose their lives on the journey, but that does not matter to them at that time. They count on their luck.
Tile, on the other hand, remains resolute to make most of the opportunities his fatherland offers to make meaning out of life. His decision to stay back eventually pays off.
For Jade and Pam, going abroad won’t be easy as their financial constraint means they have to leave by road, passing through African countries to get to Europe, their ultimate destination.
Soon, the journey to Europe begins for Jade and Pam as they set out on what would either turn their lives around or make things worse for them.
Things do not turn out as planned for the trio, alongside a friend of Jade’s girlfriend, Joju, who sets out with the party on what looks like an opportunity for Joju to win Jade’s love. Of course, the travelling party encounters a number of obstacles on the way.
Joju tries to worm herself into Jade’s heart but Jade resists her advances. However, Jade’s defence mechanism soon breaks down with the duo finding themselves in each other’s arms in subsequent scenes in the cold night making love.
With time, the ambitious travellers land in Kano where they join another bus going to the desert that connects Nigeria with Libya. That is the point things start turning awry for the trio.
The rate at which the country loses its best brains to other countries is said to be alarming and while youths are generally encouraged by the ostensible success of emigrants, the anguish and hardship they suffer abroad are untold and undocumented as the guise of El dorado in foreign lands continues to derail the lives of many.
Tile who stays back eventually gets a big break and becomes the envy of his peers. He turns out to become a successful businessman.
Jade, who thought he had hit jackpot by settling with the wife of a presumed dead military officer in Libya, shamefully returns to Nigeria after he narrowly escapes with his life when the officer returns home.
He equally loses his ageing mother (Joke Muyiwa), who suffers the agony of waiting endlessly for the return of her only son.
The movie underlines the facade of ‘greener pastures’ and the perennial insecurity that has continued to plague many African countries, especially at their borders with bandits always preying on people who are desperate to travel abroad illegally.
With the trend of leaving the country reportedly at an all time high, the screening of the play is timely and instructive for the teeming African youthful population.
The clever portrayal of the characters, the plot of the play and the overall dialogue underpins the directorial congruity of the movie as the touch of a seasoned professional.
Full of suspense from one scene to another laced with variety of themes and entertainment of sorts, the sad and heart-rending tale of Jade and his friends would only mean that though they wish to seek a better life outside Nigeria, their destinies appear to have been tied to their fatherland.
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