As a historical epic, Efuronye: The Unicorn, marking Faithia Balogun’s cinema debut, fails to strongly convince viewers about Efunronye Tinubu’s heroism. Instead, it revisits the taunting and haunting tale of her slave trade business.
For context, a hero is supposed to be defined by exceptional courage, impeccable achievements and noble qualities. They are often individuals admired as role models whose actions leave a lasting ‘positive’ legacy on society.
Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti is the closest in comparison to Efunronye. However, it is not necessarily in terms of their achievements but as female historical figures. The latter is a female aristocrat and slave trader while the former is a Nigerian educator and Women’s rights activist.
Efunroye Tinubu and Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti are both described as powerful women of their time. Being powerful doesn’t automatically grant a free pass to become a hero. Portraying who a hero is really a perception thing and not everyone will agree including this writer.
Efunroye: The Unicorn, based on the story of Efunroye Tinubu (1810–1887) opens with a scene that hints at the source of the titular character’s power, setting the premise into her powerful nature. The plot largely chronicles her life as a powerful 19th-century slave merchant and kingmaker in Yorubaland. The film depicts her rise from a trader near Abeokuta to a dominant political and economic force in Lagos, including her several marriages in the quest for a child and her ‘resistance’ against British colonial influence.
Aside from her powerful presence, Efuronye is interestingly presented as human. She has a backstory of losing her first husband and two children. So, when her father asks her to consider another husband to bear children. It is like pouring salt into an injury. She finally reconsiders and marries Adele and relocates to Lagos.
There, she greatly supported his political career and later took over his slave trade business. While Oba Adele (Femi Branch) only took money in exchange for slaves, Efunroye went beyond money to also demand foreign gifts, ammunition, mirrors and shiny things. As a woman, she changed the rules and dominated the slave trade business.
There are certain parts of Efunroye: The Unicorn that work. One is the performance particularly of Faithia Williams. The veteran actress steps into the role of Efunroye Tinubu. Her performance speaks to the depth of her craft in Nollywood. Nothing exceptionally refreshing but it still works. Being the titular character and with the most screen time also made her memorable.
For other performances, some felt over-exaggerated especially with the dialogues making scenes excruciatingly long and boring. The film repeatedly talks about Efunroye’s power but never truly lives up to this promise in terms of action. Through characters’ heavy dialogues and distracting voice-over, Efunroye’s power is discussed rather than acted. The voice-over, infused into the film was unnecessary and repetitive. Again, telling the story instead of showing.
As a historical epic, the film through music, production design and language captured the heart of its Yoruba setting. The music set the mood of the film right. The film’s ability to portray Efunroye’s humanity is also commendable. The scene where she offers food to a mysterious man disguised as a beggar gives credence to this.
It showed her compassion. Her relationship with Suliyat (Mercy Aigbe) as a co-wife also proved her peaceful nature. Her struggle to conceive a legacy is another relatable pressure women often face. However, none of these relatable sides was convincing enough to draw forgiveness for Efunroye’s actions as a slave trader.
The scene where Efunroye drowned slaves remains one of the most profound moments in the film. The white men didn’t agree with her price and for her, she would rather drown the slaves than sell them for less. It was inhumane to trade human beings as such. These slaves were human but to her, they were just goods she was selling. When she eventually told Oba Dosumu, “I don’t do favors without expecting payback,” it arguably made sense.
Many acts of heroism are usually done with no prior expectations for rewards or recognition. It is the tremendous achievements that draw the recognition. In Efunroye: The Unicorn, the titular character, based on her dialogue with Oba Dosumu, proves that her acts of ‘heroism’ is an intentional strategy to be used when the need arises.
Later in the film, Efuronye argues that the white man wants to exploit Lagos but not under her watch. This is absolutely contradictory. For someone, who dominated the slave business and cared about money!? It’s hard for this statement to sit well.
If Efunroye: The Unicorn is simply a story about the life of Efunroye Tinubu, then regardless of whether her bravery was used for good or bad reasons, it still works. But being heavily portrayed on the premise of heroism feels unconvincing especially with the historical facts about her dominance and role in the slave trade.
Release Date: May 1, 2026.
Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes.
Streaming Platform : Cinema
Director (s): Abbey Lanre, Adebayo Tijani, and Tope Adebayo Salami.
Cast (s): Faithia Williams, Mercy Aigbe, Layi Wasabi, Odunlade Adekola, Femi Adebayo, Ibrahim Chatta, and Ibrahim Yekini (Itele).
