Olisa Eloka still remembers watching the trailer for Izu Ojukwu’s ’76 during his sophomore year at the University of Benin. At the time, it represented the kind of film he hoped to write one day. Years later, he found himself writing 77: The Festac Conspiracy, the follow-up to the acclaimed historical drama.
“So, when I got the offer to work on ’77, it was almost like a dream,” he says.
Eloka’s interest in storytelling began with fiction, a genre he still considers “supreme,” but history has remained an even deeper fascination. His passion for historical dramas comes from the challenge of balancing documented events with dramatic interpretation.
After studying Mass Communication and graduating in 2017, he decided to pursue screenwriting fully. The journey, however, was far from smooth. In 2018, a difficult experience with a producer nearly pushed him away from filmmaking altogether. A year later, he sent a short script to director Izu Ojukwu, beginning a working relationship that continues today.
Although 77: The Festac Conspiracy marks his first produced feature screenplay, Eloka has spent more than a decade writing both short and feature-length scripts, many of which remain in production or post-production.
“The first feature I wrote was in 2013, and it never got made,” he says.
Over the years, he has worked on projects including Loose Cannon, a short film exploring the psychological aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War, as well as Man in the Mirror, a miniseries by Ramsey Nouah, Iwa Akwa directed by Ernest Obi and Play Network’s biopic on Jaja of Opobo.
“Nollywood is an industry where you can be busy and still have nothing to show for it,” he says with a laugh.
For Eloka, longevity matters less than the quality and intentionality of the work itself, a philosophy that continues to shape his approach to screenwriting.
Currently on the festival circuit, 77: The Festac Conspiracy premiered at the AfroCannes Diversity and Inclusion Event during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and is set for screenings at the African Creative Market and Creative Industries Business Summit in Zambia.
In this exclusive interview with The Nollywood Reporter (TNR), Eloka discusses writing historical drama, collaborating with Izu Ojukwu and the responsibility of preserving memory through film.
Inheriting the Legacy of ’76
For many viewers, ’76 stood out for its intimate portrayal of the 1976 military coup. Writing its follow-up naturally came with expectations, but Eloka says he approached 77 with a clear vision rather than pressure.
“For ’77, I already knew what I wanted to do,” he says. “One of the first things the producers and director asked me was how I intended to approach it, and I laid out my ideas.”
From the beginning, he wanted the sequel to feel larger in scope.
“I told them ’76 was a national conspiracy, but ’77 had to feel bigger and more dangerous,” he explains.
That ambition was not simply about scale, but about crafting a convincing story rooted in detail and historical texture.
“I’m big on attention to detail and research,” he says. “All my love for history had to come into play.”
If there was any pressure, he adds, it came from wanting to prove himself through the quality of the work.
For Eloka, one of the biggest challenges in historical storytelling is balancing fact with dramatic structure.
“You need to know what your story is because you can easily get carried away by facts,” he explains. “If you’re not careful, your film can turn into a documentary. Film still has to entertain.”
Research, he says, often uncovers details that are historically important but not dramatically useful.
“Sometimes the most exciting fact may not serve the story,” he says. “The question is always: what does the story need?”
Preserving Collective Memory Through Film
Eloka believes films like 77 play an important role in preserving memory, especially in a society where documentation is often neglected.
“As a people, we don’t document enough,” he says.
While books strengthen imagination, he argues that film allows audiences to visually experience a period through fashion, language, music and everyday life.
“You’re not imagining it in your head,” he says. “You’re seeing what that time looked and felt like.”
Though he describes himself as deeply passionate about books, he believes cinema offers a different kind of permanence, particularly when archival material is involved.
“Films like ’77 play an invaluable role in preserving memory,” he says. “In a way, it feels like paying homage to our predecessors and ancestors.”
For him, the story of FESTAC also represents a reminder of a period when Nigeria held significant cultural and political influence across Africa.
“It makes you bitter about the wasted opportunities,” he says. “Nigeria had dignity and respect. FESTAC, despite the criticisms it received, showed ambition.”
Researching History in Africa
Research became one of the most demanding parts of writing 77. According to Eloka, many of the materials he relied on were sourced outside Nigeria.
“Most of the data I found was not from Nigerian sources,” he says. “It seems to be an African problem generally.”
The lack of preservation concerns him deeply, particularly for future generations attempting to understand the continent’s history.
“If we are not custodians of our own memory, how do we move forward?” he asks.
He points to the absence of archival culture across different aspects of society, from historical footage to everyday objects.
“We don’t preserve anything,” he says. “Cars go out of fashion and they’re abandoned. Important things disappear.”
During his research process, Eloka contacted international media organisations to access rare archival footage connected to FESTAC and the era surrounding it.
“It was difficult,” he says. “But it also showed how much work still needs to be done.”
One discovery that particularly struck him was the extent of criticism FESTAC received from figures like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and other commentators at the time.
“I knew there were criticisms,” he says, “but I didn’t realise how intense they were.”
A Bigger Scale and a Different Kind of Pressure
For Eloka, 77: The Festac Conspiracy became the largest project he had worked on both creatively and logistically.
“Nollywood is mostly a low-budget or mid-budget industry,” he says. “But a period film like 77 naturally demands scale.”
Recreating the FESTAC era required large numbers of extras, costumes, vehicles and carefully designed sets.
“To play small would have been to undermine the world of the story,” he says.
Watching the production come together on set left a strong impression on him, especially seeing cast and crew continue working through difficult conditions.
“There were days it rained and people were still outside working,” he recalls. “It was very humbling.”
The process also taught him patience, particularly while balancing characters inherited from ’76 with newly introduced ones.
“It took months to get to the final draft,” he says. “There were many rewrites.”
Writing Masculinity Through Joseph Dewa
Among all the characters connected to the ’76 and ’77 universe, Joseph Dewa, played by Ramsey Nouah, remains the one Eloka feels most emotionally connected to.
“The character made me appreciate the struggles of men,” he says.
In ’76, Dewa survives the fallout of the coup but loses his military career and much of his stability. Exploring that emotional collapse shifted Eloka’s perspective on masculinity and vulnerability.
“You see a quiet man and assume he is cold,” he says. “Sometimes it’s just someone who is struggling deeply but finds it difficult to ask for help.”
Writing the character gave him a deeper understanding of the emotional isolation many men experience.
Working With Izu Ojukwu
Eloka describes his creative relationship with director Izu Ojukwu as one built on shared artistic values, particularly their mutual attention to detail and love for historical storytelling.
“We are both obsessive about the art,” he says.
He still remembers the first time they met in 2019 after Ojukwu read one of his short scripts. Though initially skeptical about promises of future collaboration, Eloka says the director remained true to his word.
“A year later, he told me I was going to write ’77,” he says. “That meant a lot to me.”
He also credits Ojukwu with changing how he understands collaboration between directors and writers.
“The best directors are deeply involved in the script,” he says. “But not in a way that erases the writer.”
Success, Legacy and Posterity
Despite the growing recognition surrounding 77: The Festac Conspiracy, Eloka does not see the project as a final destination.
“It’s a success story,” he says, “but it’s also the beginning of another phase.”
For him, the achievement lies not only in the film’s festival run but in having the opportunity to shape the project from conception to completion.
Looking ahead, he hopes future audiences will view the film as both entertainment and historical reflection.
“I want people to see where Nigeria once was and understand that we can still do better,” he says. “And I hope that fifty years from now, the film is still entertaining.”
