By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja
A Telecommunications Service Provider, Gloacom, yesterday, treated viewers with great sense of nostalgia, the rich cultural, educative and informative contents TV series, The Village Headmaster.
The drama series, which was rested in 1988, has undergone ‘a reboot and eventually surfaced for peoples viewing pleasure, 34years later more content filed.
The popular television series The Village Headmaster has been relaunched came on air yesterday, Sunday 24th April on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) AIT and WAP TV respectively.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed during the re-launch of the TV series at the NTA headquarters in Abuja, said The Village Headmaster was at one time undoubtedly Nigeria’s first-longest-running television drama series which was produced by the Nigerian Television Authority( NTA) and ran consecutively every week for decades
He explained that the series was set in Oja, a fictitious Yoruba village, while it was woven around the lives of the villagers from royalty to education and so on.
The Minister said the TV series would air from 8 pm to 9 pm every Sunday on NTA, then 9 pm to 10 pm every Wednesday on AIT and 8 pm to 9 pm every Friday on WA
The Minister, who was represented by the Director-General of NTA Mallam Yakubu Mohammed, said the programme captivated viewers and it was difficult to look away from the TV set while the drama series was showing.
“The Village Headmaster was an addiction for many television viewers across Nigeria. Lovers of the sitcom rushed home by 8 PM every Sunday to watch it. Each of the stories of the series was gripping and every episode was memorable.
“The programme was the first major show since the country gained independence and was also the longest soap opera in production for many years until 1984.
“Several efforts were made to revive the programme. The one that readily comes to mind was in 2001 when NTA made a concerted effort to reintroduce The Village Headmaster. The viewing public was seriously excited.
That excitement was dashed. Little did we know that those hiccups were the ingredients that would eventually give a lasting hope for the series.
“And so on Friday, September 4th, 2020 history was made when the NTA led by my humble self and Chief Wale Adenuga, CEO of Wales Adenuga Productions signed an MoU that officially marked the beginning of a partnership to bring “The Village” back on Television. Immediately after, the two organizations started work in earnest leading to the commencement of production.
“As of today many episodes of the programme are in the can and ready for the pleasure of the viewing public”, he said.
Mohammed further said that sadly, some of the members of the original cast have passed on and therefore are not here with us to witness the rebirth of this iconic series.
He said prominent among them is Ambassador Segun Olusola, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, who created the series as a staff of the then Western Nigeria Television – WNTV, now NTA Ibadan.
He said the programme features some of the founding members of the series notably Kabiyesi, Dejumo Lewis, Ibidun Allison (Amebo), Dan Imodu (Dagbolu), Dele Osawe (Teacher Fadile), to mention but a few.
Other prominent members of the new cast include gice, Chris Iheuwa, Mr Latin, Funky Mallam, Jide Kosoko, Omo Ibadan, Okele and Fathia Balogun. Others are Rycardo Agbor and Yemi Shodimu. There are also Binta Ayo Mogaji, Jide Alabi, and many others.
The Minister commended Nigerian telecommunications giant, Globacom for what it gave to make sure that the programme was produced successfully.
The Producer of WAP TV, Wale Adenuga commended the NTA for their efforts towards the production of the programme, he also commended Globacom for believing and supporting the production of the programme.
He commended the WAP TV crew for their doggedness in the course of the production of the programme.
