Nigeria's government is asking cinemas to stop showing a science fiction film, District Nine, that it says denigrates the country's image.
Information Minister Dora Akunyili told the BBC's Network Africa programme that she had asked the makers of the film, Sony, for an apology.
She says the film portrays Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes.
The Malawian actor, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, plays a gang leader with the nickname of Obasanjo, also the surname of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
I'm still yet to see this movie, but the critics gave it good reviews. I saw the trailer and felt this must be a good one. No matter how it was made, the idea of plot is new. The allusion to political issues in Africa is applausible (most notably, apartheid).
Of course, this information minister was overreacting. But her accusation is not totally unfounded. Making his first movie, the director should learn the lesson that before picking a name for the villain, he should check the names of the national learders. Mugabe sounds better for a typical antagonist, doesn't it?
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