Xavier Ighorodje on Solo’s death, Epa’s sins and what’s next on Enakhe

More than 50 episodes in, and we cannot get enough of Africa Magic’s Enakhe, that’s also streaming on Showmax every weeknight. The crime telenovela, set in Benin, has taken up adequate space in our heart, giving us joy, but also causing us heartache because the writers won’t stop killing our favourite characters.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

But while characters like Epa and Solo have died, the living, from Cali to Enakhe to Law, are unravelling. We spoke to the Enakhe’s head writer Xavier Ighorodje to guide us through some of these plot twists. He dove into Solo’s tragic death, Iye Akugbe’s powers and Epa’s many sins.

Let’s start with episode 37. We’ve had great episodes, but this episode changed everything for some of the characters. 

Yeah! It changed a lot about what you thought you knew about certain people. 

Yeah, we saw Solomon’s deaths, Cali’s heartbreak, and Enakhe’s realisation of what the business is. And we finally got to see how Ejiro became Iye Akugbe. So much happened, how did you guys pull it off? 

The episode was pretty much set in stone when Sanchez [Enakhe’s showrunner] told me the core idea of Enakhe. Initially, Solo was supposed to be Lawrence’s son, and the show was going to be a Nigerian adaptation of the South African series The Queen (also on Showmax), where the wife of a drug patriarch rose to the position of godfather after the death of her husband, but we didn’t think that would work for the Nigerian audience.

We wanted a story for our audience, and I thought it would be nice if we had defining moments where we could pull off classical Nigerian literary pieces, and that’s how we planned Solo’s death. Cali killing Solo is like Okonkwo killing Ikemefuna in Things Fall Apart [novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe], to prove himself a man. The plan was to bring Cali to a point where even the audience would wonder what was happening, and it made sense that if we got to that moment in the present, we would have to tie a lot of backstory from the past into it. If you notice, we tied all the backstory about the totem, Iye Akugbe and the resemblance between Ejiri and Ejiro.

It’s almost like a pilot episode that kicks off the entire show afresh because Enakhe is now aware of the illegal things happening in her father’s company. But will she believe her father knew about these things, or they were done behind his back? These are the things we will explore going forward.

You talked about the brilliant flashbacks, but fans were complaining about them…

Many of the audience complained when we did the first set of flashbacks, but I think they now understand their importance. They showed two sisters who look alike to avoid confusion about Cali’s mother and Onanefe’s mother. We also wanted to establish the origin of the totem without explaining with a voiceover, but you know the impatience of TV audiences.

The story about Ejiro becoming Iye Akugbe is fascinating, but she has all this power she can’t use. What’s the point of power if she can’t use it against her enemies?

When we were crafting the power limits and magic system of Iye Akugbe, we asked ourselves some real-life questions: why can’t native doctors build skyscrapers or do blood money for themselves? And we concluded that they could not use these powers for their benefit.

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Solo’s tragic death was one of the most defining things from episode 37. He was close to achieving his dream of moving to Spain, which was the most important thing to him. So is it like a conscious message to parents on raising teenagers or teenagers living a life of crime?

It is many things, and I can only wish the audience picks these things up. One of them is keeping secrets unnecessarily because if Tam Tam had told Cali about Solo, he would still be alive. We keep many things from family and friends, and when they eventually blow up in our faces, we find ourselves in situations we did not bargain for. 

Then it’s the whole circle-of-violence message. Kill by the sword, die by the sword. Solo is not entirely innocent, although a lot of things that happened to him were not his fault. For instance, his upbringing: Law didn’t raise Solo right. But then Solo had the option of deciding who he wanted to become, and he chose a life of crime. Those were the messages we tried to share, but we didn’t want to shove it down the audience’s throats.

Are you surprised by the reactions to his death?  

No, I am not surprised at all because we have seen this play out on several shows. When we killed Arinola on Hush, it was the same reaction. Ditto Chief from Jemeji. Ajoche had such moments: many people lost their minds when Alachenu was sentenced to be hanged. I saw tweets saying, “Do these writers know what they are doing?” We were expecting the reactions from the onset because we wrote Solo to be likeable; we just needed an actor who could convey that likeability.

You talked about the performance of the actor who played Solo, and this is his debut show. 

Yes, he has not acted in a film or on a TV show before. We did an open audition in Benin because we wanted to get 70 per cent of the actors from Benin. Covenant [Nkem], who played Solo, came with his friends from Port Harcourt. He came on the first day, but I didn’t notice him because the audition was terrible, then he came the next day and murdered it! So we shortlisted him for Solo. He’s an excellent actor, and you can tell from the audience’s reaction. So, yeah, this was his first opportunity to act, and I hope his career is set on the right path because of Enakhe. 

A lot of the cast are not famous faces but just regular actors. Was this deliberate?

Yes, it was deliberate. Besides the fact that the budget to get famous faces committed for 10 to 11 months is not exactly there, it makes sense to welcome other actors waiting for opportunities, because they will give you everything. They do not have the egos of established faces, so you won’t be getting any superstar drama on set; they are all about performance now. Also, one of MultiChoice’s visions [the parent company of Africa Magic and Showmax] is to elevate the creative industry, and to do that, you have to promote new voices and talents. You may need famous faces to pull audiences for the first week, but the show can go on after that. 

Let’s go to the Iwinosa family. Looking at the restlessness in that family, is the totem a blessing?   

You know, the totem was supposed to be shared between Epa and Onanefe every five years, but Epa held it for these past 35 years, or thereabout. So we can assume it is karma for his selfishness. This explains Cali’s personal tragedies despite having the totem and his rise in business because he is not supposed to be the one in possession of the totem. 

They’ve been successful. They have a vast transportation network. Epa was the head of the Table of Committee of Friends. Enakhe was able to school abroad, and Cali went abroad for a while (which is why his name is California), but they don’t have peace. 

Speaking of Epa, he is loved by his family on the show and the audience outside the show, but he seems to be the show’s villain. Do you agree with this? 

I won’t call him the show’s villain because the show is still on-going, and he died in week two, right? People were shocked, “Oh my God, this great man has died and blah blah blah.” But after the flashback from episode 37, they are now saying he died too quickly and should be alive to witness everything happening to his family because he is not the good person we perceived him to be. The truth about life is that wicked people don’t wear black cloaks and do evil villain laughter at night; these people are fantastic with their families, and that’s how Enakhe sees her father. But now that she’s discovered all isn’t as it seems; it is a hard truth for her to accept. 

You tweeted a fun fact. Your elder sister’s name is Ejiro, and your younger brother is Onanefe, and that #AMEnakhe is personal to you. What’s your connection to the story?

I lived and schooled in Benin for the first 25 years of my life. I left for National Service in Lagos, and then I settled as a writer. Now, the first time I am head writing a 260-episode show for Africa Magic and Showmax, it is set in Benin, so it feels like my life has gone around in a circle. It’s God telling me, “You are now a head writer, come back to where it all started and start growing from here again.” Some of the characters are people I knew growing up in Benin. Lateefah was a friend of mine; Jonas was also a friend; Umweni is my mother-in-law’s maiden name. These were the things I put into the story to give it a personal touch. When I’m working, I’m conscious that it is not a regular gig but something defining for me.

How has working on Enakhe impacted your life?

I believe everything is connected, and working on Enakhe has shown me some doors are opening. Enakhe changed my life; yeah, my career was going in a particular direction and trajectory, but this is next level. It’s a 260-episode telenovela for Africa Magic and Showmax, and that’s great for PR. My parents and sisters are watching the show at home. My friends are watching it. A lot of good things are happening.  

What should we expect in the upcoming episodes? 

A lot of silly things that will make you laugh and some things that will make you cry. Many people have wondered why we named the show after Enakhe, who appears weak. They should chill; there’s so much she will do that we cannot discuss now. Many things will happen! Stone will do crazy things; Archie will do a lot more. Villains will rise and fall. I’m deeply excited about it all, and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.

Watch the latest episodes of Africa Magic’s telenovela Enakhe on Showmax.