The Root of All Evil: Review of Gold Statue (2019)

Synopsis

In a manner that is oddly reminiscent of Bibo Bergeron and Don Paul’s 2000 animation, “The Road to El Dorado”, the dramedy, Gold Statue (2019) follows the adventures of two best friends, Chike (Kunle Remi) and Wale (Gabriel Afolayan) in their quest to find the golden statue of Yéyé.

The movie opens with a very crude display of jungle justice, a sad reality in Nigeria. The piquant scene shows an angry mob about to burn the battered Wale. Chike, the youth corps member, tries to stop them from doing this. This gripping scene effectively captures the viewer’s attention as Wale, who happens to be the narrator, transports us back to the events preceding his pitiable condition.

The duo first hear about the golden statue during one of their classes at the University of Lagos. The statue belonged to the Ilesha people of modern-day Osun State in the South-western part of Nigeria. The statue weighed approximately the same mass as 6000 tubers of yam (approx. over a tonne). In today’s economy, the statue is worth $500 million. The lecturer intimates that only one generation of custodians knew the exact location. The European explorers began a scramble for Yéyé’s golden statue. (Un)fortunately, they never found it. The existence of the statue was finally disregarded as a myth.