Welcome. I am so incredibly glad you could join
us today. Yeah, it's great to be here. If you
are anything like me, you are, you know, constantly
looking for that next great story to get completely
lost in. Oh, absolutely. Something with just
massive stakes, deep history, and characters
that leap right off the screen. So today, we
are going on a special deep dive, and the mission
is clear. We are unpacking the massive, sprawling,
and frankly, utterly captivating Nigerian period
drama known as Riona. It really is a monumental
piece of television. I mean, we are talking about
a continuous narrative that spans an incredible
260 episodes. 260. Right. For anyone trying to
jump into a story of that scale, it can feel
a little intimidating. Where do you even begin
with a world that rich? That scale is wild. That
is a massive commitment. So how do we break this
down for someone who... wants the core story
without watching over 100 hours of television.
Yeah, that's the goal today. Think of our conversation
today as your personal shortcut. We are going
to distill that monumental run into the absolute
most important nuggets of knowledge. You're going
to get all the political maneuvering, the intense
class struggles, and the mystical prophecies
all tailored just for you. Exactly. Before we
get into the characters, though, we need to set
the stage. Where exactly does a story of this
magnitude take place? To really understand Riona...
We first have to ground ourselves in the physical
and historical space where all of this epic drama
unfolds. We're traveling back in time to the
12th century. Oh, okay. Stepping into the pre
-colonial era of the Itzikiri people. Specifically,
the series is set in the kingdom of Oyomir. I
am trying to picture the map in my head. Where
does the kingdom of Oyomir sit geographically?
The Itzikiri people live in the westernmost part
of the Niger Delta in Nigeria. They are bounded
by the bite of Benin on the west. Placing the
story in this specific 12th century context immediately
gives the narrative a sense of ancient weight
and grandeur. You have to imagine the environment.
You know, the humidity. Exactly. The intense
humidity of the delta, the intricate waterways,
and the dense, sprawling forests that surround
the kingdom. It is a setting where the natural
world feels just as imposing as the political
one. Okay, let's unpack this. Because building
a believable 12th century kingdom for television
sounds like an immense undertaking. Who are the
architects behind bringing Weomer to the screen?
The entire vision was brought to life under the
direction of James Omokwe. He was also the executive
producer, right? Yes, he served as the executive
producer as well. But the foundational architecture
of the story, the intricate world building. that
was laid down by writer Ifeanyi Barbaricidi.
Incredible. They didn't just build a set, they
built an entire functioning society from the
ground up, complete with its own politics, class
divisions, and religious systems. Every great
fictional society needs a spark to set the plot
in motion. How does the conflict in Oyimere actually
begin? It starts with a terrifying disruption
of the status quo. A prophecy. Yes. The inciting
incident that sets off the entire 260 -episode
run revolves around a character named Orinneka,
played by Oneji Dede. Orinneka holds the incredibly
weighty title of Oparoon Male. I am not familiar
with that term. What exactly is an Oparun male?
What makes Aranyeka's position so unique? So
the Oparun male serves as the direct mouthpiece
of the gods. They are the spiritual conduit for
the kingdom. Okay. But what makes Aranyeka so
significant is that she is the very first female
Oparun male in the entire history of Oyumer.
Oh, wow. That detail alone tells you so much
about the disruption she represents. Precisely.
She isn't just a religious figure. She is breaking
centuries of tradition just by holding the title.
And she is one who has to walk right up to the
absolute ruler, King Ofotunku, and deliver a
message no monarch ever wants to hear. That sounds
like a terrifying job. What is the message she
has to deliver to the king? She tells him that
a child born under a dark moon is going to rise
up, completely destroy him, and bring his entire
reign to a brutal end. A dark moon prophecy.
We have seen kings react to these kinds of omens
in history and literature before, and it almost
never goes well. Rarely. How does King Ofotanku
handle this news? What's fascinating here is
how the king's sheer desperation to maintain
absolute power pushes him to defy the gods themselves.
Yeah. King Ofotanku, portrayed brilliantly by
Frank Conway, is a man who is entirely defined
by his absolute grip on power. He's a ruthless
dictator. Right. He crushes absolutely anyone
who stands in his way. Exactly. So when he hears
that the gods have decreed his downfall via a
child born under this dark moon he doesn't reflect
on his rule. He doesn't seek penance. He fights
back. He goes to war against destiny itself.
He orders the mass killing of all children born
under the dark moon to avert the prophecy. He
is literally willing to massacre the most innocent
members of his own kingdom just to keep the crown
on his head. That level of paranoia is staggering.
It is. It feels very reminiscent of Macbeth or
King Herod, where the fear of losing power turns
a leader into a monster. It is the ultimate hubris.
By trying to cheat fate, he inevitably sets the
wheels of fate into motion. The king's explosive
temper and his sheer wickedness make him a terrifying
antagonist. Absolutely. But he's also a deeply
tragic figure because his fear completely blinds
him to the consequences of his own actions. Wait,
with a king? Kingdom this ruthless and a king
spiraling into paranoia. What happens to his
own family? If he is willing to massacre innocent
children in the streets, is anyone safe inside
the palace walls? No one is safe. And that brings
us to the ultimate tragic irony of the series.
Oh, no. In his frantic, bloody bid to save his
own life from this prophecy, King Ofotanku unwittingly
murders his own wife. Unbelievable. And not just
any wife, his fourth and absolute favorite wife,
Oniyemofe. Yeah. Or Mofe, played by Mimichaka.
Losing a spouse is horrific, but the fact that
he brought it upon himself adds such a heavy
layer of grief to the story. What was Mofe's
role in the court before this happened? Mofe
was the emotional core for a man who otherwise
had a heart of stone. She was the only wife the
king actually married for love. She knew her
position and carried herself with immense pride,
especially because she was the mother of the
heir to the throne, Prince Agen. So her death
isn't just collateral damage in a political thriller.
It is a fundamental shattering of the king's
world. Completely. He is fighting so hard to
preserve his own life and power. And in the process,
he destroys the one thing he actually cherishes.
It makes you wonder how the rest of the royal
court functions when the king is this volatile.
Who else is in his inner circle trying to manage
this powder keg of a monarch? The inner circle
is an absolute masterclass in tension and competing
loyalties. You have Omarayan, played by Suebi
Fedokubo. He is the king's most loyal childhood
friend, and his entire role seems to be diplomatically
managing the king's explosive temper. Imagine
having to be the one guy who can talk down a
paranoid dictator who is actively fighting the
gods. And mourning the wife he accidentally killed.
I cannot even imagine the stress of that job.
One wrong word and you were executed. Is there
anyone who actually holds any political weight
against him? There is the High Council, which
includes Queen Idler, played by Thelma Nwosu.
She is the king's first wife and a powerful political
force in her own right. Okay, so you map out
this complex web of loyalties, a delicate friend
managing the king's rage, a politically powerful
first wife, and the tragic absence of the favored
fourth wife. It makes the king's self -destructive
actions even more profound. He is deeply isolated,
surrounded entirely by people who either fear
him, manage him, or resent him. While the king
is tearing his own court apart from the inside,
The story has to move forward. He ordered this
horrific massacre, but did he actually succeed
in wiping out the threat? He did not. Despite
the Dark Moon Massacre, four children actually
survived the purge. Four of them? Yes. The narrative
brilliantly zeroes in on two of these surviving
children whose paths fatefully cross Prince Igon
and a young woman named Sima. Let's start with
Prince Igon since we just talked about his mother,
Mophé. What kind of person does the heir to the
throne grow up to be under a father like Ofotoku?
Prince Agung, played by Amarachuku Ono, is a
young man who learns the heavy burden of his
royal duties at a very tender age. But rather
than being molded into a carbon copy of his father,
the trauma of his environment pushes him in the
exact opposite direction. He rebels. He actively
despises his father's tyranny. Uggen actually
wants to replace the dictatorship with democracy.
Hold on. Democracy in a 12th century pre -colonial
African kingdom? Yes. That feels wildly out of
place. How does a prince even come up with that
concept in a world ruled by absolute monarchs
and gods? This raises an important question about
the nature of visionary leadership. Agon's desire
for democracy isn't framed as a modern political
system being copy -pasted into the past. Okay,
that makes sense. It is framed as a radical,
dangerous idea born out of deep trauma. He looks
at the absolute carnage caused by one man's unchecked
power, the death of his own mother, the massacre
of innocents, and realizes that the entire system
of absolute rule is fundamentally flawed. He
is willing to sacrifice his relationship with
his father to stop it. And likely his own life.
to dismantle the monarchy from the inside. He
is an internal revolutionary. It is a massive
risk for a character who technically has the
most to lose since he is next in line for the
throne. You mentioned the second survivor, Sima.
How does she fit into this rebellion? Sima represents
the external revolution. Played in her younger
years by Jasmine Olorotomi and later by Maggie
Issybor, Seema is a fascinating character study
in nature versus nurture. How so? She's technically
highborn, but due to the circumstances of her
survival, she's raised entirely outside of the
royal bubble. She is taken in by a man named
Aso, played by Olorotomi Fakunle. Aso is a virtuous
man from the lower class community known as the
Iral. That brings up a societal structure we
haven't touched on yet. What is the difference
between the ruling class and the Ural? What does
day -to -day life actually look like for these
communities? If we connect it to the bigger picture,
Riona is doing something incredibly ambitious
with its world building. The society of Oyunumir
is strictly split. The haves and the have -nots.
Exactly. You have the highborn elites known as
the Omijaja. They hold the wealth, the political
power, and the favor of the court. Then you have
the oppressed lower class Arab. And they just
do all the heavy lifting. The Aral are the working
backbone of the kingdom, living under the constant
heavy boot of the king's tyranny. They're treated
as expendable, which was made brutally clear
during the Dark Moon Massacre. Sidsema has the
blood of the Omidjaja, but the lived experience
of the Aral. How does Aso raise her in such a
dangerous environment? Aso teaches her to know
her own value. Most importantly, he teaches her
to voice her opinions entirely without fear.
She is raised to stand tall in a society that
demands the Aral bow down. Which is an incredibly
dangerous way to exist under a paranoid tyrant.
It sounds like she is a walking target. She absolutely
is. Her fearless trait gets her into serious
trouble, specifically when Prince Agen visits
the Aral community. But that fire is also what
makes her the king's worst nightmare. She becomes
a leader? Sema is destined to lead the rebellion.
She is meant to free the Aral from bondage, putting
her on a direct collision course with the monarchy.
You have Aghan, the heir who wants to dismantle
the system from the inside, and Tzima, the fierce
survivor who wants to tear it down from the outside.
Here's where it gets really interesting, because
we have this gritty, grounded class rebellion
brewing, but looming over all of it are the gods.
How do the supernatural elements play into this
political warfare? The gods are not just abstract
concepts in Olimar. They are active, physical
participants in the fate of the kingdom. To understand
the supernatural threat, we have to look at two
specific figures. First, there is Atigbioloye,
played by Elvina Ibru. Who is she? She is a shapeshifting
witch who lives out in the dense forest of Oyimere.
A shapeshifting witch living in the woods adds
a whole new level of dread. Does she just observe
the kingdom, or is she actively involved in the
prophecy? Oh, she actively plays a part in ensuring
that the Darkmoon prophecy is fulfilled. Imagine
being King of Fatanku. You are trying to use
your earthly, mortal army to fight a shapeshifting
entity who is carrying out the will of the divine.
It is a logistical nightmare for a military commander.
You can't just send guards to arrest a shapeshifter.
Exactly. And she isn't the only supernatural
force, is she? No. The show elevates the stakes
even higher with a character named Agby Agby,
played by Tuku Martin. Agbegbe is an actual,
literal god walking within the narrative. An
actual god on screen. Yes. The presence of a
physical god forces the characters and the audience
to constantly weigh the power dynamics. The king
has absolute political power. He commands armies
and demands obedience. But what does any of that
matter when a god physically steps into your
kingdom and decides your time is up? The blend
of a grounded, brutal class struggle with high
-stakes magical warfare sounds incredibly complex
to write and film. Bringing a world with shapeshifters,
12th century kingdoms, and a massive ensemble
cast to the screen must have been a logistical
mountain to climb. A massive undertaking. Let's
talk about the real -world production. How do
they pull this off? When you look at the logistics
behind the scenes, you have to marvel at the
sheer scale of the production by the company
Fimo. Releasing 260 episodes is a monumental
feat in any era of television. Without a doubt.
But the timeline they achieve this in is what
truly stands out. The show premiered on September
28th, 2020 and concluded exactly one year later
on September 24th, 2021. Doing the math on that
is staggering. 52 weeks in a year, five days
a week, they were dropping a brand new half -hour
episode essentially every single weekday for
a solid year. Every single weekday. The amount
of writing, directing, acting, and editing required
to maintain a period drama at that pace is mind
-boggling. It speaks volumes about the dedication
of James Omokwe and his entire team. Consider
what goes into a single day of shooting a daily
drama. They were building authentic 12th century
sets. And the wardrobes alone. Yes, designing
and tailoring period -accurate wardrobes, ensuring
distinct visual styles for the wealthy homajaja
and the working class overall. They were coordinating
massive ensemble casts, choreographing conflicts,
and doing it all on a grueling, relentless schedule
for networks like Africa Magic and the Showmax
streaming platform. You have to imagine the sheer
endurance required by the actors to memorize
cages upon pages of script every single day.
Did that massive gamble and hard work translate
into cultural success? It absolutely paid off.
The cultural footprint the show left behind was
massive. Riona wasn't just a show that people
watched to pass the time. It became appointment
viewing. It was officially named one of the top
five Nigerian TV series of the entire year in
2020. That is a huge validation of the risk they
took. Did the momentum continue after that initial
launch? It did. By 2022, after the massive story
had concluded, the series earned a highly coveted
nomination at the Africa Magic Viewer's Choice
Awards for Best Africa Magic Original Drama Series.
Very well deserved. That kind of recognition
proves that audiences are hungry for long -form
historical epics. It showed that you can lean
heavily into indigenous history, culture and
language while weaving in universally relatable
themes like the struggle for democracy. And people
will tune in every single day. So what does this
all mean? When we look at everything we've unpacked
today, addressing you, the listener who might
be looking for that next great story. Riona is
much more than a lengthy television show. Much
more. It is a masterclass in blending genres.
On one hand, you have a tense, high stakes political
thriller. where every single conversation in
the royal court could mean life or death. On
the other hand, you have a poignant, deeply relevant
social commentary on the systemic divides between
the ruling class and the working class. A perfect
storm of narrative tension. And it wraps all
of this in the incredibly rich, vibrant, and
often overlooked backdrop of 12th century Nigerian
history. It challenges you to look at power,
destiny, and rebellion through a completely unique
cultural lens. It certainly does. And as we wrap
up... our exploration of the kingdom of Oyimere,
I want to leave you with a lingering philosophical
question to chew on. Okay, lay it on us. We know
that King Ofotanku heard the prophecy of his
downfall, and immediately unleashed a wave of
horrific violence to stop it. He became a monster
to save himself. But imagine, just for a moment,
if he had simply done nothing. Just listened.
Yes. If he had heard the words of the opera male
and chosen to rule with kindness instead of paranoia,
would he have survived? That is the ultimate
question of the self -fulfilling prophecy. It
forces us to ponder the very nature of free will
versus destiny. Are the gods of Oyimir actually
pulling the strings, forcing these violent events
to happen? Or is a tyrant's inevitable downfall
always brought about by his own paranoid, violent
attempts to maintain his grip on power? Did the
prophecy curse the king? Or did his reaction
to the prophecy seal his fate? That is a thought
that echoes long after the screen goes to black.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey
into the 12th century. We hope this deep dive
gave you a profound appreciation for the massive
world of Riona, the logistical triumph of its
production, and the epic scale of its storytelling.
Keep questioning the stories you consume, keep
looking for those deeper meanings, and we will
catch you on the next deep dive.