With the griming statistics that about 30 to 80 per cent of women will develop fibroids by the time they reach age 50, coupled with the fact that black women are more likely to have fibroids than any other race group, an actress, Misola Iyun, has produced a movie, Olobe Lo Loko, to debunk the many myths associated with the ailment.
Fibroids are abnormal growths that develop in or on a woman’s uterus. Sometimes the tumors become large and cause severe abdominal pain and heavy periods. In other cases, they cause no signs or symptoms at all.
Though the cause is not known, the young writer and filmmaker said she was moved by the plight of many women suffering from the ailment to offer hope in spite of the many myths around it.
Olobe Lo Loko, which also featured Mike Abdul, Femi Afolabi and Jenifer Martins, is about a chef who is under some sort of emotional bondage but couldn’t talk to anyone about it because she has been brainwashed by her fiancée about the gravity of her ailment.
Misola said: “You know it is amazing when you see people who are supposed to be enlightened say some things. Here in Africa, we are used to associating a lot of things with spirituality. We are over-religious in Nigeria, yet with little faith.
“Someone once said if 90 per cent of the religious folks in the country actually believe in what they hear or preach, this country will be way better. Nigerians will associate fibroid with spiritual attack, they will associate cancer, diabetes, even something as minor as lump to spiritual attack.
“This is what the movie seeks to debunk by educating people, especially women, about fibroids. It is not a terminal disease; it is an ailment that can be managed and even cured. For those who have it, there is no point enslaving themselves by thinking or going spiritual, because religious leaders won’t cure it; they need to see a doctor and learn how to manage it.”
When asked how COVID-19 had affected practitioners in the creative and entertainment industry, she said: “The lockdown really helped a lot of us to take a break and reassess our mode of operation. I don’t know how it happened, but then Nollywood had big breaks like Netflix commissioning Ebony Life TV and a few others for TV series and original productions. That was a good one. I look forward to signing my own Netflix contract soon.”
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