The immediate former Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has revealed that watching the documentary film ‘Madu’ was a “profoundly moving experience” for him.
Osinbajo, who recently stated this through his verified Facebook page, stated that ‘Madu’ was not simply a film about ballet, but rather a quiet portrait of courage, sacrifice, and the cost of excellence.
Osinbajo commented on the film after one of its producers, Joel Kachi Benson, won the 2025 Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary for his film ‘Madu’, making him the first Nigerian to win the international award.
Though the senior lawyer did not specify the time he watched the March 2024 film, he went on to describe the film. In his short review of the documentary, he stated, “At such a young age, Anthony Madu left his home in Lagos and everything familiar to pursue a dream on the other side of the world.”
The former vice president noted that the film captures with such tenderness the reality of that journey ─ the discipline required, the ache of missing home, the challenge of fitting into a world so different from the one he knew.
“There is a moment I will not forget, a simple video call between Anthony and his parents. You could see in his eyes, both the pride of where he had reached and the weight of what it had taken. It was honest. It was human. It was deeply Nigerian,” he added.
Osinbajo went beyond the main character of the film to commend the people behind the story, the documentarian, the artist who saw something extraordinary in a boy dancing barefoot in the rain.
“In choosing to tell that story without fanfare, without embellishment, just truth and beauty, he invited the world to see us as we are. Not as a headline, but as people with dreams, with struggle, with promise.
“And for that act of storytelling, Kachi Benson became the first Nigerian to win an Emmy. A moment of immense pride. A moment of history. And most importantly, a reminder that our stories, when told with excellence and care, have the power to move the world,” he added.
Osinbajo stated that Kachi Benson’s win is not only his, but that it belongs to every Nigerian who dares to dream, to every child who feels unseen, and to a nation whose greatness is often quiet but undeniable.
Directed by Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson, the documentary film ‘Madu’ introduces the world to a boy chasing a dream of inspiration. It follows 12-year-old Anthony Madu as he leaves his family and community in Nigeria to study at one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world in England.
His courageous journey is a story of extraordinary obstacles as he searches for belonging and acceptance, a family far away, and unexpected challenges that could impact his future.
