“If you are one who follows through watching all the music videos that play
twenty four seven, some of Aje’s videos would have held you hypnotized; you
would have sunk into your chair in admiration for his compelling story
telling” – Sesan Adeniji

In comparison to the music industry, the Nigerian music video industry over
the years have welcomed a number of names as video directors but when the
chips are down and the excitement that comes with all the butt shaking
disappears into thin air, the boys will always be separated from the men in
the music video directors orbit. Beyond the glitz, one of the few directors
that goes beyond just shooting videos and is credited as one of the best
and most consistent story tellers is the director called Anietie James
Ekiko, popularly known as Aje Films.

If you are one who follows through watching all the music videos that play
twenty four seven, some of Aje’s videos would have held you hypnotized; you
would have sunk into your chair in admiration for his compelling story
telling. In an era where ninety percent of music videos seem to
come from the same prototype script of dancing and partying, Aje’s
storyboard is extraterrestrial. With his signature on videos such as Adekunle
Gold’s ‘Ire’, the world just seems to freeze for a second in appreciation
for his craft. Credited for Simi’s ‘Joromi’, ‘Complete Me’ and ‘Owambe’,
other videos he directed includes Praiz’s ‘Now and Then’, Kiss Daniel’s
‘Jumbo’ and ‘Mama’, ‘Karashika’ by Falz, ‘Komole’ by Sean Tizzle and ‘My
Life’ by Adekunle Gold.

Someday, when the history of the music video industry is properly
understood, when honours are out to rightful names like Ade Love, arguably
the first to introduce materials that look like music videos when he
started cutting different musical scenes in his film for fans’ excitement
in the late 60ties and 70ties.  When Phillip Trimnell is honoured as first
for establishing music video making as an art in Nigeria with video
materials for the likes of Fela, Onyeka Onwenu, Sunny Okosun, Majek
Fashek, Ras Kimono to mention a few, then, the likes of Aje Films should be
honoured as the epic storyteller of the present generation.