I conceived “Checkmate” by watching “Mirror in the Sun” produced by Lola Fani-Kayode. I had written a script about an all conquering female hero like Queen Amina.

I wrote it like a traditional stage play thing. When I saw “Mirror in the Sun’, I decided to make it a modern all conquering female hero story. However, when I was producing Checkmate, Lola Fani-Kayode asked to see me one day and I was overwhelmed.

Some people also asked her to produce a soap opera to antagonise and defeat Checkmate. She called me to let me know…

A soap opera is a project which belongs to everyone in the project. It is not for that person who is only concerned about how much he or she is going to be paid.

No, soap operas don’t even pay any money. You won’t believe it, in Solitaire, no one asked me for the money. Now, the payments are soon to be made and we want to compute all the episodes they are and offset the bills.