Humans have a special talent for being the architects of their own suffering, and Africa Magic’s Dividends has assembled the finest collection of such people in one place for your viewing pleasure.
The show follows three people — a tech bro, a teacher and a job seeker — whose lives all collide at the wreckage of Golden Bars, a ponzi scheme that has left everybody broke, bitter and begging. The premise is not exactly new to Nigerians, remember MMM? Nigerians have lived this story in real life more than once. But what makes Dividends compelling is how it leans all the way into the chaos of greed and its consequences. Everybody here made their bed; now they are lying in it. Except one person, and that’s Momoreoluwa (Omatutte James).
Here is what has been happening so far:
Momoreoluwa Deserves A Better Family And Possibly A Better Country
It is one thing to be born in Nigeria where the odds are already stacked against you. It is another thing entirely to be born into a family that is actively making your life worse. Momoreoluwa is dealing with both, and it is genuinely painful to watch.
Her mother borrowed five million naira from NAPO to put into a Ponzi scheme. This is a woman whose family just finished paying off her late husband’s debts, leaving them with barely enough to survive. Nobody in the household has a stable job, money is essentially non-existent, and instead of treading carefully, she decided that a ponzi scheme was the logical next step. She then quietly invested two and a half million naira of the little they had without so much as a conversation with anyone in the family. Meanwhile, Momoreoluwa is out here working herself to the bone trying to hold what is left of this family together. And the younger sister? Absolutely committed to being a menace with zero remorse and even less self-awareness.
Who needs enemies when your family is built like this?”
Isah Is Just A Scammer Who Is Too Scared To Own It
The show wants you to feel sorry for Isah (Riyo David), and admittedly there are moments where it almost works. Do not fall for it.
This man collected millions from colleagues, friends and people who trusted him and funnelled it all into a Ponzi scheme he was not even sure would pay out. He also used his scholarship proof of funds to play the game. His scholarship. Introduced to the audience as one of the sharpest students of his generation with plans to complete his master’s abroad, Isah has since traded that future for a life of running from debtors and hunting down a man called T-Boy who dragged him into this whole mess. The streets want him. His corporate world wants him. His common sense, apparently, left a long time ago.
Simi Banks Is The Dictionary Definition Of Entitled
Speaking of people with no common sense, Simi Banks (Cassandra Leonard), as she likes to call herself, brings absolutely nothing constructive to the Bankole household. Her entire contribution to this story is chaos, bad decisions and an almost impressive refusal to learn anything from any of it.
She advertised Golden Bars to her followers like it was a legitimate investment, got sued for fraud by one of her own fans, and then turned around and continued working with the very T-Boy who helped scam her mother. Her mother. There is a word for this kind of behaviour, but comments need to be reserved.
Chetachi, On The Other Hand, Has No Excuse
Using your own disposable income on a ponzi scheme is already a bold life choice. Removing millions from someone else’s business to do the same thing is a different category of decision-making entirely. For a tech bro, Chetachi (George Chux) has displayed a concerning lack of critical thinking. The one silver lining is that he can apparently track locations, which is going to come in very handy.
In the first twelve episodes, Momoreoluwa, Kachi and Isa form an unlikely alliance with neighbourhood character Owoyekun (Michael Udeoji) to track down T-Boy and recover what they lost. Whether T-Boy still has the money or whether these four are about to walk directly into more trouble is the question the show is sitting on.
Dividends is messy, familiar and oddly satisfying in the way that watching people reckon with their own choices tends to be. It is not asking you to feel too sorry for most of these people. It is just asking you to watch.
Watch new episodes of Dividends on Africa Magic Showcase, DStv Channel 151 and GOtv Channel 8, Monday to Wednesday at 8:30PM WAT. It is also available to stream on DStv and GOtv Stream.
