The third sequel of the TV drama series, Oasis: The Enemy Within will hit the screen on April 1. Co-produced by Ariyike Oladipo and directed by Pat Oghre Imobhio, The Enemy Within is a collaborative production of The Incubator and Apreel Ventures. It stars Zack Orji, Bimbo Akintola, Lilian Amah, and Tony Umez amongst others. 

According to Oladipo, The Enemy Within, which tells the story of the Osagies, who must put aside their individual challenges to face the worst kind of opposition from one-time best ally, will re-ignite the interest of television viewers across the country when it finally hits the screens.

On what inspired the series, Oladipo said the producers wanted a show that can promote morality and help people through life. “The original owner of the concept is The Incubator, that is the Redeemed Christian Church of God (City of David). They are the owners of the concept. They conceptualised it and I was commissioned to work on the project. They thought they needed to start doing things that can promote morality and help people through life. Something that those who are not yet Christians can use to find their way into Christianity; those who are not believers can use to find their way into it. So, they wanted to do some Christian-based series, but not in your face or give-your-life-to-Christ kind of thing. They wanted something people can relate to; something people can watch and say ‘oh, with this, I am convinced that there is a true God, and I need to serve this God’. That is the whole idea,” she explained.

But what exactly did they see in Oladipo to have commissioned her to work on the project? She said: “I am a TV producer with over 20 years experience. I have produced quite a number of series. My very first series, One Too Much was produced in 1999. And then I produced Dear Mother, Spider, Daddy’s Girls… and all of my projects have been award-winning, multiple award-winning. My Daddy’s Girls series won an AMVCA in 2016. So, they saw the potentials that I could deliver what they wanted, for something that can go international, and that’s why I was commissioned.”

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On challenges faced working on Oasis: The Enemy Within, the co-producer stated that from day one, she knew she had to be on top of her game. So, she was ready. “When I came in, I knew that I had to be on top of my game to be able to deliver something that is better than what they’ve had before. It’s a bit of challenge. So, I came with a different approach to things that they were not familiar with. That process was a big challenge for both parties, getting to understand each other, and getting to accept what I had to bring on the table.”

Talking about the cast, Oladipo said lots of factors determined the selection. According to her, they tried to build characters to fit some specific people. “Based on the story that we had, we selected. We tried to build characters to fit some specific people. We also had auditions. At the auditions, we got some very fresh faces – people that had never starred in any series before. We were looking specifically for characters that could sing – there is a particular character that sings in the series. So, those ones we had to audition. The major characters like the mother, father, and some others, we already had them in mind as we were writing. We just told them what we wanted, and then went into negotiations with them. And luckily for us, we were able to get the people we wanted. However, based on the storyline and the caliber of the cast, The Enemy Within is bound to re-ignite the interest of television viewers.”

On the message being passed across with the TV series, Oladipo said it’s all about trust. “The message of The Enemy Within is that you cannot trust anybody; you can only trust yourself. Even sometimes, you can’t trust yourself because you can be your own enemy. So, we are simply saying ‘watch your back!”