Abeni (Sola Asedeko) is a beautiful, ambitious young woman born to a rich father. Akanni (Abdel Hakim Amzat) is a handsome young man who has pulled himself up from poverty. When he was a child, his father worked for Abeni’s father and the children were sweethearts, but Akanni’s recklessness led to his whole family relocating across the Nigerian border to Cotonou, in Benin. When Abeni and Akanni meet by chance as adults, their romantic fate is sealed. He is engaged and she is set to be married off by her father. But this couple has other plans.
A subplot involving two young men recently returned from the United States in full hiphop regalia is hilarious; one of them becomes Abeni’s
unwanted suitor. On a broader level, Kelani offers a fascinating portrait of the Yoruba culture that flows between Nigeria and Benin. His trilingual characters may have arrived in the urban middle class, but still display proud traditions in their actions and in their spectacular clothes. Abeni represents the best of Nollywood, right up to the cliffhanger ending.