The Billions I Found in Nollywood

I interviewed Yinka Quadri and Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo) on the same day. I still remember the red Peugeot 505 they drove to the Onipetesi office of The Punch that evening. Yes, they honoured this reporter and interviewed them in the office at Onipetesi. I was a regular at Tunji Bamisigbin’s and Ralph Nwadike’s office. It was a productive hunting ground for me to catch both budding and made actors. It was there I was first drawn to Funsho Adeolu because of the Adegeye in his name. Oga Bello Adebayo Salami, I interviewed in Ebute Metta and Jide Kosoko I interviewed in his office around Jibowu.

Unforgettable experience was my session with Sola Sobowale in her office off Allen Avenue, Ikeja. We sat on the floor, swigged gists and laughed loudly. Beautiful soul, that one, in and out. We spoke for a long time until mummy duty called when the twins returned from school. I spent many days on the Ikorodu set of Checkmate. That was where I forged a bond with Amaka Igwe. (Then she was Amaka Isaac-Ene), Ngozi Nwosu and Uncle K, Kunle Bantefa. But the hard work that goes into each movie, each series we sit back to enjoy on DStv, Netflix, YouTube, Prime and the cinemas is huge. Forget the glamour. The sweat, tears and focus it requires to become a face or voice in Nollywood is unquantifiable.

I will never forget the few hours I spent on the set of one of Amaka Igwe’s movies, somewhere in Ogudu GRA and the way Norbert Young wowed me that day. Nobody, no other actor has left such a mark on my 20-something year old mind then like he did. In one of his scenes, he was required to cry and he produced the right amount of tears each time the director shouted “Action.” Then “Cut” and Norbert Young wiped his eyes, returned to the people he was sitting with and they continued their gist, laughing and joking. The Director would then call for another take and Norbert would tear up again, cry so convincingly I wanted to go console him. One minute later, he was back to his gisting session, jokes and laughs. They had many many retakes of that scene, even this reporter was exhausted in her chair. But Norbert Young didn’t run out of tears or miss his lines.

In those days, I enjoyed my time on location because it helped me understand the beat more, see how movies were put together and I could do two interviews in one day and book four for later. There were no phones then, remember?

My date with Pete Edochie is a full book. Olu Jacobs? We are a blessed country. Ah, I must not forget the biggest interview of all (for me). Chief Hubert Ogunde in his Ososa village in Ogun state. Weeks after that, the old man went the way of all mortals. So, is this a peep into the book What Funke Egbemode Did Before She Became Editor? I’m shaking my head, not exactly. I’m just in a collaboration mood and mode.

Nollywood has come a long way and as I watched the 11th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA), my sad heart lifted and told me, “It’s not over for the Nigerian economy.” Nollywood has shown that everything that Nigeria needs to be great is in Nigeria. All we need to do is to keep the thick grabbing fingers of politicians and civil servants away from it.

All those encounters with the veterans I started this piece with happened more than 30 years ago. I saw the boyish look of Funsho Adeolu in an old flick and I said to myself, “This is the story of Nollywood.” The boys are now men. As I watched Femi Adebayo on stage with his well-deserved award for the beautiful Seven Doors, many happy thoughts flooded my mind. I remember T’oluwa Nile, Rattlesnake, Saworo Ide. I remember Aye and J’ayesimi, Taxi Driver, Owo Lagba etc.

I remember the humble beginning of the Nigerian entertainment industry. Many didn’t give it a chance. They talked and looked down on it. But here we are, on the way to fantastic greatness already doing enviable exploits and, wait for it, all on its own. Nollywood is successful all by itself.

Our music, our movies are our exports, our ambassadors by themselves.

Or is there any other sector of the Nigerian economy that started small, weathered the storm of piracy, no funding, low funding, then grew, expanded, became a national pride like our music and movie industries? I must have missed it.

How many states that produced these hardworking actors have film villages that we can reference? But Ibrahim Chatta and Kunle Afolayan pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and built two. Just like Aliko Dangote did what successive Nigerian governments could not do for decades—a working refinery—Nollywood employs thousands of Nigerians.

As manufacturers and internationals leave Nigeria in droves, our entertainment industry is growing roots and bringing in the sheaves in tons. It is touching many sectors that once refused to touch it with a barge pole. The industry that we sneered and hissed at is increasingly looking like our bailout. Or you think a Youth Corper can just walk into Kunle Afolayan’s movie school like he’s doing the academy a favour today? No, he would have to follow due process because it is a profitable, focused corporate entity.

When Funke Akindele hit the N1bn mark with Everybody Loves Jennifer in 2024 and Mo Abudu’s Wedding Party shook the charts, who saw them coming?

While American filmmakers are leaving for Canada and UK locations, Nigerian veteran actors are building film villages that are also resorts for us to save on flight tickets to Europe and Dubai and enjoy our breathtaking natural landscapes. Donald Trump in all his troublesome trumping is seeing Hollywood as deserving of attention, shouldn’t that tell us it is time to rev up our support for this reliable joy-giving sector of the economy?

This is our tangible alternative to oil. This is the only evidence that we can actually diversify the economy, earn “hard currency,” attract foreign investors without setting up dozens of committees or organizing summits. We will just pray for those who keep running around the world looking for foreign investors that the Lord will open their eyes to what is already in the pockets of their trousers.