Nollywood epiphany

Out there, Nigerians are held in awe. Nollywood is breaking new grounds. Our musicians are indoctrinating the global audience with the best of Afrobeat. In medicine, engineering, sports, military, entrepreneurship, jurisprudence, you name it, Nigerians crest the curve. We no dey carry last, a typical Nigerian pidgin vibe that drives the people. It defines our spirit.

For good or bad, the world marvels at the intellect, creative spirit, raw audacity and innovative prowess of an average Nigerian. If they are not talking about Nigerians doing great things in science and engineering; they are discussing the exploits of Nigerians in entertainment.

Did you watch music sensation, Tems (Temilade Openiyi), as she walked majestically, flashing a customised Nigerian smile, to the dais to receive her prize at the 67^th Grammys Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles last Sunday? She was honoured for the Best African Music Performance category. Though it was for African music, but the finalists were mostly Nigerians.

The 29-year-old stage goddess won the award with her love song, Love Me Jeje, pushing behind Tomorrow by Yemi Alade, MMS by Asake featuring Wizkid, Sensational by Chris Brown featuring Davido and Lojay, and Higher by Burna Boy. A Nigeria-heavy list of finalists, doubtless. It speaks volumes of the strength of Afrobeat in Nigeria. Forget Ghana or South Africa, Afrobeat is a Nigerian thing. Tems further expressed her Nigerianness upon receiving the award in the manner she gushed in copious gratitude to God. She said: “Dear God, thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing me this team.”

The Grammys is not a stage where winners often recognise the God factor in their success but Tems did; a typical Nigerian trait. Nigerians, no matter how strong, learned or well-appointed, always give glory to God. As we usually chant, na God dey runam for us (God makes it happen for us). She now has two Grammys to her belt, having won the Best Melodic Rap Performance for the song ‘Wait For U’ with American hip-hop stars Future and Drake in 2023. Congratulations Tems. But I digress. This piece is not about music. It’s about its cousin, movies. Both are critical components of the bigger ecosystem called entertainment. And Nigerians are boldly expressing their creativity in this agora.

Nollywood, the brilliantly coined name for Nigeria movie industry, has in recent weeks created a positive resonance among Nigerians. The headlines kept springing fountains of hope. Nollywood is good business. Funke Akindele’s Everybody Loves Jenifa, was declared the highest grossing film of all time in West Africa, raking in N1.6 billion across cinemas within just one month of release. Here is what it means. Within 30 days of its release, people queued up at the box office to pay to watch the movie across cinema houses in the country. And a total of N1.6 billion was collected. Incredible feat. A milestone that defies punditry. It speaks to one reality. Nollywood has become a major contributor to the nation’s GDP. Again, it speaks to the fact that the cloud of derision that used to define Nollywood movies has thawed. By early February, it has grossed over N1.8 billion. And this excludes revenue from screening, DVD sales, online streaming and theatre screenings outside English-speaking West Africa. Movie pundits project that with more investments and infusion of technology into movie production, Nollywood which is ranked second globally, only below Bollywood of India, will challenge for the top spot in the coming years.

What goes for Nollywood is the creativity of the average Nigerian. Nollywood tells the Nigerian story without prejudice. It places a mirror on the African continent and it has grown to become Nigeria’s most effective PR tool. Global bodies like the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have engaged Nollywood for collaboration. By the way, SAG-AFTRA is an American labour union. It was formed in 2012 with the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, representing approximately 160,000 media professionals worldwide. SAG-AFTRA is a member of the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) reputed to be the largest federation of unions in the United States. In addition, SAG-AFTRA is also a member of the International Federation of Actors. Such is the present stature of Nollywood courtesy of a generation of Nigerians who, without government patronage or subsidy, innovated their ideas into reality. A reality that has put Nigerian food and culture in the subconscious of an expanding global audience. It’s an epiphany; a realization of who we really are; what we represent and how much global influence we can exert using movies driven by talent.

In those days, reviews on Nollywood had dismissed the Nigerian movies as jejune, cheaply produced and distasteful. A foreign movie curator once described Nollywood movies as hurriedly cobbled, low-budget movies only fit for a long-suffering audience. These were not exactly his words, but they reflect his evaluation of Nollywood.

Not anymore. Both the rhythm and the rhyme have changed. Professionalism, technology and mega cash are being thrown into the mix to make the concept of Nollywood attain global standard. As the storylines are changing for the better, so is the cash flow. Nollywood is no longer poor and never ever for poor actors once seen as societal dregs. It’s now a rich industry for big boys and girls.

Just take a peek. Everybody Loves Jenifa grossed over N1.82 billion; A Tribe Called Judah (N1.42 billion); Battle on Buka Street (N668 million); and Omo Ghetto: The Saga (N636 million). All four movies raking in N4.54 billion. And the cash is still rolling in. what if I tell you that all the four top movies have the imprimatur of Funke Akindele, the versatile thespian of our time.

This article is a salute to all those who planted the seed of Nollywood, those who watered it in its nursery, those who kept awake to keep away the wolves and those who switched to the next gear to birth what today has become a movie industry that can no longer be cheaply priced. Congratulations to the Nollywood fraternity. You are the real Nigerians.