Veteran Nollywood actor Francis Duru has explained why Yoruba filmmakers now dominate the industry despite Igbos being at the forefront in its early stages.
Although figures of Yoruba extraction such as Herbert Ogunde are widely recognised as early pioneers of Nigerian film in the 1950s, Duru insisted that the phenomenon known as Nollywood was birthed when people of Igbo extraction introduced home video into the Nigerian film market in the 1990s and early 2000s.
He attributed the Yoruba overtaking of the Igbos in Nollywood to better organisation and greater collective support.
“The Yorubas epitomise the saying, ‘Charity begins at home.’ We need to learn from them. If you don’t protect and project your own, who will do it?” Duru said.
“We [Igbos] created Nollywood, but if you go to Netflix today, you hardly see one movie that speaks of Igbo heritage. But the Yorubas, on the other hand, created opportunities for themselves and utilised them.
“Igbos failed to learn because of their individualistic mentality. You think you are the big man, so you are self-centred. But you forget that a time will come when you need to be expansive.
“You need to be proactive and ask yourself, ‘There is a new market space; why am I not there?’ Most of the persons who pioneered Nollywood were mere traders. So, you created something, and some people saw the gold in it, got together, called their people who have the ‘do’, and they invested in it. The Yorubas protected their own.”
Speaking on the Gbam programme on the Yan Content Factory YouTube channel, Duru said Yoruba filmmakers organised early, pooled resources and deliberately protected their cultural stories, allowing them to dominate cinema releases and streaming platforms.
“They (Yorubas) perfected themselves. Got together, called their people who were able to spend money and all that stuff. So the Yoruba-centric nature protected their own. Don’t get angry with them. These are people who saw their own and protected their own. What happened to you?”
He described the near-absence of Igbo heritage stories on Netflix as shameful and urged Igbo filmmakers and investors to become more proactive in identifying new opportunities and investing collectively in the promotion of their culture.
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