‘Yoruba did not start Nollywood’ — Osuofia sets record straight on film history

Veteran actor Nkem Owoh, popularly known as Osuofia, has rejected claims that Yoruba people started Nollywood, insisting that his comments were about the origins of home video in Nigeria.

Osuofia explained that the name Nollywood did not exist when he and other filmmakers began making films, adding that it was adopted later after discussions among those involved in the industry.

“I never said Yoruba started Nollywood. When did Nollywood come out? When we started film, there was no Nollywood as a name,” he said.

He credited Yoruba filmmakers, including veteran filmmaker Hubert Ogunde, for starting the home-video tradition and helping make it popular.

“Ogunde is not Igbo. I am telling you that Yoruba started it,” Owoh said.

He maintained that his position had been misunderstood, stressing that his claim was about home video and not the creation of Nollywood.

“Yoruba did not start Nollywood; they started home video and the rest,” he added.