Nkem Owoh reignites Nollywood debate, says Yoruba filmmakers started home video

Veteran Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh, popularly known as Osuofia, has reignited debate about the origins of Nigeria’s film industry after clarifying that Yoruba filmmakers pioneered home-video productions, not Nollywood.

Owoh made the clarification during an appearance on Curiosity Made Me Ask, a programme hosted by comedian and content creator Adebayo Abidemi, popularly known as Bae U. The interview, published on November 7, 2026, addressed earlier reports suggesting that the actor had claimed Yoruba people started Nollywood rather than the Igbo.

Rejecting that interpretation, Owoh described the accusation as misleading, explaining that the name Nollywood did not exist when filmmakers began producing movies.

He said: “The Yoruba did not start Nollywood. They started Home video.”

The actor also credited veteran filmmakers Hubert Ogunde and Adebayo Salami for helping popularise home-video productions in Nigeria. He maintained that Yoruba filmmakers had established a strong filmmaking and theatrical tradition long before the commercial video boom of the 1990s.

According to Owoh, Nollywood was eventually adopted as a name after industry practitioners gathered to discuss ideas about developing and branding the emerging film industry.

The comments have attracted attention because the question of who deserves recognition for building Nollywood remains a sensitive subject among film enthusiasts and industry stakeholders.

For film history enthusiasts, the distinction between early Nigerian filmmaking, home-video production and the emergence of Nollywood is particularly important. Yoruba travelling theatre practitioners, including Ogunde, had already established a tradition of taking dramatic performances from the stage to film and video.

However, the commercial explosion of Nigerian home videos in the 1990s is frequently associated with Igbo entrepreneurs and filmmakers. Kenneth Nnebue’s Living in Bondage (1992), in particular, is widely credited with helping transform the home-video market into a major commercial industry.

Different perspectives have therefore emerged. Some argue that Yoruba filmmakers deserve recognition for pioneering indigenous video storytelling, while others maintain that Igbo entrepreneurs played a defining role in turning those productions into a nationwide commercial movement.

There is also a broader argument that Nollywood's development cannot fairly be attributed to one ethnic group. Its growth involved filmmakers, actors, producers, marketers and distributors from different parts of Nigeria.

Owoh's clarification does not necessarily settle the historical argument. Instead, it highlights the importance of distinguishing between who pioneered home-video storytelling and who helped establish Nollywood as a recognisable commercial industry.

In the long run, Nigeria's film history is a shared cultural achievement. Recognising the contributions of different filmmaking communities may offer a more balanced account than turning the industry's origins into an ethnic competition.