‘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 he was referring to the origins of home video in Nigeria.

Osuofia explained that the name Nollywood didn't exist when he and other filmmakers began making films, adding that the industry adopted it later after discussions among those involved.

“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, with starting the home-video tradition and helping popularise it.

“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.