Veteran Nollywood actor Nkem Owoh, popularly known as Osuofia, has clarified that Yoruba filmmakers pioneered Nigeria’s home-video industry but did not start Nollywood.
Owoh said the name Nollywood did not exist when filmmakers began producing movies, explaining that it was adopted later after discussions among industry stakeholders.
He made the clarification during an appearance on Curiosity Made Me Ask, hosted by comedian and content creator Adebayo Abidemi, popularly known as Bae U.
The interview, published on the host’s YouTube channel on Saturday, followed questions about his alleged claim that Yoruba people started Nollywood rather than the Igbo.
Rejecting the suggestion, Owoh said his position had been misunderstood, insisting that his argument was about the origins of home-video productions.
“First of all, you have given me this wrong accusation that I said, Yoruba started Nollywood. No. Yoruba started this film on…when did Nollywood come out? When we started the thing, there was no Nollywood as a name. We sat together and we’re banding, you know, ideas and all that, how the thing is going to come to fruition. And eventually, we chose Nollywood,” he said.
The actor credited Yoruba filmmakers, including veteran filmmaker Hubert Ogunde and Adebayo, for popularising home-video productions in Nigeria.
“So, Yoruba started the thing. They made the thing very popular home video and all that. Yes, they did. And I’ve said it several. Okay. Ogunde and Adebayo Papa. These are the people I love to watch their thing,” he added.
When the interviewer jokingly suggested that Ogunde was Igbo, Owoh disagreed, maintaining that the filmmaker was Yoruba.
“Ogunde is not Igbo. I’m telling you that Yoruba started it. When Ogunde was out, I don’t think there was any Igbo man who was that popular in that,” he said.
He further stressed the distinction between the origins of Nollywood and the home-video tradition, declaring, “The Yoruba did not start Nollywood. They started Home video.”
The clarification comes amid a long-running debate over the contributions of different ethnic groups to the development of Nigeria’s film industry.
Historical accounts trace Yoruba filmmaking traditions to travelling theatre groups led by figures such as Hubert Ogunde and Duro Ladipo, who transitioned from stage performances to film and video productions decades before the commercial home-video boom of the 1990s.
However, the commercial explosion of Nigeria’s direct-to-video market is widely associated with the 1992 Igbo-language film Living in Bondage, produced by Kenneth Nnebue, which helped popularise the format that later became known globally as Nollywood.
The term Nollywood itself was coined years after the emergence of the home-video industry.
Owoh’s comments follow a similar debate sparked in August 2026 by late actor Francis Duru, who argued that Igbo entrepreneurs played a major role in building Nollywood, while Yoruba filmmakers became prominent through their ability to organise and promote their productions.
In September 2026, veteran actor Pete Edochie also stirred reactions during an appearance on Isbae U’s show, where he declared that he considered himself bigger than his colleagues in the industry.
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