Nkem Owoh has explained that the Yoruba community’s early influence on Nigeria’s home-video culture should not be confused with the founding of Nollywood, saying the industry’s name came into use only after filmmakers had begun working together.
Titiansloaded reports that in an interview on Saturday, the veteran actor, popularly called Osuofia, made the clarification while speaking with comedian Bae U on the YouTube programme Curiosity Made Me Ask.
His comments revisit a debate over which ethnic group played the leading role in the development of Nigeria’s film industry.
The discussion gained attention in August 2026 when late actor Francis Duru argued that Igbo entrepreneurs were instrumental in building modern Nollywood during the home-video expansion of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Duru also suggested that Yoruba practitioners later strengthened their position in the industry through better sanitation and promotion of their productions.
Addressing reports that he had declared the Yoruba as the founders of Nollywood, Owoh said his position had been misunderstood. He explained that filmmakers were already producing movies before the industry adopted the name Nollywood.
According to him, the name emerged from discussions among practitioners who were exploring how to develop and identify the growing film sector.
Owoh said his argument concerned the Yoruba contribution to making home-video entertainment popular, rather than the creation of Nollywood itself.
He pointed to the work of theatre and film pioneers, particularly Hubert Ogunde and Adebayo, whose productions he said helped build public interest in home videos.
The actor also dismissed a suggestion during the interview that Ogunde was Igbo, maintaining that the filmmaker was Yoruba and had achieved prominence before the home-video industry experienced its major expansion.
Owoh restated his position by separating the two claims: Yoruba filmmakers helped popularise home-video productions, but they did not establish Nollywood under that name.
The debate reflects the different stages in the evolution of Nigerian cinema. Yoruba travelling theatre practitioners, including Ogunde and Duro Ladipo, had moved their stage traditions into film and video long before the commercial home-video boom of the 1990s, while Igbo entrepreneurs also played significant roles in the industry’s later growth.
