As what the fame and success of Hollywood movie industry is to the American society, so is Nigeria's movie industry's fame and success to Nigeria, her people and her large home movie followers.
Everyday the success of this local Nigerian movie industry keeps appreciating for all the good reasons. From the use of VHS tapes in the early nineties to where we are now, churning out movies after movies on VCDs.
Brief History
Some people have said that the story of the Nigerian movie success is spurious as it is said to have started when an importer of VHS tapes due to lack of patronage have decided to experiment with his imported goods. Some people even used the term apocryphal, which is most unfortunate considering the fact that envy is at the back of the minds of users of such term. I was a teenager in the nineties when Mr. Kenneth Nnebue came out towards the end of 1990 or thereabouts with a blockbuster home movie titled: Living In Bondage. He owes the fortune that came with the success story that Nollywood has become today as the third highest earning movie industry in the world after Hollywood and Bollywoood of India.
Nollywood is a story of conquering adversities and life's perfidy with a little less than US$3,000. Even less than this amount could help a movie producer come up with a blockbuster. Of course you and I know that this is unheard of in Hollywood and Bollywood where mega money is expended on the making of movies/thrillers. Why I ask that foreign investors come in is because of the success of Nollywood movies on the African continent. The more of professionalism and higher investments, the more the returns on investments.
Challenges
Nollywood has come to stay with its loose storylines that dwell rich on Satanism, adversity, women's right, politics, and cultism etcetera. The stories are purely told in the form of normal African folktale plot that leaves nothing to suspense. This is where we need help. This is where we begin to see the loopholes in our storylines and start comparing with the well-established movie industries. There have been cases of terrible and poor adaptation of blockbuster movies from other industries, which have left professionals thoroughly embarrassed. We lack the digital technology to give us a break at least so that Nollywood will take its place worldwide. Poor script writing and lack of sophisticated film technology which all require training and financial assistance are areas I call on sister movie industries' practitioners to come in and help us take Nollywood to the next level.
