Nigerians Will Not Celebrate Democracy Until Their Lives Improve – Kate Henshaw

Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw has come out to react to the current state of the nation. She recently questioned the relevance of Nigeria’s democratic journey amid the opposite reality, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to her, despite 26 years of uninterrupted democracy, there is nothing to show in terms of real progress or impact on the lives of struggling citizens.

Kate added that she wonders what exactly we are celebrating when the democracy we keep raving about has failed to improve the welfare of the average Nigerian.

Her words, “What exactly are we celebrating? Democracy means nothing if it does not improve the welfare of the people. Everything around us is crumbling, and Nigerians are barely holding on by the skin of their teeth.

We cannot remain silent. There must be justice and equity, and we must ensure the safety of lives and property. I still believe in hope hope that we can rebuild and offer a future for our children.”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.