Why Yoruba Movies Are Dominating Nigerian Cinema – Francis Duru

Nollywood actor Francis Duru has expressed concern over the declining presence of Igbo-centric movies and cultural heritage stories in contemporary Nigerian cinema. He recently had his say during an interview on Gbam, and fans have been reacting.

Urging Igbo filmmakers and investors to learn from their Yoruba counterparts, Duru revealed that Yoruba producers currently dominate major cinematic release windows and global streaming platforms like Netflix because they invest strategically and protect regional stories.

The moviestar added that rather than harbour resentment toward Yoruba creators, Igbo filmmakers should reflect on their own strategic lapses.

His words, “When they say charity begins at home, that’s what has happened to the Yorubas. We need to learn from them. If you don’t protect your own, if you don’t project your own, you know, who will do it?

We created an industry. It’s so shameful. Go to Netflix today; you hardly see one Igbo film that speaks of the Igbo heritage. It’s annoying.

The Yorubas created an opportunity for themselves and utilised it very well for themselves. So why were you not learning? Why didn’t you see it? Because of that same concept: you think you are the big man, but you forget that there will come a time when you need to be expansive, proactive and ask yourself, ‘There is a new market space. Why am I not there?

They (Yorubas) perfected themselves. Got together, called their people who were able to spend money and all that stuff. So the Yoruba-centric nature protected their own. Don’t get angry with them. These are people who saw their own and protected their own. What happened to you?

We have how many great men in Nigeria? When was the last time you saw the epic of one of these great men? We have great writers who are even writing for the Yorubas. We see the Yorubas crossing over to write Igbo stories, like Ahamefuna, and made a mess of who we are.

They were just merchandising. Not passion. They just wanted to make money. They were busy about the power, authority and money they were making to the point that they didn’t know that they were losing it… That’s why they left; that’s why they lost out. Where they now? Those names don’t make any sense.

That hallmark of nostalgia is because it was content, passion, and people sat down and thought through every moment, even from audition to rehearsal to casting. It was very procedural. But today it is all step and jump, today script, tomorrow go and sell. There’s an influx of so many people, ‘everybody can do it.’ People no longer respect the ethics and principles that guide everything you do in life.

We don’t have an idea of the necessary principles that built our success; once you cannot define it, then you’re progressing in error, and you cannot pass that knowledge to another person.

Everything is adding up, and we’re getting better and bigger, so it is expanding the frontiers of the industry. But those who created the platform of the industry should work hard to actually push towards the ethics and be exemplary to set a new standard so people can know the way to go.”