Jide Kosoko: Yoruba accounts for 72% of Nigeria’s film output… we’re the Nollywood

Jide Kosoko says the Yoruba film space holds at least 72 percent of the films produced in Nigeria.

At a recent press event by the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), Kosoko spoke of why Yoruba actors should be held to higher moral standards.

He made the comment while commenting on the impact of social media spats by actresses like Iyabo Ojo and Nkechi Blessing.

Kosoko said utterances by the movie stars, who have been suspended by TAMPAN, belittled the work of Yoruba actors.

“Unfortunate words by Nkechi Blessing, Iyabo Ojo, others belittle the work of Yoruba actors,” he said.

“Yoruba films are what we’re supposed to even call Nollywood because Yoruba accounts for at least 72 percent of Nigeria’s movie output as a whole. It’s a factor you can’t dismiss. We started the movie business [in Nigeria].

“That was before others saw what we were doing, acknowledged that it could fetch money, and then dove in. Today, we’re all together: Nollywood Igbo, Nollywood Yoruba, Nollywood English. We’re all Nollywood all the same.”

Earlier, TAMPAN had admonished its members to avoid acts that bring the group and the industry to disrepute. It had also charged practitioners to embrace its dispute resolution mechanism rather than tussle on social media.