The biggest filmmakers in Nigeria are all yorubas – Chude Jideonwo
Media personality Chude Jideonwo has asserted that Nigeria’s top filmmakers largely come from the Yoruba region of the country.
Jideonwo made this observation while addressing the dominance of Yoruba filmmakers in the Nigerian film industry.
In an Instagram post, he highlighted prominent figures such as Toyin Abraham, Kemi Adetiba, Funke Akindele, Mo Abudu, Kunle Afolayan, and Femi Adebayo as key examples.
He further argued that Yoruba-language films have the strongest presence on global streaming platforms, whereas Hausa and Igbo-language films are almost non-existent.
According to him, “The biggest filmmakers in Nigeria now are all Yorubas. Think about it: Kemi Adetiba, Jade Osiberu, Mo Abudu, Kunle Afolayan, Kayode Kasum, Toyin Abraham, Funke Akindele, Mercy Aigbe and Oga Bello’s son that do every movie, including ‘Beast of Two Worlds’ and ‘Jagun Jagun’—and Bolanle Austin-Peters.
“Think about it: most of the mainstream, big cinema, and streaming movies are all by Yoruba people. What has happened is that the Yoruba filming culture has merged itself into the other groups that are leading again.
“Can you name one Hausa or Igbo-language movie on Netflix or Amazon? The closest was Genevieve’s ‘Lionheart’ many years ago. Only Yoruba movies are able to exist on Amazon, Netflix and become mainstream cultural hits.”
