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You transitioned from a lucrative career in oil to filmmaking. What was that shift like?

This is my 10th year in Nollywood. Yes, 2025 is my 10th year in Nollywood. I think the challenges I have faced depend on the stages.

When I started, one of my first challenges was enforcing contracts. I remember trying to write for someone, and getting them to pay me was a big deal, so I had to let go.

I think that situation made me run away from Nollywood. Because my mother used to say I was too qualified for the job I was doing because I had multiple degrees.

For someone with multiple degrees, I had to quit my job in an oil firm to come and work in Nollywood. My mother thought I was crazy because the money wasn’t coming in from Nollywood, and the money I had worked for was a lot.

One of my first challenges was adjusting to the economic disparity. Going deeper into Nollywood polished my skills.

The more I worked with people who knew what they were doing, the more I realised I needed to learn more about storytelling and all the different facets that make storytelling work in Nollywood and worldwide.

So, to polish my skills, I signed up for masterclasses. I even paid for Masterclass, which is a programme designed by Nollywood. I tried to learn as much as I could. I sat down on YouTube and watched videos to learn and improve my skills.

Later, I faced the challenge of creating rooms that work together, like writers’ rooms. I became a creator and head writer of multiple shows. It was always finding the balance. Working with people in any environment can be challenging, if you put people whose chemistry does not align together. Sometimes people do not get along. How will you tell stories if this person is beefing with this person? So it was the challenge of working in a room.

Working in a room is like being an administrator, HR, and boss all in one. You have to make sure people are comfortable and happy. When people are happy, their creativity levels rise. So, it was a challenge to find administrative personnel while still trying to make the story work.

So, different challenges have happened along the way. Along my career path, the higher I go, the more difficult it seems to be.

And then in 2021, I started again, it is almost as if you are starting again. Yes, I have 10 years in the industry, but there are different challenges that come with different production companies. Directing and producing is a completely different challenge from writing for money.

And I like it because it stretches me. Challenges stretch me. They make me uncomfortable and make me decide, okay, what are the smart ways to overcome these challenges? So it has been great.

With two AMVCA nominations under your belt, including a solo recognition this year, how do these accolades impact you?

Thank you so much. You know, oftentimes we hear this, and when maybe someone is trying to get a job. So it is very validating to get a nomination for an award like AMVCA. My second nomination for AMVCA was a solo award.

All the other times, either the show I have worked on or the show I created, I shared my nomination with my colleagues in 2024. So this year, I am excited that I was nominated. I feel proud of myself, especially in these uncertain times in Nollywood, where it feels as if Nollywood is trying to find its feet again.

There’s a little shake-up, as if we’re trying to find our feet again. So it’s very exciting. It’s quite validating.

I love being seen. I enjoy the idea that I’m being acknowledged for the work that I’ve done. And it’s quite bolstering to the ego to think that we did this work, and it was appreciated so much that we got nominated for it.

The debate over Nollywood’s ideal platform — cinema, YouTube, or streaming — rages on. Where do you stand, and how should filmmakers approach distribution today?

I believe that Nollywood deserves all the facets, pathways, and platforms to get stories out there. I don’t think any platform is greater than the other because every platform has its audience.

Some people watch YouTube films as if they were religious. I know someone who is watching 300 or something on YouTube this year. They have an audience on YouTube, cinemas, andon  streaming platforms.

Every platform that gets a Nollywood story out there is valid. I don’t believe that one is above the other. When you talk of profitability, since I’m not a business analyst, I don’t particularly know the numbers, so I can’t tell you which one is more profitable.

But because Nollywood is driven and should be driven by storytelling and not profit, I understand the aspect of profit. You can’t run a business venture without wanting to make money at the end of the day. But Nollywood is driven by storytelling.

For storytelling, any platform that gets your story out there is valid. don’twouldn’anybody setsatform is above the other.

I don’t think that is the point of filmmaking. Nobody wants to make a bad film, but unfortunately, we have some less-than-great films in Nollywood.

Do we have a storytelling problem? Yes, we do. As a writer, I will admit that Nollywood has a storytelling problem. Now, are we doing enough to fix the storytelling problem? No, I don’t think we’re doing enough.

Can we fix the storytelling problem? Yes, we can. It is very possible that we can. I feel like some people do not understand storytelling.

What specific gaps did you identify when you entered the industry, and what solutions would you propose?

I said something earlier. I entered this industry and found out that I needed to know more. Certain people knew more and knew how to do this job better than I could. Now, it takes you admitting that the thing I did wasn’t so remarkable.

So, how can I do something great? Do I need to do a masterclass? Do I need to learn? Do I need to humble myself and go and sit down with someone who knows storytelling and learn storytelling from them? How do I tell stories better? And I think that should be our focus. So, instead of feeling down about ourselves and saying, Oh, our storytelling is terrible. It is not good.

The storytelling is disjointed. We do not know how to tell stories. We have had many years of growth. There is proof of growth. That growth pis ossible. We are in a bad place right now. We have not done everything right at all times.

There were times our action sequences that when people fight in Nollywood films, you will cover your eyes because it feels like they are disgracing us. But now, you see some fight sequences, and you would say Nollywood, you’re getting there. So there is a possibility and a chance for growth when it comes to storytelling.

Our focus should be on improving storytelling.

As Nollywood expands, figures like Funke Akindele have invested in film villages. Do you see these as the future of production, or could they risk creative limitations?

We have lots of people in other countries who own film villages. They call them lots.

Universal has many film villages with various locations where they can shoot. So, film villages are not bad. Even Tyler Perry, for example, just recently, a couple of years ago, announced his studio, which is like his film village, with different locations. Film villages expand past just the epic setups. So there are many possibilities to develop those places so that they are like a one-stop shop for your film.

You do not have to run around. You have all your locations in one place. If you want to shoot a village and then shoot a city, those locations are in one place. And it is possibly the goal for these film villages, that you can just come to a place without generator noise, outside distractions, or anglers.

I feel like if those film villages developed to that point, it would be a great show for Nollywood.

In that case villages, where you just go with your production team, there should be accommodation for your production team, and everybody shoots in comfort, with lack of distractions. It is a great development.

But when it comes to typecasting, I am sure these villages are expanding past just epic sites for people to shoot in because that would be limiting.

So we are thinking of expanding, but maybe they just started with the epic sites because they have a lot of land.

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