So we should talk about "Nollywood". Yes their "Nollywood". There's been so much hue and cry about this choice of a name for the fledgling Nigerian movie thing. Trouble is I dont quite agree that it is an industry per se, may be "business" is a more appropriate adjective to use. An industry is to me a more serious state than what we've got running now. No doubt the practitioners are sure trying to make the best of what they've got, but in my perspective most are really more businessmen and women than professionals. That is why it is not an industry. That is why we can not even coin a more unique i.d. for a name.
Why "Nollywood" for Chrissake? I take it as just one man's inspired but restricted attempt at creativity, most likely the feat was achieved in the middle of a banter over drained bottles of the Shine-shine brand under a tree in God knows where in the woods. But as the quality of the products we currently market in the movie market does not actually inspire more than the name does, I infer that the quality (or rather non-quality) of the name "Nollywood" is actually reflective of the current state. If the best that Nigerian movie makers can do to create an identity for what they do is to languidly chip off the 'H' in 'Hollywood' and replace with our good old Nigerian 'N', then we still have a long way to go before we get a movie industry. Then we will still continue churning out goof-ridden caricatures of box office Hollywood movies even when we haven't got the resources required to achieve such feats.
Do we ever marvel at "Wazobia"? How was "Mbari Mbayo" coined? Good examples abound. Were these pure artistic ingenuity? Is there any genuine talent in "Nollywood"? Please stand to be counted as it is high time we make good our journey out of the woods.
