Once upon a time in Lagos—and long before Living in Bondage ever screamed of occult rituals—there were Yoruba stage troupes traveling from Ekiti to Oyo, performing by lantern light. Icons like Hubert Ogunde and Ade Love turned storytelling into gospel, then transitioned into celluloid cinema in the 1970s.
Cue the late 1980s videocassette revolution: Yoruba filmmakers carried camcorders out of TV studios, shot shows, and sold them in bookshops.
According to actor Yemi Solade, the first Nigerian home video wasn’t Kenneth Nnebue’s famous Igbo production—it was made by Ade Ajiboye, aka Big Abass, with “Soso Meji” in 1988 and “Ekun” in 1989.
Ol’ school Nollywood fans: remember the dreaded Ekun horror tape—shared, swapped, sold in home markets before the era of DVDs.
The Yoruba Fires, The Igbo Boom
The tech existed—but the commercial spark came when Kenneth Nnebue, already a Yoruba video producer since the late ’80s, pivoted to Igbo-language storytelling with Living in Bondage in 1992.
That film blew up—selling thousands of VHS tapes—and is credited with launching Nollywood as a money-making powerhouse.
So here lies our debate:
Yoruba filmmakers: created and distributed early home videos. Igbo producers and marketers: commercialised the system, spreading films far and wide.
As veteran actor Jide Kosoko put it: “Yorubas pioneered home video; Igbos made it profitable”.
Culture, Marketing, And Who Gets The Crown?
If Nollywood had a family drama, tonight’s episode would include:
* Yoruba craftsmen building the first camera sets,
* Igbo distributors loading cassettes into minibuses,
* Eastern markets in Aba and Onitsha flooding Lagos with VCR buzz.
It’s like Yoruba built the car and Igbo marketed the Uber app.
This fight isn’t petty tribalism—it’s ancestor worship vs elevator pitch: “We lit the fuse, but they sold the bang.”
Punch columnist still called Living in Bondage the “fraud origin”—arguing Yoruba stories predated it by years—but notes that the media monopoly and attention skewed storytelling history.
Takeaway: Yoruba Or Igbo—Truth Is…
If “pioneer” means first to shoot and distribute home videos: Yoruba filmmakers claimed that title long before Living in Bondage—with Ade Ajiboye and Alade Aromire leading the charge.
If “commercial pioneer” means first mainstream blockbuster: Igbo storytellers like Kenneth Nnebue delivered viral success in 1992.
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The story of Nollywood’s birth isn’t tribal ownership—it’s a hybrid of ingenuity, culture, and timing.
Nollywood Is Not For One Tribe
This argument isn’t about color-coded loyalty. It’s about history, accuracy—and the resilience of storytelling.
Nollywood’s roots are Yoruba. Nollywood’s boom was Igbo. Nigerian cinema evolved by mixing the two—and defying classification.
So next time someone claims Living in Bondage started everything—tell them about Soso Meji, Ekun, and Big Abass.
Because Nollywood’s true origin story? It’s Nigeria’s story, not just one narrative.
