Nigerian comedian and actor, Woli Arole, has lambasted his colleague, Aisha Lawal, over claims of Yoruba actors owning the Nollywood industry.
Aisha Lawal had, in a recent interview with Tribune, said the Yorubas owned Nollywood because they started it.
She said: “We own the industry. Go back to research. The industry belongs to the Yoruba people. If you go back to research, you will hear from people like Hubert Ogunde and Ade Love. I don’t want to go into details. But, if you go and research very well, you will discover that Yorubas own this industry, we started this industry. We messed up at some point, but we are not playing catch-up. We are there already. Now, everybody wants to shoot a Yoruba movie.”
Reacting to this, Woli Arole said Nollywood is beyond being owned by a tribe, stressing the growth in the film industry is a collective effort.
The skitmaker noted that the efforts of veteran actors like Sam Loco Efe, Nkem Owoh and Northern movie stars will not be overlooked.
Arole added that Nollywood is a collective building, and the Igbos did a fantastic job in the industry.
Commenting on a blog post, he wrote: “Yoruba were part of the major origin of filmmaking in Nigeria. Google Hubert Ogunde.
“Nollywood is beyond being owned by a tribe. The growth became a collective effort, we can’t take away the Sam loco Efe, Osufia, even northern actors and actresses from it.
“The Igbos too did an awesome job in that industry. It’s a collective building.”