Popular movie producer, Francis Duru, has berated his fellow Igbo filmmakers for failing to assert themselves on Netflix and other big platforms.
According to him, Igbos started Nollywood but allowed their Yoruba counterparts to overtake them.
In an interview on Gbam, Duru said the dominance of Yoruba-language films across major cinematic release windows and global platforms such as Netflix results from strategic planning, investment, and self-protection.
“When they say charity begins at home, that’s what has happened to the Yorubas. We need to learn from them. If you don’t protect your own, if you don’t project your own, who will do it?
“We created an industry. It’s so shameful. Go to Netflix today; you hardly see one Igbo film that speaks of the Igbo heritage. It’s annoying,” Duru said.
He noted that Yoruba filmmakers built a structure around their culture by organising, raising capital, and prioritising their stories.
According to him, the Igbo film industry must learn from that approach rather than resent the success of others.
He said, “The Yorubas created an opportunity for themselves and utilised it very well for themselves. So why were you not learning? Why didn’t you see it? Because of that same concept: you think you are the big man, but you forget that there will come a time when you need to be expansive, proactive and ask yourself, ‘There is a new market space. Why am I not there?’
“They (Yorubas) perfected themselves. They got together, called their people who were able to spend money, and all that stuff. So the Yoruba-centric nature protected their own. Don’t get angry with them. These are people who saw their own and protected their own. What happened to you?”
Duru expressed disappointment that despite Nigeria’s rich Igbo history and literary tradition, few contemporary films reflect Igbo heritage on major streaming platforms.
He pointed out that creators from other regions are now telling Igbo stories, sometimes without proper cultural representation, citing recent examples where Yoruba writers worked on Igbo narratives.
“We have how many great men in Nigeria? When was the last time you saw the epic of one of these great men?” Duru asked. ” We have great writers who are even writing for the Yorubas. We see the Yorubas crossing over to write Igbo stories, like Ahamefuna, and made a mess of who we are.”
