President Bola Tinubu has commended the growing contribution of the Nigerian creative industry to the economic growth of the country.
Tinubu also extolled Funke Akindele, the Nollywood filmmaker for her recent box office accomplishment, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’
The president acknowledged its pivotal place as not just a medium for artistic expression but also a source of enormous soft power and viable cultural export.
Tope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity on Sunday noted that in his effusive praise of the industry; creative ingenuity, and enterprising spirit of young Nigerians, Tinubu said, “The creative industry is one of the high-employment sectors, providing jobs for our able and talented youths. It is an industry that is crucial to my administration. I salute Nigerians for their enduring support and patronage of home-grown creative efforts. We will provide the conducive environment for the industry to thrive further.”
On the heels of that generous presidential endorsement, it is worthy to say that, regardless of what anyone says, Funke Akindele has cracked the code for successful Box Office run in Nigeria. Her films, till date, have remained the highest grossing in cinema runs in Nigeria’s film industry.
Her recent flick, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, grossed over a billion naira in revenue, a landmark of no mean feat. The interesting twist to this number is the fact that within a month, Akindele’s film grossed an unprecedented amount in a country with 91 cinemas and 303 screens.
“For clearer understanding, available data shows that as of 2022, China has 65,000 cinema screens followed by the United States (35,280), India (11,962) and the UK (3,402). It is very easy to see the link between the number of screens and the material prosperity of Americans in Hollywood and Indians in bollywood.
By comparison, English-speaking West African countries, including Nigeria, as at December 31, 2023, have 95 cinemas with 321 screens. Out of this number, Ghana has 4 cinemas with 18 screens.
“For a country of Nigeria’s size and population, the third largest film producer in the world after the United States and India, the paltry 303 screens reveal a huge opportunity for private sector investment, which the newly-created Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy is poised to drive.
Akindele’s ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, was watched by film lovers in 71 cinemas across Nigeria during the holiday season. Despite these limited screens, the title still raked in N1.3 billion as at January 10, according to promoters.
“It was not only Akindele’s ATCJ that recorded a massive box office hit. During the same period, Toyin Abraham’s film, ‘Malaika’ grossed over N250million, while ‘Ada Omo Daddy’ by Mercy Aigbe made over N140 million.
“In a series of well-deserved commendations for her extraordinary achievements, some of Funke Akindele’s colleagues in the movie industry showered encomiums on her for blazing the trail in box office revenue. United Kingdom-based Nigerian filmmaker, Obi Emelonye praised Funke and her team:
“First of all, let me congratulate Funke Akindele and her team, including my brother and friend JideKene Achufusi. What they have achieved with ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ is unprecedented in our history. I don’t want to get bogged down in the crass argument whether the N1 billion plus figure is inflated, padded or not. The important thing is that the film has galvanized Nigerian cinema audiences,” he added.
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