Members of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTP), led by Yomi Fabiyi, are moving to change the name fof Nigeria’s movie industry from Nollywood to ’Naiwood’.
According to them :
The name Nollywood is stained with Tribalism. Nollywood @ 20 was organized and celebrated with the support of just 1 association out of the many in the movie industry.
Speaking with entertainment reporters, Yomi said:
At the inception of the name Nollywood, we all embraced it with open arms without
even probing the source. As time went by, few flashes of some ill motives surfaced. See! If this Nollywood thing continues or let me say the agenda behind it, Nigeria may begin to spilt from there. Too many tribalism.
Journalists that have been reporting or writing about movies in Nigeria some 30yrs and above will wonder what Nollywood stands for and why 20 years. We inherited film making, we had legendary filmmakers in Nigeria before then.
In an unjust society where inequality, tribalism, sentiment is the order of the day, SILENCE IS A SIN. We wish to set the record straight, film making started in Nigeria 70 years ago.
Nollywood name is not a unifying factor. We can’t fold our arms and watch them sweep under the carpet the effort of our veterans with an acronym (Nollywood).
That acronym NOLLYWOOD is not acceptable by us, if it represents 20 years.
NAIJA (Nigeria) is a film, football and oil country. Nigerian movie industry – NAIWOOD, is the right name for the right naija film history.
The change is already in the pipeline and no matter how long it takes, the genuine vanguards will not stop.
It’s not a fight against an individual or group of people. We are fighting against injustice to history and heritage.
We the Progressives in ANTP of the movie industry, irrespective of tribe and religion, wish to be referred with that acronym henceforth, and we mean every word of it.
