Nollywood and the Burden of Postcolonial Heritage on Selected Nigeria Films
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Date
2018
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The Performer: Ilorin Journal of the Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin Nigeria
Abstract
Nollywood film industry has received many accolades in the last few years. This has popularised Nigerian cultural entertainment around the world. However, Nigerian cinema was not designed to be a cultural channel at inception, but instead, as a tool of colonial propaganda. It is the burden of this postcolonial heritage that our paper intends to explore, as it examines the negative influence of colonial history on Nollywood. The paper employs an analytical method of research. By this, the study reviews some earliest Nigerian films among which are Ti Oluwa Ni Ile, The figurine and Living in Bondage and realise that the burden of postcolonial heritage on Nigerian cinema is pervasive and corrosive. Based on the above approach, our findings reveal that Nollywood’s portrayal of young, upwardly mobile and selfish characters who sacrificed their families, communities and country to get rich and become wealthy is a burden inherited from the days of colonial cinema. Nevertheless, regardless of the ubiquitous corruption in these Nollywood films, this paper concludes that there is no better medium to expose and rectify the negative impact of postcolonial influence on Nigeria cinema, other than Nollywood films. This is accomplished through Nollywood’s concerted efforts at revamping its socio-cultural messages for collective development. It therefore, recommends Nollywood writers and producers use topical themes of positive role model characters to alleviate the burden.