Nollywood veterans Kanayo O. Kanayo and Stephen Alajemba have defended the legacy of late theatre and film pioneer Hubert Ogunde, saying Nigerian filmmaking had a significant cinema history long before the 1992 release of Living in Bondage.
The actors made the remarks during a recent viral discussion involving veteran Nigerian entertainers, including Pete Edochie and Patience Ozokwor, over the origins of Nollywood and who should be regarded as pioneers of the industry.
Also read: MAX expands EV network with 6,000 vehicles
Kanayo, who played Chief Omego in Living in Bondage, stressed that the history of Nigerian filmmaking should not be reduced to the emergence of the home-video industry in the early 1990s.
“Ogunde made the first cinema film. I’m talking about real fine movie before Living in Bondage came,” Kanayo said, while making the case for a clearer distinction between cinema films and home videos.
Alajemba similarly pointed to the need to recognise the earlier generation of filmmakers and performers whose work existed before the video-film boom.
“You have to be able to differentiate between film and home video,” the veteran actor said.
The comments have renewed attention on Ogunde, who remains one of the most influential figures in the development of modern Nigerian theatre and indigenous screen entertainment.
Ogunde established the Ogunde Theatre Party in the 1940s and later moved into film production during a period when Nigerian filmmakers were increasingly adapting theatrical traditions and indigenous stories for the cinema.
His film Aiye, which emerged around 1979 and 1980 and was directed by Ola Balogun, became one of the notable works associated with that era.
Other Ogunde productions included Jaiyesimi, Aropin N’Tenia and Ayanmo.
However, Ogunde was not the only pioneer of Nigerian cinema.
The country’s indigenous film industry had already produced significant celluloid works during the 1970s, with filmmakers such as Francis Oladele, Ola Balogun, Adeyemi Afolayan, Eddie Ugbomah and Jab Adu contributing to the development of Nigerian feature filmmaking.
The distinction is important because Living in Bondage, produced by Kenneth Nnebue and directed by Chris Obi-Rapu, represented a different turning point.
Released in 1992, the film became the landmark production associated with the rapid expansion of Nigeria’s commercial home-video industry.
Rather than relying primarily on traditional cinema distribution, the emerging video-film model allowed producers to make and distribute films on videocassettes to a rapidly expanding audience.
The success of Living in Bondage helped establish the commercial model that eventually became synonymous with classic Nollywood.
Kanayo’s own place in that history is significant. His role as Chief Omego in Living in Bondage became one of the performances that helped define the early home-video era and established him as one of its recognisable faces.
Pete Edochie’s career, meanwhile, predates the 1990s video boom in another important respect.
His national prominence grew substantially following his acclaimed portrayal of Okonkwo in the 1987 television adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
That distinction has contributed to recurring debates among Nigerian actors and audiences over seniority, with different interpretations depending on whether the discussion concerns television, celluloid cinema, theatre or the home-video industry.
Kanayo has previously maintained that he is senior to Edochie within the context of Nollywood’s home-video generation.
His latest comments appear to broaden the argument, stressing that the industry’s history itself extends beyond the period most commonly associated with the word Nollywood.
The wider history of Nigerian screen entertainment goes back even further. Film screenings were recorded in Nigeria as early as 1903, while Palaver, released in 1926, is widely recognised as an early feature film with substantial Nigerian involvement.
By the 1970s, Nigerian filmmakers were producing indigenous stories on celluloid, with several productions drawing heavily from the country’s vibrant travelling-theatre tradition.
The later home-video revolution did not erase that earlier chapter.
Instead, it created a new, more accessible and commercially scalable production and distribution system that transformed Nigerian filmmaking.
The ongoing debate therefore reflects two connected but distinct eras: the pioneering celluloid and cinema period that produced figures such as Ogunde, and the home-video revolution that propelled Nollywood into a global cultural force.
Also read: MAX expands EV network with 6,000 vehicles
For Kanayo and Alajemba, recognising that distinction is essential to preserving the history of Nigerian filmmaking and giving earlier pioneers their rightful place in the story.
See video below:
