somegirl1:


Haven't you gathered from the discussions so far that the origin(s) of the words you've listed, apart from oyibo, are not being disputed.

Akwuna is the Igbo word for Asewo (yoruba)
Nsogbu is the Igbo word for Wahala (hausa)

What I'd like you to tell me is the original yoruba word for "trouble". That is before "wahala" was borrowed.

absoluteSuccess:


Wahala, borrowed.

Yoruba for waala:

Idamu (distress).

Adanwo (temptation: borrowed from christian/muslim idea meaning a delicate issue that can lead to betrayal of trust, loss of faith or personal belonging)

Iyonu (Yoruba, trouble),

hilahilo (Yoruba: tensed up).

akolukogba (pandemonium)

Ipaya (terror, trembling).

somegirl1:


The emboldened sentence is the only part of your post that makes sense.
I never asserted that nollywood in its entirety is the work of Igbos, that would be a lie. Rather, I stated that it is dominated by Igbos, an undeniable fact.
Yorubawood is considered a separate entity, even by yorubas. Your movies are produced by yorubas for yoruba audience.

The rest of your post is "arrant nonsense" in the words of veteran nollywood actor Chinwetalu Agu.

nwanlecha:
Also, as an easterner, most of the words the OP put up as part of mainstream Pidgin English, are strange to me. They are probably restricted to the lingo in the SW. Growing up in the East, we knew more of Hausa words 'cause there were and are still so many Northerners in Igbo land, just as The North has the most population of Igbo migrants in Nigeria. Yoruba land is the least destination for Ndi Igbo in Nigeria, except maybe Lagos yet, Yorubas make the most noise about having Ndi Igbo in their land, which I find very funny.

scholes0:
This Nwalencha is just arguing blindly....
lol... so these people have rilly been made to believe these words are Igbo? Eehya.

Next will be "Nkor, Kpatakpata, Jare, Shebi, Gbedu, Bam-bam, Abi, Gbadun, Lekpa, Shey, Omo, Kpangolo, Joor, and a ton of others.
Onijagidijagan, just wait in 10 more years, they will say these words are theirs.

macof:


Try to be a little bit more mature and sensible in your responses.

Anyway, my post was a response to a bunch of others not only urs, being the last I had to quote it

I want to know how igbos dominate Nollywood, by popularity of films with Igbo dominated cast and crew or by number of igbo actors and producers. Remember Yoruba movies are part of Nollywood.. in a survey they would be counted as well

Like I said "Yorubawood" is not an official term..That would be like saying Igbo movies are Igbowood, and I'm sure you wouldn't agree to that.
That the hausa movie producers choose to form Kannywood doesn't mean igbos and Yorubas should follow, Hausa movies are afterall not restricted to Nigerian contributions, Hausas from all over west africa are involved.


After all you've said I believe you still get the point which is our collective contributions have made this industry. .
I wouldn't want to derail the thread any further. Thank you

Crayola1:



Everyone knows film making in Nigeria's history started long before the 1990s. If someone wants to be thorough you can also included the colonial films that were produced in Nigeria and did feature Nigerians in them.

The Nigerian film industry started in the 1960-1970s.
What we call Nollywood started in the early 1990s.

They are two separate things because until the 90's Nigerian films were not widespread in Nigeria and we're mostly limited to Nigeria.

It wasn't until the 1990s that Nigerian films had widespread spread appeal in Nigeria and subsequently many parts of Africa and the diaspora to a certain degree. Which can largely be attributed to the traders who were mostly Igbo who traveled everywhere. Had it not been for those same traders Nigerian films would have never crosses borders and find audiences in places like Kenya, Tanzania, Jamaica, and co.

Furthermore, the books cited by anyone who has made an effort to write about the spread of Nollywood films will always mention Living in Bondage as the film that started the 2nd wave of Nigerian film making (What is now dubbed Nollywood). The vast majority of documentaries, articlea, books, and etc all list it as being the catalyst for Nigerian film explosion that occurred in the mid 90's and 2000s.

If you can find a source that says otherwise, I would love to see it.

I have no idea why you are so determined to argue that the second wave of film making and ultimately the viability of Nigerian films outside of Nigeria can be largely attributed to Igbo people. Do you always have to be #1 in everything?

somegirl1:


Mature and sensible? Says the person who stated that Igbos are too stingy to make good movies. Clearly your interpretation of those words differ from the generally accepted definitions.

Yorubawood is not nollywood. At best it is a sipn-off nollywood that is only popular in the SW.

Nollywood has Igbo origins, having started from the days of Living in Bondage etc.
Popular actors are predominantly Igbo. Executive producers, Producers and directors were predominantly Igbo. This is changing however.
The culture usually depicted in nollywood movies is Igbo.

macof:


Growing up I believed that only old people who probably find it hard to comprehend foreign movies patronize Nigerian films, true lovers of television rather watch American television cus they give the quality we demand from TV. How many young adults do you see watching Nkechi and Paul while missing out on the Transformers, Fast and Furious, Underworld, Avengers etc forget the fiction, Nigerian film industry aren't capable of giving us sci-fi and quality supernatural themed movies even if they wanted to

How many filmmakers seek graphic designers? use 3D? All because film producers don't want to spend money But in the face of all this, most igbo producers are fond of the lowest of budgets birthing low quality films


I hope you get it now

somegirl1:


Where are your statistics from?
You speak poor of quality movies produced by Igbos when yorubawood movies are worse in every sense than mainstream nollywood movies.

macof:


Oh I can assure you, my post wasn't to accuse igbos and leave out others. . Its a general Nigerian film problem but I watch all kinds of movies in languages I don't even understand as long as I see subtitles I'm good to go. .and most movies with Igbo producers have the biggest share of this low budget and generally lack of professionalism. ..at least by my observation . That's why you don't even remember the title of the movie you watched yesterday

macof:


I noticed igbos like to downplay the works of Hubert Ogunde and Ola Rotimi especially Ola Rotimi for restriction to theatrical plays. For ur information, his works were widespread, Africans and Europeans were supporting them with patronage, works like "the Gods must be crazy" of how a son killed his father and married his mother, haven't been forgotten till this day. Being theatrical shouldn't be a reason to consider them unfit. . Today in Hollywood, Broadway is a big thing and Many acting talents are a product of on-stage performances. Many of the pioneers used celluloids and gave the world Films like Jayesinmi, Ajani Ogun, Aye, etc which were not restricted to western nigeria. For Freedom by Ola Balogun was showcased at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival in 1981. so why ignore all this and delude yourself that Nollywood started in 1992?

Sure living in bondage was a great leap forward but don't deny the pioneers of the deserving credit and Hijack their spot. What is Time if not to afford us the opportunity to improve on what is already on ground? Kenneth Nnebue and many other igbos were involved in film making as protégé of the more popular personalities who happened to be Yorubas

Nollywood should be a tool to bring Nigerians together but somehow some trouble makers have found a way to breed more resentment


Mr. What we call Nollywood is "Nigerian film industry" simply as that. Living in Bondage was a success, Nigeria probably didn't have such a success throughout the 60s-70s in terms of reaching the masses by availability in stores nationwide but how does that mean Nollywood started in 1992 when the name "Nollywood " didn't exist until the 2000s.. why not say Nollywood started just less than 15 years ago?


This is not about me, but an industry Nigerians (especially southern Nigerians) have built, which btw is nothing compared to Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of quality and popularity of movies... What Nollywood today prides itself on is quantity

macof:


Try to be a little bit more mature and sensible in your responses.

Anyway, my post was a response to a bunch of others not only urs, being the last I had to quote it

I want to know how igbos dominate Nollywood, by popularity of films with Igbo dominated cast and crew or by number of igbo actors and producers. Remember Yoruba movies are part of Nollywood.. in a survey they would be counted as well

Like I said "Yorubawood" is not an official term..That would be like saying Igbo movies are Igbowood, and I'm sure you wouldn't agree to that.
That the hausa movie producers choose to form Kannywood doesn't mean igbos and Yorubas should follow, Hausa movies are afterall not restricted to Nigerian contributions, Hausas from all over west africa are involved.


After all you've said I believe you still get the point which is our collective contributions have made this industry. .
I wouldn't want to derail the thread any further. Thank you

Crayola1:


No one is downplaying anything. The fact of the matter is that there were two distinct eras in Nigerian film making and not just one. And to tie the two together as though they are one continuous periods is disingenuous at best.

Then can you show evidence of such. You saying so is not the same as actual sources to back it up. Where is the proof that Nigerian films had any widespread appeal in Nigeria, talk less of outside the borders of Nigeria. Because quite frankly I find it hard to believe that to be true. Much of the western world's exposure to African film making came from Francophone West Africa where film making was and continues to be sponsored by Europe (to a lesser degree these days). Many of the most well known films after independence came from Senegal. The oldest film festival in Africa is in Burkina Faso by the way.

No one is saying that because they were in the theaters that is bad, the simple fact was that most Nigerians in the late 70's and 80's could not afford to go out to watch movies and in many cases it wasn't safe to do so. Which is why home movies became a popular alternative. Before said movies became popular, films from the US and Asia were the most popular films in Nigeria during this period.

Nigerian films were an after thought until the 90's. Does this diminish the work of those fine men who pioneered film making in Nigeria? No, but it goes against historical facts that those movies were not big with Nigerians outside of select groups. You can be first and find yourself pushed aside by a newcomer because they tweaked your original idea. It happens all the time.

Ford came first but pales in comparison to the sheer scale of Toyota whose cars you can find on the streets of NYC to the most remote parts of Afghanistan being driven by the Taliban. That's life.

Nothing brings Nigerians together, not sport and not film.

It's not what we call, it is what it is Nollywood in its current iteration can be traced to the 90's. Nigerian film making as a whole can be traced to the 60s. Because every source and many more make that distinction very clear.

I'm glad you finally admit that Living in Bondage was a success, because before you swore it was a non entity. it's important that it had mass appeal. Can you call yourself an entertainment industry if your films are restricted to one area of your country? Could Hollywood be called America's film industry if it only catered to people in the state of California? What about this is hard to understand?

And your logic of Nollywood wasn't called Nollywood in 1990s so it doesn't really count is a falacy. Hollywood branding came much later after film making took off in America. Hollywood is actually the name of a community in Los Angeles that later became tied to film making because all the studios set up shop near the area.

If you like you can extend the Nollywood branding to the start of filming in Nigeria by indigenous directors and label it first wave and the 1990's the second wave. At the end of the day the second wave was more successful and widespread than the first. See everybody wins.

It is all about you and your hang ups if you really want to convince us that Nigerian films had the reach it did before the 1990s. Nollywood is for everyone but not if you are going to deny pivotal moments in its history for the sake of being "first". Yet despite it being trash it still doesn't stop you from trying to claim it I feel like because the illiterate traders manage to turn something small into a really big deal is what bothers you the most

Haba let Igbo people get shine for once now

Phut:


The Tintin is borrowed from Igbo (Love Nwantinti) and that is a fact

Nelly Uchendu sang a song Love Nwa nti nti. This was a while back. It was a hit nation wide and Love nwa nti nti (small small love/Infatuation) became part of mainstream pidgin. Since then, countless artiste's have sang about it ; Omawumi (of recent), Obiwon, Sam Cole, Casandra to name just a few.

Some Yoruba's (maybe because of accent) have a habit of putting an "n" at the end of a word
if you tell Ebonyi state, they will spell it as Ebonyin (put an 'N' at the end)
Bigfrancis21 described it as nasalization of words in some other threads. Well, it is the same thing that is happening here. You say Love nwa nti nti, they hear Love nwa tin tin. Heck, some even pronounce/write the nwa as wan (moving the n to the end of the word), resulting in wan tin tin
If people are going to appropriate a word, they should be ready to give credit where credit

scholes0:


Akamu Exists in both Languages, as I have just discovered.
Same as Egidi/Agidi.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=OiynbBvMblcC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=Akamu+Yoruba+igbo&source=bl&ots=m60pxe8hgw&sig=LulHIZcjrPGSU9nMsPOa9aLNfjw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCsQ6AEwA2oVChMIyYjNkqb6yAIViRkeCh2bOQP5#v=onepage&q=Akamu%20Yoruba%20igbo&f=false

absoluteSuccess:

If you just discovered a thing, it has not become a fact if you haven't verified it.

No Yoruba will call ogi 'akamu', except the seller is igbo and you want to patronise her language.

Even the igbo woman hawking akamu (in yorubaland) will first learn 'ologi de' (ologi has come) before coming out, and the yoruba woman will say 'erogi e po'kor o!' (buy ogi to make pap!).

Imagine telling your friend 'mo npo akamu lowo jor', he would take it for a mild joke, 'mo npogi' is ok, 'mo npokor', he would ask, 'se ilu loti brought up ni?'

its just as simple as that.

absoluteSuccess:

kini is also from (o)gini? funny lot.

Crayola1:


If there if there is no "Yoruba-wood" then why does every article about actors who only do roles using the language must be prefaced with "Yoruba Language Actress/Actor". Whether or not you make the distinction other people do and classify accordingly. Sometimes you get the Yoruba branch of Nollywood, but more often then not its treated like Kannywood, a separate entity from the English Nollywood, unless you are someone who crosses over between the two.

It's essentially how Bollywood is Hindi. Tollywood Tamil and etc. To the outsider they are all Bollywood, but in India it is definitely not the case.

The group to suffer most from this are Igbo people who arguably treat Nollywood like Nollywood+1 where Nollywood English (Igbo inspired films) and Igbo films are almost one and the same.

I will not use the word dominate (because that is too antagonistic) but Igbo people still play a major role in English Nollywood. Even in the posh Nollywood films you like to hype, Igbo people are still among the cast in many cases. Considering the fact that many of the actors still in rotation are long runners its bound to favor one group over the other.

Or in one strange case of one Yoruba director who had mostly Yoruba actors answering Igbo names in the film (why tho? just make them Yoruba or have them answer English names).

The more local Nollywood is definitely still tied to the Alaba cartel though

But a Nollywood open to all is a good thing, I hope

bigfrancis21:


I've always known you to be honest, putting things straight to the point without bias. And thanks for pointing things out straight to him. It is puzzling why some people would want to manipulate ways, while ignoring the obvious falsity in it, just to claim popular words as belonging to his tribes people.

absoluteSuccess:


Thanks bigfrancis.

Some words are shared words, you can't claim ownership of such word except your version of it (oyinbo, oyibo) because you can't be the lawyer and still be the final judge at the same time.

But look at ibudo, obudo this word 'ibudo' goes to the foundation of Yoruba itself, and you find it as everyday igbo lingo. Whose word is it?

Even the word igbo is readily available in Yoruba, whose word is it? Who coined these words that we share?

Youth, we are too weak in strenght, we are walled in, we don't want intruders in and don't want to go out.

We are sitting on the fence that divide us saying, 'it is our fence', 'no, it is our fence!'

bigfrancis21:


I don't think she ever insinuated that in her post. However, given the possible theory of the evolution of Yoruba from an ancient or off-dialect of Igbo and the attendant simplification of Yoruba equivalent words compared to Igbo, as it usually is in child languages vs. parent languages, 'k' is a lighter consonant than 'g', indicating the possible oversimplification in Yoruba language and the dropping of certain hard consonants such as double consonants as found in Igbo (gw, kw, gh, etc.) as the language evolution moved westwards.

bigfrancis21:


What do you mean by 'ibudo' or 'obudo'? Are you referring to 'obodo'?

bigfrancis

given the possible theory of the evolution of Yoruba from an ancient or off-dialect of Igbo and the attendant simplification of Yoruba equivalent words compared to Igbo, as it usually is in child languages vs. parent
languages

Crayola1:


If there if there is no "Yoruba-wood" then why does every article about actors who only do roles using the language must be prefaced with "Yoruba Language Actress/Actor". Whether or not you make the distinction other people do and classify accordingly. Sometimes you get the Yoruba branch of Nollywood, but more often then not its treated like Kannywood, a separate entity from the English Nollywood, unless you are someone who crosses over between the two.

It's essentially how Bollywood is Hindi. Tollywood Tamil and etc. To the outsider they are all Bollywood, but in India it is definitely not the case.

The group to suffer most from this are Igbo people who arguably treat Nollywood like Nollywood+1 where Nollywood English (Igbo inspired films) and Igbo films are almost one and the same.

I will not use the word dominate (because that is too antagonistic) but Igbo people still play a major role in English Nollywood. Even in the posh Nollywood films you like to hype, Igbo people are still among the cast in many cases. Considering the fact that many of the actors still in rotation are long runners its bound to favor one group over the other.

Or in one strange case of one Yoruba director who had mostly Yoruba actors answering Igbo names in the film (why tho? just make them Yoruba or have them answer English names).

The more local Nollywood is definitely still tied to the Alaba cartel though

But a Nollywood open to all is a good thing, I hope

somegirl1:


You don't recall the names of movies but you always check names of producers and recall which movies are produced by Igbos compared to those produced by non-Igbos. Bravo.

bigfrancis21:


The thing is millions of Yorubas know that Nollywood is an Igbo industry and they see their industry as different from Nollywood. Nigeria's movie industry is divided into 2 major factions: the AGN in charge of Nollywood proper showcasing Igbo culture in the English language and also in charge of Igbo language movies and ATNP in charge of Yoruba movies. The Yorubas arguing on this forum all know this but are pushing their luck too far. The switch from Igbo to English provided the avenue for the expression of talents by non-Igbos actors, actresses, producers, and directors. This accommodation does not mean the industry is any less Igbo owned.

bigfrancis21:


What do you mean by 'ibudo' or 'obudo'? Are you referring to 'obodo'?