Nollywood actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande has stated that Nollywood does not have to get validation from Western countries to be taken seriously. She noted this while speaking at the eighth edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference.
She said: “we have come to the place where we are telling our own stories. We are stamping our authority and saying ‘this is what we are about’, we have shown that we are competent, resilient and can grow. But how do we move forward into this new era? I am not particular about us getting validation from the west. I believe we should get validation from ourselves. It is not about saying we have to win an Oscar (Academy Award) first before we know we are an industry.
I have been fortunate because I take risks and that is what our young creative have to do. I take risks with the kind of work I choose. The script has to suit me, I also consider what message will be passed from having me in the film? One ought to have principles. Don’t just come into the industry because you want to be famous or chase clout you would be frustrated, you have to be deliberate about your intention, you have to ask yourself certain questions because that would shape how you present your work and your ideas to the world.
The actress also noted that the industry had evolved and now was the good time for new entrants into Nollywood. She added, it is a very competitive industry, but you are also coming in at a great time. Around 1997 and 1998, these was only one channel which is the marketers who also sold automobile spare parts, but they saw this gap and decided to record on empty cassettes. The industry has evolved from that, at that time there were gaps. Sound was a major issue, but we grow from that, the industry employed millions of people that would have otherwise benn aimless or not have a creative outlet for their art”.