Veteran actor, Adejumo Lewis, believes Nigerians like to copy the wrong things from foreigners. This, according to him, brought about the name Nollywood.
Lewis, while speaking with our correspondent, admitted that the industry is filled with good actors and directors.
He said, “We have good actors in the Nigerian movie industry; I don’t know about any Nollywood. We have some good up-and-coming directors and producers as well. But I am depressed about the recycling of stories and content, which is alien to us. Hollywood is the cradle of filmmaking and they have a physical location. Where is Nollywood located in Nigeria? I’ve always condemned the whole thing.”
For him, Nollywood came out of the desire to copy America. While he is not so convinced about the western culture, he insists that there are good things the movie industry could copy but they’ve decided to copy the wrong thing.
“The West have things we can borrow or adapt to our system. People are tired; they keep complaining about the content of Nollywood. The name, Nollywood, also implies negativity. I studied Latin. So, Nolly means something negative. Some people say it is already established all over the world, so we cannot correct it. When people are saying Nigeria is corrupt, are we not trying to fight corruption? So, we can always correct that colonial mentality and make our industry known globally as the Nigerian movie industry,” he stated.
Lewis, who spoke to The Point on the set of a movie that focuses on the police and their activities, believes that the country has both the bad and good eggs in her Police Force. Though he had decided to reserve the details of the brutality he suffered in the hands of the police in his uncompleted book, he said it took the intervention of a senior officer for him to get justice.
He added, “Most people say that the police have the most corrupt people in Nigeria, but I say no. Just look at what people in the senate are doing. People are accused of serious allegations and they exonerate themselves. This is because the judicial system is highly corrupt too. Also, the police are poorly paid. So, they are driven into this situation. I have a situation where a police man was transferred to another state and they did not provide accommodation for him. He was living in the office. We’ve also heard stories of police’ salaries being cut unlawfully. So, what do you expect them to do to survive? I’m not trying to justify their wrongdoings but I am telling you that corruption starts from the top.”
