Nollywood doesn’t have to change identity to go global — Itele d icon

Actor and filmmaker, Ibrahim Yekini, popularly known as Itele D Icon, has urged Nigerian filmmakers to embrace indigenous stories and focus on improving the quality of their storytelling rather than changing their identity in a bid to appeal to global audiences.

Itele D Icon , whose film Koleoso recently crossed 141.6 million combined views on YouTube, stated this in an interview with Sunday Scoop, noting that the success of the movie had reinforced his belief in the power of indigenous Nigerian stories.

He said, “We need to believe more in our own stories while improving the quality of how we tell them. The world is already interested in Africa. We don’t always need to change who we are to reach a global audience.

We need stronger storytelling, better production, good subtitles, proper marketing and consistency. Koleoso has taught me that a deeply local story can still become a global story when people can connect with the emotions.

The filmmaker stressed that the production was not created by following trends or attempting to replicate other successful projects, adding that the audience embraced the world they created.

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“We didn’t try to copy anybody or make something just because it was trending. We created our own world, and the audience accepted it. For me, 141.6 million views is bigger than numbers; it shows that our indigenous stories can travel very far when they are told with confidence and quality,” he stated.

The actor also revealed that he was becoming more intentional about building a legacy beyond acting.

“I am becoming more intentional about building a legacy. Acting is part of me, but I want to create stories, build talents and create opportunities for the next generation. I want my name to represent more than what people see on screen,” he said.

He further disclosed that investing seriously in his own productions and digital platform was one of the biggest risks he had taken in his career.

He said, “One of the biggest risks I took was deciding to invest seriously in my own productions and digital platform. There was no guarantee that the audience would follow us or that the investment would return. But I believed in the stories I wanted to tell and, most importantly, I believed in the audience.”