Nollywood: Pôrnôgraphic movies flood Lagos

There appears to be a renewed effort by producers of pôrnographic films to get a huge chunk of the movie market in Nigeria. A recent survey conducted by National Mirror showed that in the last six months, over 40 film titles with nude scenes have flooded both the Idumota and Alaba markets, the two film depots in Lagos, the country’s commercial hub. While efforts are being made by some renowned producers to get Nigeria on the map of quality film productions, certain filmmakers, driven by the passion to make quick profits, have turned their attention to making films with lewd scenes, which are often sold in the open market. During a random visit to Idumota, it was discovered that films such as ‘Edge of Darkness’, ‘Dark Secrets’, ‘Sinful Act’, ‘Sinful Truth’ and ‘Oyoyo Airline’, among others, were the rave of the moment. Some other titles like ‘Bold Five Babes’, ‘Room 027’, ‘The Benjamins’, ‘Pregnant Hawkers’ and ‘Destructive Instincts’ were being awaited to appear on mass consumable formats. Although not displayed conspicuously on the shelves, all a customer needs to do is to explain what he or she wants and the items are brought for him from inner chambers. For instance, after our reporter convinced the shop owners that he was on a genuine mission, they disappeared to other adjoining shops to collect over 40 titles which they claimed had appeared this year. Such titles are usually released in parts, with potential buyers being forced to buy all the parts of any title they wish to watch. For reasons best known to the producers, they seem to have also narrowed their choice of actors to some popular acts. It seems favourites are emerging in the person of actors like Tony Umez, Muna Obiekwe, Jibola Daboh, Tonto Dike and Ghanaian actors like Prince David Osei and Frank Artus. Phone calls to Umez on this development were neither picked nor text messages sent to him, replied at press time. Meanwhile, the whole process seems to be happening behind the back of the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB. A member of staff at the Corporate Affairs department of the NFVCB, who spoke on the development, said the producers might be cutting corners by submitting master tapes that were at variance with the ones that were finally released. He said: “And they go along to put the classification logo of the board when they have clearly violated the rules of the classification.” When asked if the board was aware of ‘Bold Five Babes’, ‘Room 027’ and ‘The Benjamins’ making waves online, he said it was not within the purview of NFVCB to monitor what happens online. He said: “Some of those may have been posted from locations other than Nigeria. It will be difficult to say what is being done elsewhere. As I speak to you, the board is not aware of such movies, because they have not been classified yet.