Veteran Nollywood actor Nkem Owoh, popularly known as Osuofia, has clarified his position on the origins of Nigeria’s film industry, insisting that the Yoruba pioneered early home-video productions but did not establish Nollywood as an industry.

Owoh made the clarification during an appearance on Curiosity Made Me Ask, hosted by comedian Bae U, where he addressed claims that he had credited the Yoruba people with starting Nollywood ahead of their Igbo counterparts.

The actor dismissed the allegation, explaining that Nollywood did not exist as a name when some of the industry's early practitioners began working together.

“First of all, you have given me this wrong accusation that I said Yoruba started Nollywood. No,” he said.

Owoh explained that the name Nollywood came later, after industry practitioners had gathered to exchange ideas and eventually agreed on the identity by which Nigerian filmmaking would become widely known.

“When we started the thing, there was no Nollywood as a name. We sat together and we're banding ideas and all that... and eventually, we chose Nollywood,” he added.

While distinguishing the origins of Nollywood from the earlier home-video movement, the actor acknowledged the contributions of Yoruba theatre pioneers, particularly Hubert Ogunde, whose productions helped popularise indigenous theatre and filmmaking.

During the conversation, Bae U jokingly suggested that Ogunde was Igbo, but Owoh immediately corrected him, maintaining that the pioneer was Yoruba.

“Ogunde is not Igbo. I'm telling you that Yoruba started it. When Ogunde was out, I don't think there was any Igbo man who was that popular in that,” he said.

Summing up his position on the long-running debate, Owoh stated: “The Yoruba did not start Nollywood. They started Home video.”

His comments add to ongoing conversations about the contributions of different ethnic groups and pioneers to the development of Nigeria's film industry.