Actor Tayo Faniran has accused Nollywood of rigging awards, blocking cinema access and promoting names that are not the most talented.
Speaking on TVC’s eSplash on Tuesday, he said the same politics that choke Nigeria also choke the film business.
“If Nollywood were to be strictly about talent, I’d be far beyond where I am now. There’s a lot of rigging going on. The film producers you guys see as the biggest right now are not the most talented film producers. Same with the directors and the actors,” he said.
He would not take a film to cinemas in December, a month he described as locked down by big names.
“Right now, I wouldn’t even go to the cinema because of the people stifling the growth of other people. I’m not going to be mentioning names.”
He added that success still finds a way, but that gatekeeping hurts more than one career.
“Do you know the number of people attached to me? My community is waiting on me to come and do things for them. Hungry people call me everyday wanting me to solve their problems. Do you know how many people you affect by sabotaging a filmmaker?”
Faniran wants the industry to pick work on merit and wants audiences to stop swallowing whatever is pushed at them.
“Make things about merit. Who are the people choosing these films? Our consumers also need to try. Do you know what a film is or you just want to consume whatever is given to you? I don’t care, but I know a lot of people who are brilliant and can take Nollywood to the next level who aren’t being allowed.”
On cinema politics, he drew a straight line to national reality.
“Everything we’re facing in Nigerian politics, we’re also facing a bigger version in Nollywood.”
Then he went after the last AMVCA. Faniran starred as Saba in Taiwo Egunjobi’s 2025 crime thriller The Fire and the Moth, which later streamed on Prime Video. He said the film was entered and ignored.
“Awards are rigged too. Last AMVCA award show, my The Fire and the Moth film was better than most of the films that either won or were nominated. My film was submitted, but it was snubbed.”
Faniran first became widely known as first runner-up on Big Brother Africa Season 9. He has since appeared in Gangs of Lagos, Ada Omo Daddy and Labake Olododo. On eSplash, he framed the fight as bigger than his own resume.