Nigerian media entrepreneurs are now creating contents exclusively for YouTube. From a top-level estimate, there are dozens of such YouTube channels there. Some have even built houses with sections dedicated for video production in Lagos and Asaba.
I paid attention to this evolution because some of the videos are set around my local government area; we have many players in that business. The Tyrant Prince was set in the Isuikwuato Kingdom of Abia State and Yul Edozie did a great job in that movie. Of course, that is fiction as there is no king here; everyone is a king in his house!
But the poetic justice is based on the old Isuikwuato axiom, “aka ojo gara na nnu, agwo gba kwa ya” [the bad hand that enters the warren, let a snake bite him].
What is driving this YouTube business is evident: everyone wants to earn in US dollars. And YouTube pays in U.S. dollars. Rumour has it that some channels command excess of $100k monthly.
Simply, Nollywood goes YouTube because earning US dollars does not require building cement factories, growing yams or any of those typical things the export commission agency preaches to the nation. Media entrepreneurs have figured out what sells very well, and they are killing it. Yes, produce in naira; earn in USD.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
