Ace Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has hit back at critics who berated him for suggesting to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that Nollywood content should be monetised on the platform.
During his recent visit to Nigeria, Zuckerberg had sought audience with Nollywood stakeholders and Afolayan approached on him on developing a way content providers could earn from their contents.
Taking to Facebook video yesterday afternoon, the ace filmmaker in two short videos addressed critics who felt he shouldn’t have bothered the Facebook founder with challenges of Nollywood and should have reverted instead to broaching such issues with president Muhammadu Buhari.
“I just want to correct this notion,” started Afolayan, who believed otherwise.
“My meeting with Mark of Facebook was not an accident… I was contacted by Facebook team weeks before his arrival in Nigeria. And I didn’t even know he was going to come but when he came, I was privileged to meet him.
“As an artiste and also an entrepreneur, for me, growth is what I am so interested in. It’s what I would always advocate for… I mean, Facebook can come to Nigeria, they can speak to us, they can look at how to expand their businesses. But what are we getting back in return? A lot of us post our contents on Facebook and we pay. So, why can’t we also put content on Facebook and monetise it?”
The filmmaker whose latest movie, The CEO, has been generating waves globally however, believes thinks that it is some unsuccessful people with online platforms that were throwing snide remarks at him.
“Of course, I got a lot of positive comments, especially from people who are forward-looking and people who believe in growth or in potentials… but there are some people, losers, out there, you know, who either have interest in… maybe they have their own platforms and they’re not doing so well and they’re wondering, why do we have to go to Facebook? Or they are wondering, is he the only one?
“I think that is one of the problems we have around here. We always, instead of us supporting what we have, have all of us coming together and doing collaboration… Some of us, when you see someone growing, all they want to do is ‘bring the person down.’
“What is wrong with when you put your content online on their platform, it generates revenue for you and it’s a win-win situation for everybody? Things like this don’t really bother me because, look, I am destined to be where I am. It is not by my making. And anybody who is trying to emulate the same thing, I’m very sure that if they put their mind to it, I’m sure you’re definitely going to get there. But all of those negative comments, especially from those jobless people who have no other thing but sit on blogs. And if you see their comments, you will anonymous because they are losers, they are failures, they have nothing going for them and all they like to do is look at someone who is growing or who is doing something good and they just want to bring the person down.”
Afolayan who is already garnering major recognition globally also thanked his supporters and all those whose support Nigerian entertainment.
The video generated so much comments, most of which commended Afolayan and asked him not to bother with ‘haters’ who thought differently.
A commenter, Famurewa Simbo, said; “I AV seen a lot of great vlogs by Nigerians and wondered how they will make money in return based on views and like monetize it like it’s happening on YouTube… So Kunle made a great suggestions towards that and now people re criticizing? This is ridiculous.”
Also, Eshiomomoh Ifoga, said; “I wish you could just ignore those negative vibes. We are very proud of you,” while Folaranmi Abimbola Biodun wrote: “They don’t deserve your attention. They are time wasters. More grace.”
Okangba Kelechi
