Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has dismissed reports that he claimed streaming platform Netflix is leaving Nigeria.
According to Afolayan, his comments shared during the 2024 Zuma Fim Festival were taken out of context.
He made this known during a virtual interview on Channels Television on Thursday after Netflix denied plans to leave Nigeria.
“People can always pick things out of context and push whatever suits their narrative,” Afolayan said, highlighting his position as both a key beneficiary and supplier of content to Netflix.
Clarifying his comments, he said they were directed at government officials present at the Zuma Film Festival.
He also revealed that he was only responding to a question posed by Victor Okhai, a voice in the Nigerian film industry, who had mentioned a rumoured “last supper meal” during a Netflix event in Nigeria.
Afolayan said, “I wasn’t at that event, so I’m not privy to whatever conversation must have happened there. What I said was a wake-up call for us as a country to strengthen our own distribution platforms, regardless of Netflix’s decisions.”
Further speaking, he said Netflix has been reducing the volume of original content while maintaining its presence in Nigeria.
“The last time they were here, we had meetings and they’re still reassuring that, look, we’re still here, we’re going to do stuff, but we might not be able to do, the kind of volume that we used to do. What I was emphasizing all at that meeting was to say, look, even if you guys are saying Netflix is not doing enough, or Netflix is not taking as much as they should, why shouldn’t we as a country even come up with other distribution platforms.,” Afolayan explained.
“If you look at the video, I never said Netflix is leaving Nigeria, Dr Okhai, threw the question. I concluded by saying Netflix is leaving and what I said was, look we need to wake up. Is a wake-up call; if they are leaving, then we also need to set up our own things,” he added.
Meanwhile, Netflix has denied having any plans to leave Nigeria, saying it will always support local stories.
