Why I'm So Happy For Patience Ozokwor - Shaffy Bello

Nollywood actress Shaffy Bello is giving flowers to the greats, like Patience Ozokwor, who have come before her, and opening up about why Patience for one, is somebody who she looks up to and is very happy for. Shaffy Bello made the revelation during an interview with The Will Downtown when opening up about Nollywood's evolution through the years. Here's what she had to say.

**Before reading on, please make sure to sign up for my newsletter below so you don't miss out on any new and interesting lists, articles, and stories that I post every single day.

Speaking about Nollywood and how veteran actors and actress, like Patience Ozokwor, are the reasons for its success, Shaffy Bello said:

SHAFFY BELLO: Nollywood has evolved tremendously. People say it all the time. It’s grown. Whatever it is that we’re doing in life, we expect that, at some point, it will grow. Those are the legends of this industry. I give them kudos because they went through a whole lot.

They opened doors and channels for us with their sweat and hard work that we are now enjoying. When you start something from the beginning, there’s no money in it. You just do it for the sacrifice and for the love of it. It’s almost like a new actor coming in. You put in the sweat. Those who are our true legends and icons put in the hard work and the sweat. And by the grace of God, some of them are enjoying it now. Look at someone like Mama G, Mama Patience Ozokwor. They put in a lot of hard work. And thankfully, I am grateful that people like that are now enjoying and reaping that. Although some are not fortunate enough to do so.

If you go back to the movies that they were shooting then it was the basics. But look at where we are now and, of course, the streaming platforms that came and changed everything, that also made the industry evolve, and the business aspect of it has evolved. So, a lot of things about the industry have evolved; it just makes sense that everything about it has transformed. I often say that Nollywood is about quality and not quantity anymore.

What do you bring to the table? And yes, I said it; what do you bring to the table is now part of the question and is something you must be able to answer. We are now in an era of social media, that also transitioned the industry. Now you have the likes of influencers becoming actors because innately that’s probably why they started influencing, to get recognised and that has evolved them into being in films. So a lot of things happened, and we have a lot of opportunities to come into the industry now. So, it has evolved because life itself is about change. In your view, what do you think the Nigerian film industry needs to improve to compete on a global scale.

We need to continue telling our stories. We’ve been doing it, but we need to continue telling our stories authentically. No one can tell our stories like we can. Nigerian women, either Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba their nuances are so different. When we hear a Yoruba woman speak, we can sort of tell. When we hear an Igbo woman speak or a Hausa woman, we can tell. So when an international actor takes on our role, we know the differences. Other people around the world may not see it, but we can see it, and we can tell if some of the nuances are not there. So, we need to just keep going by telling our stories. So, I believe that if we keep doing that, we would just keep evolving.

What do you think about what Shaffy Bello had to say? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

That's All.

I hope you’ve had fun. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter if you don’t already for more stories like this - collated every week and sent right to your inbox so you don't miss out on anything.

To catch up on other content you might have missed, click here.

Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your day