How Nora Awolowo Made Nollywood History

THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / FILM DEPT.

The parlour’s transformation into a makeshift kitchen, with a water boiler and a small stove to reheat the week’s soup, remains a fond memory for a little girl whose aunt could not miss her TV shows and utilized a simple meal plan of eba and soup, so she could always be in the sitting room when she needed to be. Usually, many recalled eating one meal constantly for the lack of dietary options, but in Nora Awolowo’s case, it was out of necessity to not miss the delightful viewing of golden-age Nigerian programming.

Nigerian television in the 1990s and 2000s was curated for families, with special programmes like the riveting Binta and Friends, the strategic Gulder Ultimate Search, the melodious Star Quest, the thought-provoking Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the beloved classic Superstory, an all-time favourite that aired on Thursdays at 8 p.m. and was considered the glory of local television production under its executive producer, Wale Adenuga. Alongside these were shows like the cool KKB Show, which featured Afrobeats star Teni the Entertainer as a child actor, among many others that formed the staple viewing of the average urban child. Reminiscing on her family’s attachment to television shows, Awolowo told me that: