A Researcher Is Asking Nollywood To Take Its Own Health Seriously
Lagos · Sunday 13 September 2026
Agbolade Omowole, a Nigerian author and researcher who works on healthy longevity in Africa, has called on Nollywood to make longevity education and practitioner wellbeing a priority, following a string of deaths among people who work in the industry. He points to the demanding nature of film production as the reason it matters more here than the subject usually gets credit for.
What the job actually does to a body
Nigerian productions run on compressed schedules because every extra day costs money nobody has. That means long shooting days, night shoots, travel between locations, irregular meals, and a culture in which stopping is treated as unprofessional. It is a physically punishing occupation that presents itself as a glamorous one.
| Risk | Who carries it |
|---|---|
| Untreated hypertension and diabetes | Everybody, and mostly undiagnosed |
| Exhaustion across consecutive productions | Crew more than cast |
| No health cover between jobs | Almost all freelancers |
Screenings would catch the first row. Nothing catches the third.
An industry that discusses its members' health only at funerals is not discussing it.
The version of this that would work
Health screening written into production budgets as a line item, the way insurance for equipment already is, and a guild scheme that continues between jobs. Both are costs, which is why neither has happened. It is also why the conversation restarts every time somebody dies.
Reporting: Vanguard and QED.NG.
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