Nollywood actress and businesswoman Iyabo Ojo has shared a cryptic message on Instagram as debates over film promotion strategies continue in the industry.
On Friday, the actress shared a photo of a billboard that read, “Jealousy is the last class to attend before becoming a witch.”
She accompanied the image with a caption that appeared to address critics without naming anyone directly.
“Who made the rules? Nobody you gotta answer to. 2026 ain’t for talkers — it’s for doers. Do what works for YOU. Let others win their way. You win yours. Period.”
Although she did not refer to any specific individual or event, the timing of the post has drawn attention, coming amid recent exchanges between leading figures in Nollywood over film promotion strategies.
Renowned filmmaker Kunle Afolayan had described the pressure on filmmakers to dance, create skits and maintain constant online visibility to promote films as “unsustainable” at the Lagos Business of Film Summit.
His remarks sparked reactions, particularly after Funke Akindele’s latest film, Behind The Scenes, reportedly grossed over N2.4 billion at the box office and received commendations from the Federal Government, the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board.
He said the demands of modern film marketing were draining for him personally, even though he acknowledged that such strategies have worked for others.
“I want to make a film if you guarantee that I won’t have to dance to sell it. We need to come up with other strategies. How do we sell without exhausting ourselves? I don’t know how Funke and the rest of them are doing it, creating so many of those skits. Every day, changing into different costumes, I cannot,” he said.
Funke Akindele, however, responded in a series of Instagram posts, insisting that she was not standing in anyone’s way.
“If you can’t beat them, join them. Create your own path. Do not allow jealousy to burn you. The sky is so big that everybody can fly. Eyin Werey jojo.
“Go ahead and create an alternative promotion or marketing strategy for promoting your business, or hire a company to handle it. You can do it. The opportunities are endless, and everyone has their own path. I’m focused on mine. And I have faith in God’s plan for me,” she wrote.
Afolayan later clarified on Arise TV that he had no personal issue with Akindele.
He maintained that he never suggested that dancing or skit-making was wrong, adding that he had supported colleagues’ projects over the years.
In a related comment, Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde said she has no issue with dancing for enjoyment while promoting a film, but she would decline if it appeared compulsory or pressured.
“I’m sorry, I will not be doing the dancing. It’s just not me. I dance. I love to dance. I’m sure a lot of us love to dance. I think the problem and the reason why a lot of people are kicking back at it is. You want to dance because you feel like it, not because you have to. There’s a difference, okay? So there’s nothing wrong with, oh, you’re promoting your movie and you guys are just having fun.
“That’s different, but when it becomes a chore, when it becomes, oh, this is what you have to do even to sell a movie, it’s not professional. I already did the project. I should go around, talk about the project, and promote it, and then let the people whose jobs are to distribute and do the advertising for the project handle that. That’s how it’s done in better times. Let me not use another word. That’s the professional thing to do,” she said during her appearance on TVC.
