The glitz. The glamour. The flashing lights. For years, that was all the public saw of Nigeria’s modelling industry. But behind the sequins and smiles lies a world few dare to speak about, until now.

With Aniyota Media’s latest documentary, produced by Aderonke Adeola and Funmi Coker, Model Citizen pulls back the curtain on an industry built on beauty but scarred by silence.

The film takes viewers deep into the unseen struggles of Nigerian models: the exploitation, the withheld pay, the verbal and sexual abuse, and the quiet strength of those who have endured it all.

The Nigerian fashion industry is valued at $4.5 billion. The Nigerian fashion e-commerce market generated approximately US$487 million in 2024 and is projected to grow at an estimated 10 to 15 per cent year-on-year.

This reflects rising online retail and commercial activity, which feeds demand for commercial models and content shoots.

Broader reports about Africa’s fashion sector highlight its significant export value and growth potential. Lagos Fashion Week and similar platforms are expanding the visibility of Nigerian designers globally, which indirectly creates opportunities for models in editorial and international campaigns.

Despite this, models, key contributors to the local industry, are subjected to low pay, subpar treatment, and even sexual assault.

For the first time, they are sharing their experiences.

Unlike many productions that romanticise the fashion scene, Model Citizen tells the truth through the voices that matter most: the models themselves.

Their stories, raw, emotional, and painfully honest, expose an underbelly that has long been hidden beneath the gloss of magazine covers and runway lights.

Each testimony carries the weight of years spent being told to stay silent, to smile through humiliation, and to keep walking no matter the cost. But now, as one model puts it in the film, “We’re walking for ourselves.”

Emotionally charged and visually compelling, Aderonke’s Model Citizen is more than an exposé; it’s a call for change.

It forces an industry and its audience to confront uncomfortable truths about what it takes to keep the glamour alive.
If you have ever applauded a model on the runway or admired the sparkle of fashion, this film will make you look again and listen closer. Because once you’ve seen the truth behind the lights, you can’t unsee it.