OKUN FILMS AND THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: THE UNTAPPED RESOURCE FOR THE GROWTH OF OKUN LAND
By Sunday Folorunsho Baiye (Legendary Aseda)
For decades, Okun Land has searched for sustainable pathways to economic growth, youth engagement, and cultural preservation. Unfortunately, our collective gaze has been fixed almost exclusively on politics—an arena that has yielded more division than development. In doing so, we have neglected one of our most powerful and naturally endowed assets: the film and entertainment industry.
As a practitioner within the Okun creative space, I write not from theory, but from lived experience. I have seen raw talent abandoned, dreams quietly buried, and gifted individuals forced to migrate or surrender to obscurity—not because they lacked ability, but because the system failed to recognize their worth.
The Cost of Political Obsession
Okun leaders, over the years, have invested enormous energy and resources in political rivalry, alignments, and power struggles. Sadly, this obsession has fragmented our people, weakened our collective identity, and diverted attention from industries that could unite us economically and culturally.
While politics should be a tool for development, in Okun Land it has too often become the destination itself. In the process, sectors like film, music, theatre, digital media, and cultural tourism have been treated as luxuries rather than engines of growth. This neglect is not accidental; it is systemic—and the consequences are visible everywhere.
### Where Are the Talents?
They are everywhere—and nowhere.
They are the young filmmaker in Kabba with a phone and a vision but no access to funding or mentorship.
They are the gifted musician in Yagba composing soul-stirring songs in isolation, unheard beyond his immediate community.
They are the actors, scriptwriters, dancers, cinematographers, editors, voice-over artists, and storytellers whose potential expires quietly due to lack of structure and support.
Many of our best talents have left Okun Land to thrive in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, or beyond Nigeria’s borders. Others, unable to relocate, have abandoned their gifts entirely. What we lose is not just individual dreams, but collective economic opportunity.
A Land Designed for Storytelling
Nature has been exceptionally kind to Okun Land.
Our topography—rolling hills, rocky landscapes, green valleys, forests, rivers, and historic towns—offers natural film locations that producers elsewhere spend millions to recreate artificially. From sunrise over the hills to ancestral settlements steeped in history, Okun Land is a filmmaker’s dream waiting to be discovered.
Beyond the land itself lies something even more valuable: our culture.
Our norms, values, folklore, festivals, traditional institutions, proverbs, music, and ancestral stories are rich, authentic, and commercially viable. These are stories the world is hungry to see—stories of resilience, identity, faith, love, struggle, and triumph told from an indigenous perspective.
Film and entertainment are not just about glamour; they are tools for cultural documentation, tourism promotion, youth employment, and global visibility.
The Forgotten Music Industry
Okun music, in its traditional and contemporary forms, carries unique rhythms and messages. Yet, without studios, record labels, structured training hubs, or distribution channels, our musicians remain stranded.
What happens to a gifted musician when there is no platform?
What happens to creativity when survival takes precedence over expression?
The answer is painful: talent withers, culture erodes, and economic value is lost.
An Industry Crying for Help
The Okun film and entertainment industry is not dead—it is suffocating.
All it needs is vision, structure, and belief.
We do not lack talent.
We do not lack stories.
We do not lack locations.
What we lack is intentional investment and leadership that understands the economic power of creative industries.
A single committed investor—man or woman—with a long-term vision could ignite a revolution. Film villages, creative hubs, talent academies, production grants, and cultural festivals can transform Okun Land into a regional entertainment destination. The returns would not only be financial, but social: reduced unemployment, youth engagement, unity, pride, and global relevance.
A Call to Conscience
This is a cry from within—not a complaint, but a call.
Okun leaders must begin to think beyond politics and embrace industries that unite rather than divide. The creative economy is no longer optional; it is a global reality. Nations and regions that understand this are prospering. Those that ignore it are falling behind.
Okun films and the entertainment industry are calling for attention, structure, and rescue.
The question is no longer *“Can it work?”*
The real question is: *“Who is bold enough to believe in it?”*
If we answer that question sincerely, the story of Okun Land can change—on screen, on stage, and in reality.
Baiye Sunday Folorunsho
Legendary Aseda
Film Practitioner | Media Producer | Creative Advocate
(Democracy Newsline Newspaper, December 17th 2025)
