Nigeria’s once-revered Nollywood industry, which for decades stood as a beacon of African culture and family values, appears to be drifting into unfamiliar and deeply troubling territory.
The rise of Gen Z actresses who believe that baring their bodies on social media is a shortcut to fame has sparked serious concerns among stakeholders and fans alike.
Many are asking: Where are the mothers and veterans in Nollywood who should be guiding these young women?
Once upon a time, Nollywood actresses gained admiration and respect for their talent, storytelling, and cultural representation. Today, a growing number seem more invested in social media “likes” than in building a dignified career.
The result is an industry where vulgarity is often mistaken for boldness, and nudity is wrongly packaged as creativity.
In the past, iconic figures in Nollywood took it upon themselves to mentor the younger generation not just in acting craft, but also in personal conduct, dress sense, and public image. Sadly, many of today’s emerging actresses are navigating fame without such guidance. Either the veterans have gone silent, or the younger stars have chosen to ignore them.
The absence of strong mentorship has created a vacuum where online trends dictate career paths, instead of discipline, training, and cultural responsibility. In an industry that was once a source of national pride, we now see a rush to copy Western celebrity culture, often at the expense of African values.
While Nollywood has guilds and associations, there appears to be no firm code of conduct regarding public decency and self-presentation. Without clear rules, young actresses are free to push boundaries in search of attention, often in ways that harm the industry’s image. Social media, where outrageous content gets instant visibility, has only made the problem worse.
In the long run, such reckless self-branding doesn’t lead to lasting fame. Many actresses from past generations built decades-long careers by focusing on their craft, not their bodies. The Gen Z obsession with shock value risks producing fleeting notoriety instead of respected stardom.
Nollywood is not just entertainment it is a cultural export, shaping how the world sees Nigeria. When actresses repeatedly project hyper-sexualized images, they send a distorted message about Nigerian womanhood.
The Nigerian audience, once proud of Nollywood’s storytelling power, now finds itself embarrassed by the way some of its stars present themselves to the world.
Conclusion
Nollywood has given Nigeria some of its proudest cultural moments. But the current wave of indecency among certain Gen Z actresses is a betrayal of that legacy. Fame built on the exposure of the body, rather than the brilliance of performance, is fame without roots. If the industry’s elders do not step in now, the Nollywood that once made Nigerians proud may fade beyond recognition replaced by a hollow imitation of foreign celebrity culture.
By: Godwin Offor
