Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Ruth Kadiri, has revealed why she joined YouTube and how she feels about many joining the platform.
In a recent interview with BBC Pidgin, she revealed that she decided to join YouTube to express herself and share her films with a wider audience.
Ruth Kadiri stated that she was inspired to join YouTube after watching music videos and films on the platform while she was abroad giving birth.
She realized that she could use the platform to share her own content and connect with her fans.
“I decided to put my films on Youtube for two reasons: One, where I went to give birth, before I went , I had already been producing for long but in that our production, there were too many rules and regulations. So me and my team, I said I want an opportunity where I would just be able to express myself. I can just wake up and see something online, I want to learn it. If I learn it finish, I have to put it somewhere, so I just want somewhere that I can express myself. I had been finding it. So when I travelled and went to give birth, I got bored, and I started watching music videos. I watched and watched and then I noticed that some people were also putting films on Youtube. But at the time, I didn’t know. They already started it, no be me start am. So as I saw it, I said let me come back and try it. Some people said money no dey am oh! But as I had already made up my mind that it’s just something to express myself, I said let me just try it, nothing loss. So I said let’s shoot, if it’s good, if it’s bad, all it’s to learn. For us, it was just learning process, and that’s how it started.” She said.
When asked about the influx of new creators joining YouTube, Kadiri expressed her support, stating that she doesn’t worry about competition.
Instead, she believes that the platform provides an opportunity for filmmakers to make money and share their content with a global audience.
She emphasized that YouTube has become a vital source of income for many creators in the Nigerian film industry, and she encourages more people to join the platform.
Her only concern is that the influx of new creators might lead to a saturation of the market, making it harder for established creators to stand out.
” Competition? Me personally, I don’t worry about competition. And I feel like we as filmmakers or creatives, we are at the forefront of our hustle, our mothers are at the back praying for us. If you check it, if you remove Youtube from our industry for now, people for wound. Hunger for wire people. Hunger for squeeze people for neck like this! So God saw it and said He wants to answer our mother’s prayers, how does he want to do it? And me I feel like if I do something, it’s as if something is inside. So I feel like God used me because He knows that my heart is clean. And I feel like it’s an opportunity for a lot of filmmakers to make money. Na Youtube dey feed people oh. Na Youtube dey feed people. People wey like film, like film. Some people can stay morning to night watching film. Me, it’s only one on Thursday in a whole week that I produce. So person wey like Nollywood film don already like am, let other people also produce. The only fight I’m fighting is: this small food wey we dey chop, make them no pour sand inside oh. If e spoil, e don spoil oh. Na the only thing wey I dey complain. If not, more people should come sef.” she said.
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