The Impact of The Film "Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons" in Nigerians

Let’s talk about the agbada challenge, shall we? So Falz, the popular music crooner cum Comedian-Actor collaborated with some other young mid-aged Actors to throw a dare to the veteran Actors. Trust the charismatic Richard Mofe Damijo and Ramsey Noah to rise up to the challenge. What was their goal? It was simply (or not so simply, given the effort it took) to dethrone the ex-Big Brother Naija housemate and celebrity, Ebuka, as the King of Agbada.

Well, he beat them to their game by not showing up for the grand finale which was the premiere of the movie Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons held on September 22nd 2018.Okay, that’s that! Can we put the drama aside and glean some of the benefits that it afforded our nation? There are over 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we are diverse in so many ways including fashion.

The fashion industry has metamorphosed to suit these differences and even accommodate external influences over the years. Of recent, fashion designers have earned quite a fortune from the design of agbadas and the challenge created yet another opportunity. Other fashion professionals like the make-up artists and hair stylists also raked in cool cash as they helped celebrities achieve the perfect glam look. The Merry Men movie premiere gained the attention of not just Nigerians but international audience as well. With works like this, Road to Yesterday and the Wedding Party 1 & 2, Hollywood has so much more to boast about. Of course, we can’t forget in a hurry our own Lionheart by Genevieve Nnaji (yes, who no like better thing?).

Netflix had better get ready to sign up more original movies from Nigeria. If moviemakers, other Nollywood and fashion professionals dutifully pay their taxes, there is no telling the boost that this can do for our economy.Many Nigerians who have travelled to or lived in the abroad must have been asked one very silly question about Nigeria at one point or the other. Like ‘what street in Africa do you live in?’ or ‘are there libraries in Nigeria?’. Thankfully, with the agbada challenge and other recent trends, facts about Nigeria will pop up more and such silly questions will reduce (or not?).A while back, some of the most googled topics in Nigeria broke the net and yeah, it was a really sorry list.

A current list will surely have more dignifying topics on it. There should be topics like the agbada challenge, Lionheart by Genevieve Nnaji and the 6th annual African Magic Viewers Choice Awards. Carl Ikeme, a dashing professional footballer should even make the list. The Nigerian Football Federation offered him a position on the technical crew of the Super Eagles following his partial retirement. Sadly, we will also be shown to have asked ‘Pamela.