Perception and Acceptance of Nollywood as Nigeria’s Cultural Ambassador among University Students

Abstract

Nollywood is considered the site of popular culture and harbinger of cultural renaissance, especially amongst young adults confronted daily with the remote acculturation that foreign films offer. While many stakeholders believe that Nollywood, the second most prolific film industry, dispenses cultural knowledge and memory across borders, Nigerian tertiary students are suspected of preferring Western flicks or vacillating between foreign and local films. Consequently, this study was conceived to ascertain if Nigerian students perceive Nollywood as a cultural industry and Nigeria’s cultural ambassador. A 5-point Likert Scale of a 13-item questionnaire was administered to 283 Lagos State University of Science and Technology mass communication students. The descriptive, t-test, and ANOVA findings revealed that the students in this study consider Nollywood a cultural industry. Still, their perception showed that Nollywood’s performance is weak regarding cultural representations. Therefore, the study recommends that Nollywood films portray endogenous and authentic cultural values. However, the research suggested a further study involving more students across Nigeria, with mixed methods and advanced analyses.