Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has revealed that he spent more than N8 billion of his personal funds developing his film village and resort, saying he needs government support to sustain the project.Nigerian economy analysis
Afolayan disclosed this during an interview with former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on the Nidacity podcast, released on YouTube on Tuesday.
He said the need for accommodation became clear while filming his 2022 movie, Anikulapo, as the cast and crew had to stay in people’s houses because there was not enough accommodation.
The filmmaker said some members of the cast, including Sola Sobowale and Bimbo Ademoye, had to bring personal belongings from their homes because of the lack of accommodation during production.
“When we shot Anikulapo film, we didn’t have accommodation. We were squatting in people’s houses. I had to build 100 rooms in the film village.
“I’ve spent over N8 billion of my own money building a film village, yet I get no government support. We don’t even have electricity. I’ve spent millions on diesel and had to spend N200 million on solar, but even that isn’t enough,” he said.
Afolayan said the lack of electricity has also increased the cost of running the facility, with the project relying on diesel and solar power.
He appealed to government agencies to support private investments in the creative industry.
“And if we’ve managed to do that, I think there should be some sort of support, like from government agencies,” he said.
Afolayan’s film village is located in Igbojaye, Oyo State, and has served as a production base for some of his projects.
The original Aníkúlápó film was released on Netflix in September 2022 and starred Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale and Taiwo Hassan. The story was expanded into the six episode series Aníkúlápó: Rise of the Spectre, which premiered in March 2024.
The series continues Saro’s story following the events of the original film and was filmed partly at Afolayan’s film village in Oyo State.
The second season, titled Aníkúlápó: The Ghoul Awakens, premiered on Netflix on January 30, 2026. The new season expands the story beyond the Oyo Kingdom into foreign lands and features returning actors including Bimbo Ademoye and Sola Sobowale, alongside new cast members.
