Kunle Afolayan, N5billion loan and other matters — by Benneth Nwankwo

The day before yesterday afternoon, someone shared this news with me.

I told her that if she could believe this rumour, then she could believe I own 3 airports in Anambra State, plus one still under construction in Enugu State.

I said there is no way any bank in Nigeria would give a filmmaker 5 billion naira as a loan for a single production.

If I found a bank willing to do that, I would take that loan myself immediately.

I think we have thrown around figures so casually on Facebook that certain amounts no longer feel as the huge sums they actually are.

I have seen anonymous pages, unverified media accounts, claim an actor was paid N200m, 500m, or N800m to appear in a film or sign a brand deal.

All those claims are false.

And these pages are simply doing it for engagement.

But when this particular rumour came out, about Kunle Afolayan allegedly owing FirstBank N5bn over Aníkúlápó, and facing a court case over it, this felt less like clout chasing and more like an attack on a respected filmmaker’s reputation.

Saying a filmmaker owes a bank billions and is dodging repayment is not a small rumour.

It is character assassination.

Imagine if Afolayan needed to walk into a bank tomorrow to access a loan for a new project.

What would that bank think, reading a widely circulated report claiming he already defaulted on a previous 5bn facility?

No reasonable bank would easily extend him credit after seeing that kind of story, whether it was true or not.

Thankfully, he came out himself to dismiss the rumour and set the record straight.

He said plainly that there was no litigation with FirstBank, that neither he nor his company owed anyone 5bn, and that he and the bank remain on good terms, having worked together before and still working today.

He explained that Aníkúlápó was a straightforward co-production between his company, Golden Effects Pictures, and Netflix, with no outstanding debt to anyone.

He even joked that if any bank offered him 5bn today, he would gladly take it and put it to good use.

This story confirms something we already know too well in Nigeria.

Bad news travels faster than the truth ever can.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

One thing I will also take home is that he suggested that the people behind the rumours were known to him, and declined to name them, saying only that they were his gurus.

–Nwankwo is a filmmaker and wrote from Lagos