By Ben Efe 19.2.2026
Newly inaugurated Actors Guild of Nigeria president Abubakar Yakubu said his main goal is to improve on the wellbeing of actors and upgrade the standards of the movie industry in Nigeria.
Mr. Yakubu who is still settling down and meeting stakeholders in Nollywood after emerging the top choice of actors for AGN president in January, said that Nigerians must strive to achieve world standards as they dish out movies year in year out.
“First of all, my priority is to make sure that all actors are well paid for the job they do,” Mr. Yakubu said during a chat.
“We have our movies smashing boxing office records and so it should trickle down to the actors too. I’ve initiated talks with producers, directors and others concerned on how we can make this happen.”
He noted that he is also keen to see Nigerian actors raise the bar and be globally recognised for their work and not just be satisfied being local stars.
“I also want to see our Nigerian actors from home feature in productions in Bollywood, Hollywood and Europe. We have the talent and our work shouldn’t be limited to Nigerian movies alone.”
Mr. Yakubu said he was determined to reduce low quality production as a movie tends to present to the world the social and cultural set up of the country of its origin.
“Of course, in every profession you have quacks and basically there’s little you can do to stop this.
“But one of our aims is to have good production coming out from Nollywood, the storyline, the acting and the pictures everything should be standard because that is the only way we can compete with our international counterparts.”