I spent part of this week reading the comments under posts about Toyin Abraham and Funke Akindele on X and other platforms, and I did not like what I saw. People are no longer disagreeing about films. They are humiliating, insulting and, from what I read, sometimes threatening a filmmaker for the offence of having a different favourite actress. What troubles me most is that this passes for loyalty.
Competition itself is not the problem. I have always believed it pushes filmmakers to improve their work, spend more on marketing and find new ways to bring people into cinemas. Funke is free to want her film to outperform Toyin's, and Toyin is free to want Bestie to beat every other December release. That is business. It becomes something else when the contest leaves the cinema screen and move to people who had no hand in producing either film.
The figures should make everyone in this struggle to pause. According to the 2025 Nigeria Box Office Yearbook compiled by FilmOne Entertainment, cinemas across Anglophone West Africa recorded 2,795,276 admissions in 2025 and about ₦15.64 billion in revenue, with Nigeria accounting for roughly 94% of that revenue. In 2019, the same region recorded 5,146,628 admissions. Admissions are therefore about 46% lower than before. Over the same period, the average ticket price rose from ₦1,238 in 2019 to ₦5,596 in 2025. A smaller audience is paying far more for each ticket.
Even the biggest Nigerian release of 2025 followed the same route. Funke Akindele's Behind The Scenes grossed about ₦2 billion that year and was the most watched film, yet The Nollywood Reporter, in a report on 12 January 2026, put its admissions at 223,768. That is a remarkable result for one film. It also shows how small the paying cinema crowd still is, and it is the audience we should be growing together.
This week's quarrel followed two promotional announcements. On Thursday, 29 October 2026, Funke announced a partnership with Facebook to promote The Four: No One Fights Alone, which opens in cinemas on 11 December 2026. QED.NG, Punch, Nollywoodcv and Vanguard all reported it. She said followers would get behind the scenes footage, early premiere clips and updates on her official pages before the release. On Friday, 30 October 2026, Toyin Abraham shared a post on her TikTok page recalling an earlier TikTok collaboration with Oversabi Aunty and expressing hope for more partnerships as she prepares Bestie for release on 16 December 2026.
Some users read it as an attempt to catch up with Funke Akindele, and others doubted the earlier collaboration. A few days before, Legit.ng reported on 28 October that a similar argument broke out when Toyin's Adire outfit, printed with the title of Bestie, was likened to the matching Adire worn to promote The Four. I find all of this unnecessary. In film publicity, you announce every achievement that can help sell your film, and you can repeat it. I will admit I did not know about the TikTok collaboration until Toyin's post brought my attention to it. Not everyone sees an announcement the first time it is published.
I also do not think it is honest to pretend the tension between the two women exists only in the imagination of their supporters. Towards the end of March, a video from the premiere of Iyabo Ojo's The Return of Arinzo appeared to show Toyin greeting Funke and getting no acknowledgement. Leadership and Channels Television reported on 30 March that viewers were divided between calling it a snub and a misunderstanding. Toyin was reported to have unfollowed Funke afterwards. In an interview on The Morayo Show, reported by Within Nigeria in July, she said: "Everybody has a right to their reaction and actions. So it's okay."
In mid October, a recording allegedly of a private conversation between Toyin and a TikTok fan began circulating, with the fan reportedly insulting Funke. Legit.ng and Vanguard reported that neither the authenticity nor the full context of that recording had been established.
All of this explains why people are sensitive. It does not excuse what is happening in the comment sections. There is a difference between discussing the actions of a public figure and bullying her. I have not seen any verified statement from either actress telling supporters to insult, threaten or harass the other, so the conduct of anonymous accounts should not be pinned on the women.
That said, both of them have influence, and their supporters watch closely what they say and how they react. They do not have to become friends or appear together. But a short video from each of them, asking supporters to respect the other filmmaker and let everyone promote their work, would set a boundary that is badly needed.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria, the Directors Guild of Nigeria and the producers' associations should also speak up. They are quick to appear when members need recognition or when there is a dispute over benefits. They should be just as willing to discourage harassment and the use of fan communities as weapons against fellow practitioners.
To the fans, my message is simple, there is room for everybody. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives opens on 4 December 2026, The Four on 11 December and Bestie on 16 December 2026. These films have different stories, casts and audiences. Someone who buys a ticket for The Four can buy another for Bestie. Nobody is required to pick one filmmaker and reject the rest.
If you love an actress, support her work. Buy the ticket, bring a friend, share the trailer, go to the premiere. The energy spent attacking another filmmaker would be better used convincing someone who has not watched a Nigerian film in months to go to a cinema. Exhibitors, distributors, producers and crew members will gain when our market grows.
We have enough work already. We need more cinemas, better distribution, stronger marketing budgets, improved film financing and a much bigger paying audience. We cannot talk about growing Nollywood while making people afraid to support more than one filmmaker.
Funke Akindele and Toyin Abraham have each built a career through years of work, and neither woman's success requires the humiliation of the other. Their films can compete, their box office numbers can be compared, critics can review them and audiences can choose. But competition should not be hostility.
Nollywood has too many battles to fight a war against itself. This one is embarrassing, counterproductive and dangerous to the industry its fans claim to love. It has to stop.
