Kunle Afolayan Inspired Me To Become a Director – Omoni Oboli

By Boluwatiofe Kehinde-Idowu

Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli has reflected on her longstanding professional relationship with Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, dating back to their work on the 2008 film The Figurine.

In a post shared via Instagram on Tuesday, Oboli revealed that watching Afolayan work on the set of The Figurine inspired her ambition to become a director.

“When I was on the set of The Figurine, I was always behind the camera with Kunle, like you would think I was his sister. I was always behind him,” she said.

“The truth is, that was one of the things that made me want to be a director so bad. Watching him do his work with so much zeal and enthusiasm, diligence, I was like, you know what, ‘I wanna do this.’ I kept saying it right beside him,” she added.

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Oboli also praised Afolayan for recognising the potential of a location in KAP Film Village, describing his decision to use the environment as a sign of creative vision.

“I walked into this place, and I was like, oh my days. I was saying to them, I said, so wait, it must have been a bush when you came in, and he saw this forest and said, ‘I can work with this.’ I said it takes a certain kind of audacity to think like that, so well done,” she said.

Responding to her praise, Afolayan said, “Thank you, darling.”

Oboli further noted that many people did not know how far back their professional relationship went.

“A lot of people don’t know that we go way back,” she said, with Afolayan agreeing.

In the video that Afolayan also collaborated with Oboli on Instagram, he said, “My journey with Omoni Oboli started in 2008 with The Figurine ‘Araromire’ and we are still here,” he wrote. “I am very proud of your achievement so far. Keep winning.”