Veteran actor and filmmaker Yemi Ayebo, widely recognised for his role in the 1993 Yoruba cult classic Yemi My Lover, has opened up about the financial toll the film’s widespread piracy took on his career, despite the movie’s groundbreaking success.
The film, a fantasy romance, tells the story of a young man who falls in love with a mysterious woman from a lineage of water spirits.
It quickly gained national attention upon its release, resonating especially with Yoruba-speaking audiences and securing its place in the annals of Nollywood history as one of the early breakout hits of the 1990s.
But in a recent interview with YouTuber Mr LilGaga, Ayebo shared a stark contrast between the film’s popularity and his personal financial reality. According to him, piracy and inadequate distribution structures in the analogue era meant he never reaped the benefits of his creative labour.
“I was the one who wrote and produced the movie in 1993. The movie cut across the country, especially the Yoruba-speaking part, but I didn’t make any money from it; 90% was gotten by piracy,” he said.
Ayebo explained that due to limited access to media and promotional tools at the time, he handled the film’s marketing alone. That move, he noted, triggered backlash from industry marketers, many of whom felt sidelined.
“I didn’t profit from that film because it was created during the analogue era. There was no social media then, so I didn’t have the opportunity to promote it widely. The awareness was low, and I was struggling, doing the little I could to promote it. As a result, the movie was pirated, and the marketers were not pleased with me because I handled the marketing myself. The marketers waged war against me, which marked the beginning of my problems with them.”
The filmmaker said piracy became rampant, with illegal copies of the movie spreading across the southwest and beyond. Some individuals even went as far as renting halls and charging viewers for screenings, while others printed and sold DVD copies, none of which brought him any returns.
“Since then, I’ve been struggling. Both pirated and original copies of the movie circulated. People were printing and selling it without my consent. Back then, there was no way to combat piracy due to limited means of communication. Across all Yoruba-speaking regions, the film was being distributed illegally, and people profited from it. Some even rented halls to screen the movie and charged people to watch it. Meanwhile, some marketers printed the DVD covers and distributed them, while I was in my office selling what little I could.”
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Ayebo also revealed he invested his modest returns into essential tools to continue working, including a camera, office space, and a car. However, the lack of support and awareness on distribution and marketing proved to be a major challenge.
“In the film industry, there’s supposed to be a division of labour, but I did everything myself due to my limited knowledge,” he added.
“I produced ‘Yemi My Lover’ with about N50,000 to N60,000 and only made a small amount back. I don’t own a house, I rent an apartment. So, from the money, I bought a camera, rented an office, hired a few staff, and got a car. That was all.”
His troubles didn’t end with piracy. Ayebo recounted a harrowing experience in 1996 that he described as a turning point in his professional and personal life. He said he was falsely accused, beaten, and detained—an ordeal that cost him hundreds of thousands of naira.
“There was a time in 1996 when I was in my office on Lagos Island, and a guy came to my office with soldiers,” he added.
“I was taken to Alausa, Ikeja, where we met a major, and I was falsely accused, beaten, and the major asked that I should be killed. However, some of his colleagues stopped him, and I was locked up. Some of my boys were also arrested. Before I could resolve the case, I spent almost N500k, and that issue was a major setback for me. Things haven’t been the same since.”
Today, the actor and producer says he is struggling to stay afloat. He notes that the current state of the film industry, where connections and visibility on social media often trump talent and experience, has made it even more difficult to find stable work.
“Right now, I’m broke and don’t have much. Things aren’t easy,” he said.
“The movie industry is all about connections; you’ll struggle financially if you’re not well-connected. I need more connections to get back on my feet.”
Despite his difficult journey, Ayebo remains a cultural icon to many who grew up watching Yemi My Lover, a film that not only showcased his creative genius but also helped lay the groundwork for fantasy narratives in Yoruba cinema.
His story highlights the pressing need for structural reform, artist protection, and improved distribution systems in Nollywood, especially for pioneers who gave so much to the industry, often with little in return.
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