SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: T&fs

CONTRIBUTORS:

Ebekue, E.O;
Uto-ezeajugh, T.C;
Asigbo, A;

ABSTRACT:

The belief in migration as a route to abundant wealth and a solution to the problem of poverty in Nigeria has continued to increase mostly among the youth population in the country. The evolution of the film medium and its treatment of issues of migration appears to make it more alluring to Africans. Therefore, the problem of this study was the glorification of outcomes of migration in both the diasporic and home locales by Nollywood. Thus, the aim of this study was to bring to the fore the lope sided nature of the narrative of migration in Nollywood feature films. It was the objective of the research to critically unearth the philosophical dichotomy between the representations of migration and migrant experiences in Nollywood feature and documentary narratives. The research was also geared towards devising means of making films from the Nollywood fictional narrative genre to contribute more positively to the fight against irregular migration in Nigeria. The researcher evaluated migration and migrant experiences in three Nollywood feature and three documentary films using therandom sampling and case study approaches of the qualitative research method.Ervin Goffman’s Theory of Media framing served as a strong foothold for interrogating the critical issues. from the research show that while documentary films represent irregular migrant experiences as gory, traumatic and a dare devil affair, Nollywood feature films toe the line of representation that depicts it as gay, romantic and a quick fix to poverty for most youths in Nigeria. The researcher concluded that since Nollywood feature films are more accessible to the majority of the lower-class population that form the bulk of the irregular migrant population in Nigeria, it is toxic for the film industry to continue the single story of irregular migration that makes it more seductive and seemingly alluring. The researcher recommended workshops and symposiums between relevant government agencies and Nollywood stake holders with the view ofachieving a more contrastive approach tomigration narration in Nollywood feature films.