It was important to me to change the narrative. It's important because it has an impact on everything you do. It doesn't matter who you are or what business you are running. You would always be seen as some African from the bush trying to run a bank. But we do these things successfully and we shouldn't be seen as second rate. That is the message that we are putting out there.
Mo AbuduUnfortunately, we don't have a depth of African scriptwriters, so it's easier to Africanize something that already works. Local script writers are giving me James Bond budget scenes that I can't even produce.
Mo AbuduWe discussed relationships, abuse, divorce and more. In our society, women have no outlet for these things. The only outlet is the church. And the church can't handle everything. I saw a gap.
Mo AbuduI think anyone that comes to Nigeria has to offer value. What value are you bringing? There are Black Americans here. I think we've moved beyond that Africans vs. African Americans. They may have more issues with us than we do with them.
Mo AbuduThere aren't enough people in the media creation space. There aren't enough people making premium quality programming. That's how we change the narrative. Because there is a lot of bad African programming out there, and it is not helping matters.
Mo AbuduWhenever Hollywood makes films about us, it's 12 Years a Slave or The Butler or The Help. That is not the sum total of who we are as a people.
Mo AbuduIt was important to me to change the narrative. It's important because it has an impact on everything you do. It doesn't matter who you are or what business you are running. You would always be seen as some African from the bush trying to run a bank. But we do these things successfully and we shouldn't be seen as second rate. That is the message that we are putting out there.
Mo Abudu