MTN, Omoni Oboli unveil seven Christmas films

MTN Nigeria has partnered with filmmaker Omoni Oboli to unveil seven Christmas movies, in a collaboration aimed at promoting Nigerian storytelling and making locally produced entertainment more accessible to audiences.

The films were unveiled at a Christmas Movie Mixer hosted by MTN Nigeria, which brought together actors, filmmakers, content creators and other stakeholders in the creative industry to celebrate Nigerian cinema and the festive season.

Speaking at the event, the General Manager, Consumer Segments at MTN Nigeria, Idowu Adesokan, said the partnership reflected the company’s commitment to supporting the creative economy and harnessing its potential to create jobs, grow businesses and take Nigerian stories to wider audiences.

He noted that the collaboration with Omoni Oboli TV, alongside MTN’s strategic partnership with YouTube, was part of efforts to create opportunities for local talent and connect audiences with Nigerian content.

He said, “At MTN, we recognise that connectivity goes beyond access to the internet. It is an enabler of creativity, innovation and economic opportunity. We believe Nigeria’s creative industry has enormous potential to entertain, create jobs, build businesses and take our stories to the world.”

Oboli said the partnership was particularly significant because it would make the films more affordable to watch, thanks to MTN’s YouTube data bundles, which reduce the cost of streaming content.

“With MTN bundles, you can watch a whole film with just a few hundred naira. That makes me happy because I can tell my audience that we have a movie out, and they don’t have to break the bank to watch it,” she said.

The filmmaker explained that making content more accessible would also improve the earning potential of filmmakers and create employment opportunities for actors and other professionals in the industry.

“The more people watch, the more money the creators make, and the more money the creators make, the more people we can empower. I can have more actors in my films. So, I’m also empowering other people,” she said.

Oboli described filmmaking as a business that sustains several livelihoods, noting that the success of a production benefits not only filmmakers but also actors and other professionals whose income depends on the industry.

Also speaking, YouTube Consultant Berene Jankovich-Besan highlighted the importance of partnerships in expanding digital content consumption in Nigeria.

She identified affordability and access to suitable devices as some of the factors affecting digital adoption, noting that collaborations with telecommunications companies such as MTN could help address barriers to accessing online content.