Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Chairman of the Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS), has clarified the reason veteran actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has not received any residual or royalty payments from her extensive Nollywood career.
Responding to the actress’s public complaint that more than 30 years and over 300 projects produced zero residuals, Ali-Balogun told Channels Television that the reason is straightforward: “she is not a member of AVRS.”
“Collective societies are by membership only. If you don’t lend yourself to being part of the organisation, you are not likely to receive any form of residuals or royalties,” he stated. “She is not a member. She cannot receive anything.”
Ali-Balogun explained that residual collection remains a relatively new development in Nigeria’s film industry. AVRS has only been actively collecting and distributing royalties for about five to six years and has already made several distributions exclusively to registered members.
He also compared it to Hollywood, noting that actors there typically must belong to unions such as SAG-AFTRA before they can collect residuals. Nigerian guilds and unions, he added, are still developing stronger membership structures.
The AVRS chairman’s comments come after Omotola repeatedly highlighted the contrast between her unpaid Nollywood catalogue and the regular residual cheques she continues to receive from limited Hollywood work.
According to Ali-Balogun, membership remains the key requirement for any practitioner seeking to benefit from collective royalty distributions in Nigeria.