Omoni Oboli Reveals Kunle Afolayan Inspired Her to Become a Director: ‘I Was Always Behind the Camera With Him on The Figurine’

Nollywood star Omoni Oboli has pulled back the curtain on one of the most important turning points of her career, revealing that watching Kunle Afolayan work behind the camera on the set of The Figurine is what planted the seed of her ambition to become a director. The actress and filmmaker made the emotional revelation during a visit to Afolayan’s KAP Film Village, where she and her team arrived for a shoot, and the filmmaker captured the heartfelt moment in a video he shared on Instagram on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

In the video, which Afolayan posted to his Instagram page, Oboli stood in the lush surroundings of the film village and spoke warmly about the long history she shares with the celebrated director, a friendship and professional bond she said stretches back to 2008. It was a conversation between two old friends, full of laughter and genuine affection, but it also carried a weightier message about mentorship, ambition and how one director’s work ethic can light a fire in someone else.

The Instagram Video That Melted Hearts

Kunle Afolayan’s post on Tuesday evening was short on words but rich in meaning. Sharing the video with his followers, the filmmaker wrote: “My journey with Omoni started in 2008 with the Figurine ‘Araromire’ and we are still here. I am very proud of your achievement so far. Keep winning @Omonioboli. This is the second shoot @kapfilmvillage in one month. Come and let partner”

The video itself showed Oboli and her crew at the KAP Film Village for a shoot, the second such visit within a month, according to Afolayan’s caption. As the camera rolled, Oboli could not hide her excitement about being back in Afolayan’s creative space, and she turned the visit into an opportunity to pay tribute to the man she credits with changing her career.

Social media users who watched the video were quick to react, many of them expressing admiration for the enduring friendship between the two filmmakers and celebrating the fact that both of them have continued to push Nigerian cinema forward, each in their own way, nearly two decades after they first worked together.

“I Was Always Behind the Camera With Kunle”

The most touching part of the video came when Oboli opened up about her time on the set of The Figurine, the 2009 film that brought them together. Speaking with obvious fondness, she painted a picture of herself as a curious young actress who simply could not stay away from the action behind the scenes.

“When I was on the set of The Figurine, I was always behind the camera with Kunle, like you would think I was his sister. I was always behind him,” she said in the video. “The truth is, that was one of the things that made me want to be a director so bad. Watching him do his work with so much zeal and enthusiasm, diligence, I was like, you know what, ‘I wanna do this.'”

She described watching him direct with so much zeal, enthusiasm and diligence that it sparked something in her. According to her, she kept saying “I wanna do this” right beside him, as if the words poured out before she could stop them.

It is a confession that will resonate with many in the creative industry, where the line between admiration and ambition is often crossed quietly, on a set, behind a camera, in moments nobody else notices. For Oboli, that moment happened on the set of a film that would go on to become one of the most important productions in modern Nollywood history.

She also noted that many people are unaware of just how far back her relationship with Afolayan goes. “A lot of people don’t know that we go way back,” she said, with Afolayan nodding along in agreement, confirming the depth of a bond that has survived nearly two decades of Nollywood’s evolution.

The Figurine: The Film That Changed Nollywood

To understand the weight of Oboli’s revelation, one has to appreciate what The Figurine: Araromire represented at the time. Released in 2009, the film was directed and produced by Kunle Afolayan and featured an ensemble cast that included Ramsey Nouah, Kunle Afolayan himself, Omoni Oboli, Funlola Aofiyebi, Femi Adebayo and Wale Ojo.

The story follows two friends who discover a mysterious figurine at a shrine during their National Youth Service Corps camp. The figurine brings them seven years of good fortune, followed by seven years of misfortune, and the film weaves this folk-horror premise into a tale that critics praised for its ambition, technical polish and cinematic storytelling.

When the film premiered, it sent shockwaves through the Nigerian film industry. At the time, Nollywood was largely associated with low-budget productions shot quickly and distributed on DVD. The Figurine arrived with a level of craft and visual storytelling that many had not seen from the industry before. Film critics and audiences alike hailed it as a game-changer, a production that proved Nigerian cinema could compete on the big screen.

The industry’s highest honours soon confirmed that assessment. The Figurine received 10 nominations at the 2010 edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards, the sixth edition of the continent’s most prestigious film awards. On the night, it walked away with five awards, including the two biggest prizes of the evening: Best Film and Best Director, the latter going to Kunle Afolayan himself.

For a young actress on that set, watching the director at work while a film of that calibre was being made, the experience was clearly formative. It is easy to see how seeing Afolayan’s dedication up close could plant the idea that directing was not just something other people did, but something she could aspire to herself.

From Actress to Director: Omoni Oboli’s Journey

What makes Oboli’s revelation so powerful is that it is not the story of a dream deferred. She did not just admire Afolayan’s work from afar and leave it at that. She went on to become a director in her own right, building a filmmaking career that has produced some of Nollywood’s most successful commercial hits.

Since that formative period on the set of The Figurine, Oboli has established herself as one of the most bankable filmmakers in Nigeria. She has directed and produced a string of popular films, including Wives on Strike, the comedy franchise that became a box office sensation, and Moms at War, another commercial success that cemented her reputation as a director who understands her audience.

Her journey from actress to director mirrors a path several Nollywood stars have taken, but few have matched the consistency and commercial success Oboli has achieved. Her films are known for relatable storytelling, strong ensemble casts and crowd-pleasing energy.

Afolayan’s Instagram caption acknowledged this growth directly. “I am very proud of your achievement so far. Keep winning,” he wrote, words that carry the warmth of a mentor watching a former colleague blossom into a peer. It is the kind of public affirmation that means everything in an industry where success is hard-won and rarely celebrated by competitors.

The two filmmakers now operate at the top of Nollywood’s directing class, each with a distinct voice and audience. Yet as the video showed, neither of them has forgotten where the journey began, or who was standing beside them when the cameras first started rolling.

The Forest That Became a Film Village

Beyond the emotional reunion, the video also shone a spotlight on one of Kunle Afolayan’s most ambitious projects: the KAP Film Village. Oboli could not contain her admiration for what her friend has built, describing the transformation of the location in vivid terms.

“I walked into this place, and I was like, oh my days. I was saying to them, I said, so wait, it must have been a bush when you came in, and he saw this forest and said, ‘I can work with this.’ I said it takes a certain kind of audacity to think like that, so well done,” she said.

Her words captured the essence of what makes the KAP Film Village remarkable. What was once a bush, a forest, an undeveloped stretch of land, has been transformed into a functioning film production village, a facility where filmmakers can bring their stories to life. Oboli described the vision behind it as audacious, and it is hard to disagree. Turning wilderness into a working film set requires not just money and labour, but imagination, the ability to look at an empty forest and see cameras, lights, actors and stories.

Afolayan’s response was simple and warm: “Thank you, darling.”

The KAP Film Village is part of Afolayan’s broader infrastructure push for Nigerian cinema. Alongside the KAP Academy, his film training institution, the village represents his belief that Nollywood’s future depends not just on talent, but on the physical infrastructure that allows talent to flourish. It is a philosophy that has defined his career, from his earlier hits like October 1st, the historical thriller that won multiple awards, to Anikulapo, the epic that became one of the most-watched African titles on streaming platforms.

The fact that this was the second shoot at the village within a month, as Afolayan noted in his caption, suggests the facility is finding its rhythm as a working production hub, attracting filmmakers who see the value in purpose-built creative spaces.

Mentorship and the New Nollywood

Oboli’s story is part of a larger narrative about mentorship in Nollywood, an industry where people often learn by watching. Nigerian cinema grew largely through apprenticeship, through young people standing behind experienced practitioners and absorbing everything they could.

The image Oboli painted, of herself trailing behind Afolayan on set, “like you would think I was his sister,” captures this tradition perfectly. Nobody assigned her to shadow the director. She simply followed her curiosity, stayed close to the action, and discovered a calling she did not know she had.

It is also worth noting how rare it is for established figures to publicly credit the people who inspired them. In an industry that can sometimes be guarded about its influences, Oboli’s openness is refreshing. She said it on camera, in his own film village, in front of her team and his followers.

For aspiring filmmakers, particularly young women in Nigeria who may be considering a move behind the camera, Oboli’s story offers a powerful lesson. Ambition often begins with proximity, with being close enough to greatness to imagine yourself in its place. Her advice, implicit in her story, is simple: find the people doing the work you admire, get close to them, watch carefully, and do not be afraid to say “I wanna do this.”

A Friendship That Has Stood the Test of Time

As Nollywood continues to evolve, with streaming platforms and a new generation of filmmakers reshaping the landscape, stories like this one remind us of the industry’s roots and the relationships that built it. The bond between Omoni Oboli and Kunle Afolayan began in 2008 on the set of a film that changed Nigerian cinema. Nearly eighteen years later, they are still here, still creating, still cheering each other on.

When Afolayan wrote “we are still here,” he was not just marking the passage of time. He was celebrating survival in an industry that has chewed up and spat out many talented people. He was celebrating the fact that the young actress who once trailed him around the set of The Figurine is now a director in her own right, bringing her own team to shoot at his film village.

It is the kind of full-circle moment that the entertainment industry does not produce often enough, and it is no wonder the video has warmed the hearts of fans across Nigeria and beyond. In a business built on stories, this is one of the best: a tale of inspiration, friendship and the audacity to look at a forest and see a future.

Source: Legit.ng, TVC News, QED.ng