Omoni Oboli, the Nigerian actress and filmmaker, says her partnership with MTN on seven Christmas movies will make her films more affordable to watch and create jobs in the creative industry.

Oboli said the partnership would help viewers spend less on internet data when streaming her movies. It would also help more people access her content through MTN’s YouTube data bundles.

She spoke at the MTN x Omoni Oboli TV Christmas Movie Mixer held at the MTN Rooftop Event Centre in Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The event brought together actors, filmmakers, content creators and other players in the entertainment industry. It also featured the unveiling of her seven-film Christmas project.

The filmmaker said the movies would begin rolling out in the second week of November. The first is scheduled to premiere on November 13.

Why Omoni Oboli partnered with MTN

Oboli said affordable internet access was one of the main reasons behind the partnership.

She explained that MTN’s YouTube bundles would allow viewers to stream her films without spending too much on data.

“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.

She added that more viewers would also mean more income for filmmakers. This, in turn, would allow them to employ more actors and other production workers.

“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,” Oboli said.

She described filmmaking as a serious business that supports the livelihoods of many people. She noted that the success of a movie benefits not only the filmmaker but also the actors and other professionals involved.

Why she keeps movie titles secret

Oboli also explained why she does not announce her movie titles ahead of their release dates.

According to her, some YouTube channels use titles announced by filmmakers to mislead viewers by giving their own movies the same names.

“We do not release our movie titles until the day the movie is coming out. It is deliberate because there are some weird channels on YouTube,” she said.

“They are not really creators’ channels; they are just roaches.”

“Once you release your title, they are just going to change one of their movie titles to that title, and people start looking for your movie later.”

She said the seven-film project had been in development for about four to five months. Scriptwriters had been working on different stories for the Christmas releases.

What MTN and YouTube said

Speaking at the event, Idowu Adesokan, general manager, consumer segments at MTN Nigeria, said the partnership reflects the company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s creative industry.

He said the collaboration with Omoni Oboli TV, alongside MTN’s partnership with YouTube, would create opportunities for local talent and help Nigerian stories reach wider audiences.

“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,” he said.

Also speaking, Berene Jankovich-Besan, YouTube consultant, highlighted the role of partnerships in growing online content consumption in Nigeria.

She identified the cost of data and access to suitable devices as some of the challenges facing digital adoption.

Jankovich-Besan said MTN and YouTube also work with creators to promote their channels and attract more viewers.

She explained that their campaigns include the names of creators and their YouTube channels. This helps audiences find and follow their work.

“We want to make sure that the channel name is there so we can drive traffic to the creator channels on YouTube. Ultimately, success for us would be if those channels keep growing and have more subscribers,” she said.

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