Veteran Nollywood actor and filmmaker, Jide Kosoko, has opened up about his financial difficulties after his historical movie, Eleko: Oba Esugbayi, failed to recoup its production cost of more than ₦300 million at the cinemas.
Kosoko made the revelation during an interview on the African A-List podcast, explaining that the money used to finance the project came from investors who expected returns rather than outright gifts.
According to the veteran actor, the film’s poor box-office performance left him struggling to recover the money invested in the production, despite the significant resources committed to bringing the historical story to the big screen.
“My film ‘Eleko: Oba Esugbayi’ that recently came out and we took to the cinemas, cost us over N300 million. Do I have 300 million?” he asked, expressing the scale of the financial commitment involved.
Kosoko explained that several people contributed money towards the project, but the film failed to generate enough revenue to repay the investment.
“Different things happened, and we did not earn our money back. The little that was earned was split. As I am, if you hear someone with debt dancing around their neck, it is me,” he said.
Reports on the film’s performance indicate that Eleko: Oba Esugbayi generated approximately ₦18.3 million during its opening weekend following its cinema release in March 2026, a figure significantly below its reported production cost.
However, opening weekend earnings alone do not represent the film’s total cinema revenue.
The historical production tells the story of Oba Esugbayi Eleko, the Lagos monarch remembered for his resistance to British colonial rule in the early twentieth century. The film featured several established Nollywood actors and marked Kosoko’s venture into cinema filmmaking as a producer.
His disclosure has drawn attention to the financial risks associated with Nigeria’s cinema industry, where substantial production budgets do not necessarily guarantee commercial success. For filmmakers who depend on external investors, disappointing box-office returns can leave significant financial obligations even after a project has reached cinemas.
