CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Since the advent of home-video movies on the Nigerian entertainment scene in the late eighties, it has become a widespread form of family home entertainment as well as providing a lucrative source of livelihood for a good number of movie makers, some of whom had to find a way of staying in business after the decline of celluloid film(Okeckukwu, 2016).  Home video has also been a route of creative fulfillment for a significant number of gifted performers who required a medium other than the conventional theater to express and exhibit their innate ability (Tasie, 2013).

The home-video movie or film provides a dramatic tale containing a conflict between good and evil, which typically incorporates the supernatural as well as the plots, schemes, and machinations of people who wish to acquire rich and to live a lavish lifestyle (Haynes, & Okome, 2000).

Furthermore, widely described according to the language used for conversation, the video movies are known as Yorùbá, Igbo, Hausa, or Pidgin "films," "videos," or "home video movies(Okeckukwu, 2016).  They narrate stories utilizing the diverse cultures and beliefs – both past and contemporary – as sources. The liveliness of Nigeria's home-video business and the rate at which it creates them seems to overwhelm the popularity warranted by tales and the numerous unusual personalities and events in them.

Most home-video movies flourish on what is now the familiar ground of the presentation of ritualized activities. These offer bizarre portrayals of spirits or else entities whose usual activity has been altered(Nwogu, 2007). The prominent motif in these films is the exploitation of rituals and grotesque characters to establish settings in which luxury and riches transfer the actors from a regular reality to a realm of fantasy.

Although this road to the imaginary realm of wealth is frequently riddled with terrible acts and individuals, however, within the story, it is their existence and practice that delivers "success".  In fact, success frequently turns out to be fleeting and may be more in the form of an aberration of reality than the construction of a new permanent reality(Nwogu, 2007). Ritual sacrifices are generally necessary to accomplish the desired outcome, and the "journey" to it bears irreparable implications since the ritual sacrifices are nearly always humans.  The claimed moral goal of the videos is to show this practice and belief as a sort of evil behavior in order to prevent people from indulging in it, but the rivers imply the reverse.  Thus, against this backdrop, this study is meant to examine ritualism in Nigerian home movies.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Home videos has been acknowledged as a conveyor of popular culture which not only mirrorizes and tells tales which it subsists; but reflect the lifestyles, attitudes, surroundings and activities inside a specific society (Alawode & Uduakobong, 2013 ).   Nollywood home videos in aiming to catch audiences’ imagination and curiosity employ themes and scenes that communicate tales that are not health for the society (Kumwenda, 2008).   Films about ritualism are among the extensively utilized subjects in Nollywood home films to demonstrate African content and cultural pattern. However, the act of ritualism is conducted largely for money earning motives as portrayed most commonly in Nigerian movies. The creation and watching of these sorts of home films presents a concern in the society as they considerably have a large impact on youngsters most notably(Okon, 2015). According to Tasie, (2013), The killing of a living creature(including humans) as a ritual to a god or spirit used to be termed a blood sacrifice or ritual killing is an old-fashioned term that focuses attention on the spilling of blood by cultists and ritualists with the belief that this act usually follows with a return of good fortune, but these spiritual scenarios and sacrifices has dominated the content of most Nigerian home (Tasie, 2013). However, critics and the regulatory body (National Film and Video Censors Board) have severely criticized Nigerian home videos for placing too much emphasis on what is described as ‘negative themes’, which include occultism, blood, corruption, sex, violence, fetishism, ritualism and other negative practices.  Despite the critiques, new videos are launched into the market therefore requiring this investigation.

1.3 Objective Of The Study

Generally, the study is based on the appraisal of ritualism in Nigeria home videos. However, the study will be explored through the following specific objectives;

i.          Investigate the impact of ritualism in Nigeria home videos on the societal morality.

ii.        Determine the effect of ritualism in Nigeria home videos on audience perception towards wealth creation.

iii.      Ascertain whether ritualism in Nigeria home videos  have attributed to ritual practices in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

The study will be guided  by the following questions;

i.          What is the impact of ritualism in Nigeria home videos on the societal morality?

ii.        Does presentation of ritualism in Nigeria home videos have a negative effect on the audience perception of wealth creation?

iii.      Has ritualism in Nigeria home videos  attributed to ritual practices in Nigeria?

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