Kunle Afolayan, Mark Zuckerberg Sparks Reactions Over Power Outage

A resurfaced video of Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has reignited conversations about Nigeria’s persistent power issues.

The clip, originally recorded during Zuckerberg’s 2016 visit to Nigeria, shows Afolayan sharing an idea on how Facebook could help content creators monetise their work. While passionately discussing Nollywood’s challenges, an unexpected power outage disrupted their meeting.

In the video, both Afolayan and Zuckerberg laughed off the interruption, with Zuckerberg quipping, “This is Nigeria,” highlighting the country’s long-standing electricity struggles.

Sharing the throwback clip on Instagram on Saturday, April 26, Afolayan wrote:
“With Mark Zuckerberg @zuck a few years ago, trying to sell the idea of monetisation of content on Facebook.”

In the video, Afolayan proposed the creation of a Facebook application where content creators would earn money based on their number of followers or views:
“If there’s an opportunity where there’s an app on Facebook where you put content and the amount of follows or views you get is monetised, that will make you a superman,” he said.

The video has since gone viral, drawing mixed reactions from Nigerians online. While many found humour in the situation, others expressed frustration over the country’s unending electricity woes.

Some reactions captured include:

• @nkechiblessingsunday: “Mark go first think say him don blind ooo, sorry na PHCN.”
• @vien007: “The way the light went off was actually funny.”
• @pauldgoodguy: “So embarrassing for them laughing at the country after mentioning Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, others praised Afolayan for his foresight and relentless efforts in promoting Nollywood to the global stage.

In a related development, Afolayan’s daughter, Eyiyemi, also made headlines recently after a video of her singing and dancing to Kizz Daniel’s “Twe Twe” song went viral.