In 1966, Nigerian filmmaker and theatre producer, Adeyemi “Ade Love” Afolayan joined Moses “Baba Sala” Olaiya’s drama troupe, The Alawada Theatre Group. It was a five-year mentorship phase that evolved into a creative partnership when Ade Love directed Olaiya’s Mosebolatan in 1986. The film, which represents a definitive project of their professional relationships, was a commercial success and won several awards, including recognition from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Concord Press of Nigeria for its technical and comedic excellence.
In 1971, Ade Love left Olaiya’s guidance to establish his own drama group, and subsequently became a successful solo filmmaker and actor. In 1976, he appeared in Ola Balogun’s Ajani Ogun and Ija Ominira (1979), also directed by Balogun. Kadara (Destiny) is credited as the first movie he wrote, produced, and also starred as the leading actor. The movie screened at the 9th edition of the Tashkent film festival for African and Asian cinema, hinting at the cross-continental influence of the filmmaker. Afolayan went on to produce and star in other productions such as Ija Orogun, Taxi Driver, and Iya ni Wura.
Ade Love operated within two periods. The first was the vibrant but gradually waning travelling Yoruba theatre of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, which was dominated by Hubert Ogunde, Olaiya (Baba Sala), Duro Ladipo, Kola Ogunmola, Ishola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi, Lere “Eda Onile Ola” Paimo, and others. The second was the reluctant shift from stage plays to film which Ola Balogun is central to.
The Yoruba travelling theatre was strictly a performance medium, and it was commercially successful. Balogun observed the massive audiences the plays attracted and ideated capturing the plays on film. In 1976, he directed Ajani Ogun, which starred Ade Love. The film which was a medley of the music, dance, and folklore — elements from the Yoruba travelling theatre, was a resounding success. Ajani Ogun is widely cited by film historians and critics as Nigerian first true box-office hit in Nigerian history. Its commercial success proved that indigenous language films could be more profitable than the foreign imports that dominated the screens at the time. The film’s soundtrack, written in collaboration with Duro Ladipo, was released on LP (vinyl) simultaneously, creating a dual revenue stream.
Balogun provided the technical direction, but Ade Love is one of the first theater leaders to fully embrace and institutionalize filmmaking within his troupe. After Ajani Ogun’s success, he began producing and directing his own celluloid films. It was during this period that he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Iya Ni Wura in 1985.
On 2nd April, 2026, Nigerian filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, Ade Love’s son, released a remastered version of Iya Ni Wura on his YouTube channel, KAP Stream TV. Four decades after its release, the film is vibrant with visual competence and occasional storytelling merit. The film centers on the stories of twin brothers, Goodluck and Adewale (played by Ade Love), who are separated as children in a market while their mother is performing a cultural ritual.
Goodluck gets picked, raised in an orphanage, and becomes a music superstar. Adewale becomes a lawyer like their late father. Adewale enjoys their mother’s affection, and it might explain his gentle disposition towards life and human relationships. For Goodluck, owing to his musical profession, he’s untrusting of people. And despite his success, he attracts unflattering remarks because of his orphan identity.
Iya Ni Wura’s success and failure lie in its engagement with social commentaries on the conflict between tradition and modernity, the metaphysical identity of Yoruba twins, social stigma attached to orphans, and the conflict between record labels and popular musicians. Nigerian poet and music critic, Dami Ajayi, suggested that this heated conflict between label owners and musicians that the film explores might have been inspired by the famous battle between Sunny Ade and his label boss Chief Abioro of Take Your Choice records. The film is weighed down by multiple plot points that often collapse into one another. By shuffling one plot point into oblivion, the film doesn’t offer a serious reflection or dialogue on the social and spiritual subjects it engages with beyond casual depiction.
In Yoruba cosmology, twins are considered a singular spiritual entity, split with spiritual rituals that must be carried out by their parents or guardians. These rituals are designed to acknowledge their dual relationship with the physical and spiritual world. Thus, culturally, Goodluck and Adewale’s parents were obligated to perform the ritual, but the father, a lawyer, isn’t keen about it. The film doesn’t sit with this conflict between tradition and modernity. This doesn’t allow for an interesting understanding of how Nigerians were thinking around these issues as far back as the 80s. It also doesn’t allow for a deep dive into the film’s cultural and supernatural moments.
Globally, cinema functions as a time capsule. It entraps and permanently preserves specific moments in time, including its people, places, culture, and environmental conditions, for future generations. This is what the film’s contemporary audience will realize. In one scene, Chairman (Lere Paimo) attempts to bribe Judge Nelson with 5000 naira. In 2026, that’s a ridiculous figure that barely buys a day’s data. But, in the 80s, it was significant enough to bribe a Judge. When Goodluck goes missing at the market, he is picked up by a Social Welfare Department, a government agency responsible for taking care of children living by the roadside, and transferred to an orphanage. In 2026, the Lagos state government is arresting its homeless citizens, including children.
Ramsey Nuoah is often credited as Nollywood’s first lead actor to play identical twins in a Nollywood film courtesy of his performance in Tade Ogidan’s 2004 project, Dangerous Twins. This has been proven to be incorrect as Ade Love’s performance is undoubtedly the first. The film’s technicality might have inspired other twin-led performances, including Dangerous Twins, Omo Ghetto, and others. The filmmaking team of Iya Ni Wura were incredible to have achieved the twin shot as early as the 80s. Another quality of the film is its framing and composition.
Ade Love was remarkably successful during his prime, both as a theater leader and a filmmaker. He arguably set the blueprint for what a Nollywood commercial blockbuster and filmmaker looks like. Iya Ni Wura, not without its failing, represents Old Nollywood at its finest.
