Actress Teniola Aladese has opened up about pay disparity in Nollywood, highlighting how secrecy around earnings often leaves actors undervalued.
The To Kill a Monkey star revealed this during an interview.
“In my industry, people rarely talk about pay disparity, and I’m grateful to individuals like Timini Egbusin and Kunle Remi, who openly discuss their earnings with colleagues,” she said.
“I remember a conversation with Timini on the set of Love in a Pandemic, he might not even recall it, but he was talking about a project he’d been approached for and mentioned the amount offered. At that time, he wasn’t happy with it. He said something like, ‘You’re calling me to spend weeks on set for what I could make in two to three days elsewhere.’
“Hearing that made me realise how much money is actually circulating in the industry. The issue is, because we don’t talk openly about pay, many people aren’t aware of the earning potential. They assume, ‘Ah, they offered me 100,000, I’ll just take it,’ without realizing that budgets are often flexible. For instance, a character might only be needed for a couple of days, but the budget might allocate 700,000.”
Teniola Aladese is an actress, producer, and casting director. She started her career behind the scenes, working as a production coordinator on over 30 Africa Magic original films between 2013 and 2015.
Her breakout role came in the television drama series Jemeji (2018), where she played “Akweyon.” Since then, she has starred in films like Love in a Pandemic (2023), Big Love (2023), and the psychological drama Gone (2025), where she led the cast as Detective Christie Obi.
Teniola’s efforts have been recognized with awards, including the Trailblazer Award at the 2022 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). By speaking out, Aladese is challenging Nollywood’s culture of secrecy around pay.
