Veteran Ghanaian actor Majid Michel has described comparisons between Ghana’s movie industry and Nigeria’s Nollywood as unfair, citing the significant difference in the population sizes of both countries.
Speaking during a recent interview with Y1079 FM Accra, Michel argued that Nigeria’s much larger population gives it a greater pool of actors, filmmakers and other creative professionals than Ghana.
The actor described the comparison between the two film industries as “stupid,” insisting that it was unreasonable to expect Ghana, with a population of fewer than 40 million people, to compete equally with Nigeria, whose population exceeds 200 million.
“The comparison between us and Nigeria is such a stupid comparison to me. If you have 50 children and I have five children, the possibility that you will have more criminals, doctors, good children and filmmakers than me is very high,” he said.
Michel further explained that Nigeria’s larger population naturally increases its chances of producing more professionals across different fields, including filmmaking. According to him, the disparity in population should be considered when evaluating the performance and output of the two countries’ entertainment industries.
He questioned why Ghana should be compared with Nigeria in terms of the number of doctors and filmmakers, arguing that the difference in population provides a logical explanation for the gap.
The actor also extended his argument beyond the entertainment industry, saying Ghana should be cautious about comparing itself with more established countries, particularly in matters of leadership and institutional development.
Michel maintained that some nations have enjoyed centuries of leadership experience and have developed strong systems over time, while Ghana still has considerable progress to make.
He concluded that meaningful comparisons should take into account differences in population, experience and institutional development rather than judging countries solely by their achievements or output.
