Nigeria deploy film stars for election peace

Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria (AP) — As emergencies go, it has a catchy tune. Faced with a Nigerian election that could spiral into violence, some in the popular film industry known as Kannywood gathered this week to shoot an urgent music video appealing for peace.

On an impromptu set outside the northern city of Kano, young women bickered between takes but at “Rolling!” smiled and swiveled in unison as male dancers sashayed by. While a drone camera buzzed overhead, a singer gestured and lip-synced a plea for Africa’s largest democracy to keep its cool.

“We are killing our children because of political violence,” the song said in the local Hausa language. “Go and cast your vote. Nigeria is a united country.”

Within hours, the video was edited and blasted across social media for Nigeria’s 190 million people and a vast diaspora that enjoys products from the homegrown film industry Nollywood — considered the world’s third-largest behind Hollywood and Bollywood — and Kannywood, its northern wing, named for its location in Kano.

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