Narratives of Female Agency and Leadership in Nigerian Cinema: Examining Gender and Education in the Royal Hibiscus Hotel and Finding Me Movies

The powerful influence of filmic representation on the public perception of gender and power has made the representation of women in Nigerian cinema a significant area of scholarly inquiry. This study interrogates Ishaya Bako’s The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2017) and Funke Akindele’s Finding Me (2020) to explore how female protagonists negotiate the intricacies of patriarchy, education, and personal agency by utilizing a CDA approach grounded in the work of Norman Fairclough (1995). Findings reveal that the education of the protagonists is a reflection of social norms and each character’s drive toward autonomy. Characters in these films also use education to empower themselves, challenge patriarchy, and gain agency through negotiating family relationships, economic independence, and reinterpreting traditional femininity and leadership. These findings reveal the complexities of Nigerian women’s lived experience and the need for more nuanced portrayals of women within Nollywood that reflect the diversity and agency of women in Nigerian society. The study highlighted the intersection of gender and education in these films, emphasizing the potential of media as an active mechanism for women’s empowerment. This finding supports research on Nollywood and gender representation and underscores the importance of media in debunking and reconstructing such stereotypical notions about the role women can play and their agency within Nigerian society.