Damilola Osikoya and Nora Awolowo have entered the Guinness World Records after 51,258 people attended the Lagos screening of Black Market, surpassing an 11-year-old record.
Nigerian filmmakers Damilola Osikoya and Nora Awolowo have made their mark in Guinness World Records after the premiere of Black Market attracted 51,258 qualifying viewers to Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.
The record-breaking screening took place on Saturday, September 26, 2026, as thousands of Nigerians gathered at the Lagos landmark to watch the Nollywood crime thriller simultaneously.
Guinness World Records officially recognised the event as the largest attendance at a film screening, replacing the previous record of 43,624 people set in 2015 during the screening of the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena. The new record exceeded the previous figure by more than 7,600 viewers.
The achievement was the result of a collaboration involving Rixel Studios, Switch Visuals Production, FilmOne Studios and Signet Ring Studios, with Awolowo serving as one of the film’s producers and Osikoya leading the event production.
From a film premiere to a world record
The idea behind the September 26 gathering was considerably larger than a conventional movie premiere. Organisers had targeted 50,000 simultaneous viewers, a figure chosen specifically to surpass the existing Guinness World Records benchmark.
The official Black Market platform described the project as an attempt to bring 50,000 Nigerians together for one film, one screen and one shared experience.
For Osikoya, whose Switch Visuals handled the event production, the scale of the project represented an opportunity to challenge conventional approaches to live entertainment.
Before the screening, she said, “There is nothing more inspiring to me than seeing young people challenge conventions and push the boundaries of innovation.” She added that the project was particularly meaningful because it demonstrated what could happen when “bold ideas meet determination and collaboration.”
That ambition translated into a large-scale production at TBS, where the film screening formed the centrepiece of a wider entertainment programme. The venue began filling hours before the movie started, with music, food, games and other activities creating an event that extended beyond the actual screening.
Osikoya’s role behind the scenes
While Awolowo’s name was closely associated with the film itself, Osikoya was responsible for the production machinery that allowed tens of thousands of people to experience it at the same time.
Switch Visuals was officially credited as the event production partner, with Osikoya serving as Event Production Producer. Her responsibilities also included bringing sponsors and partners into the project and working on the event’s budget and execution.
Following the achievement, Osikoya described the scale of the undertaking in a statement that highlighted the complexity behind the spectacle.
“This wasn’t a movie premiere with a crowd. This was a live, unrepeatable event with 51,000 moving parts, and it had exactly one chance to work,” she said.
She also acknowledged the organisations that supported the event, including Zenith Bank, Oraimo, Johnnie Walker Blonde, the Lagos State Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Swoop.
“Nobody builds a night like this alone,” Osikoya said, thanking the partners and the Black Market team for contributing to the project.
The Guinness certification ultimately reflected the number of people who remained for the entire screening, rather than everyone who passed through the venue. Although the total crowd at TBS was reported to have been considerably higher, Guinness recorded 51,258 qualifying viewers.
Awolowo’s experiment with Nollywood
For Awolowo, the record is another stage in the development of Rixel Studios, the production company behind Black Market and its earlier feature, Red Circle.
Before the record attempt, Awolowo had spoken about the importance of finding new ways to present Nigerian films to audiences. In an interview with TheCable Lifestyle, she explained that the title Black Market itself was considered partly from a marketing perspective, noting that the phrase already carried familiarity for Nigerian audiences.
“For me, your title is also marketing,” she said. “If your title is not catchy or engaging, you do not want to give people that. You want to give somebody something that is relatable and works with your marketing.”
That approach extended to the film’s release strategy. Rather than limiting the premiere to a conventional cinema setting, the production team pursued a mass gathering that would make the audience part of the event.
Awolowo had earlier revealed that the team was working with the Lagos State Government on security, traffic management and transportation arrangements for the expected crowd. She also said the production had organised a university tour as part of its audience-building efforts.
After the record was confirmed, Awolowo reflected on the achievement in a message shared publicly, describing the project as one that had grown considerably from its original idea.
She wrote that the team had spent more than a year working behind the scenes before bringing more than 50,000 people together at TBS. She described the project as something that had started as “a bold idea” and eventually became one of the biggest productions she had been involved in.
The film behind the crowd
Black Market is a crime thriller directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.
The story follows five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation during a period of fuel scarcity and economic pressure. Their operation is disrupted after the daughter of one of the women is kidnapped, forcing the group to confront a dangerous situation that threatens their business and relationships.
The film features Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Ibrahim Yekini, Uzor Arukwe and other actors.
For Gimsay, the project also represents a significant career milestone, as Black Market marks her feature directorial work following her development as a filmmaker and writer.
A new record for Nollywood
The achievement has attracted attention beyond the film industry. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu congratulated Osikoya and Awolowo, describing the record as evidence of the talent and enterprise within Nigeria’s creative sector.
Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, who attended the event, also commended the organisers and the young creatives involved.
“Lagos doesn’t carry last. We know why we are here because this is a country that has talent, an enormous amount of talent,” Hamzat said. “Our challenge is not talent; it’s how to create the right platform for these talents.”
For Osikoya and Awolowo, the Guinness recognition places their names alongside a project that combined filmmaking, event production and audience engagement on an unusually large scale.
The official record now belongs to Damilola Osikoya, Switch Visual Limited, Nora Awolowo and Rixel Studios, with 51,258 people recorded at the Lagos screening.
What began as an attempt to gather 50,000 people for a film has consequently become a new entry in the global record books, giving Black Market a distinction that will remain attached to its premiere long after the crowds have left Tafawa Balewa Square.