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Zenith Bank, Oraimo, Johnnie Walker Blonde Among Brands Behind Nigeria’s Record-Breaking Film Screening

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Zenith Bank, Oraimo, Johnnie Walker Blonde Among Brands Behind Nigeria’s Record-Breaking Film Screening

Switch Visuals CEO Damilola Osikoya, who led the record attempt and brought sponsors and partners on board, thanks the backers who made a 51,000-strong night possible.



 

On Saturday, September 26, 2026, more than 51,000 people gathered at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, for a screening of the Nollywood crime thriller Black Market, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single location. The previous record of 43,624 was set in 2015 by the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena.

A Guinness World Records official confirmed the figure on-site. Behind the night was a commercial partnership as much as a cinematic one, and at the centre of it stood Damilola Osikoya, CEO of Switch Visuals.

Osikoya was officially credited as Event Production Producer for the screening, with Switch Visuals listed as Production Partner in the event’s official documentation. She was the engine behind the record attempt, from planning through execution, and she also brought sponsors and partners on board to make an event of this scale possible.



 The backers

Organisers have acknowledged the following partners, among others:

• Zenith Bank

• Oraimo

• Johnnie Walker Blonde

• Lagos State Ministry of Culture and Tourism

• Swoop

A film worth gathering for

The record was set on the strength of Black Market, produced by Nora Awolowo of Rixel Studios and directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay. The film gave the sponsors, the state and the public a reason to be in the same place at the same time. The event around it was built to hold that crowd.

“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.”

Organisers had targeted a minimum of 50,000 simultaneous attendees, and long queues formed around TBS as people arrived hours early. Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat was among the dignitaries present. Industry observers describe the night as one of the largest live productions ever executed in Nigeria.

“Nobody builds a night like this alone. To Zenith Bank, Oraimo, Johnnie Walker Blonde, the Lagos State Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Swoop, thank you for backing an idea nobody had tried before. And to Nora Awolowo and the Black Market team, thank you for giving us a film worth gathering for.”

Osikoya also leads Voyage Quest Travels. Black Market moves into nationwide cinemas in the coming weeks.

 

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