Aisida Says Netflix’s ‘The Herd’ Is His Most Personal Story Yet

Iyke Bede

Lani Aisida has written many projects, but he says ‘The Herd’, now streaming on Netflix, sits differently with him. It is not only his return to cinema since ‘Just Not Married’ in 2016, but it is also the film where he feels his voice is the clearest.

Known for his role in shaping some of Nigeria’s most memorable web series, he says the new film comes from a place of strong conviction. The story deals with fear, community choices and the quiet pressures people carry during moments of crisis. Aisida elaborated that he wanted a film that reflects what Nigerians talk about behind closed doors. Something honest.

Directed by Daniel Etim-Effiong, who also serves as producer, the film follows a community forced to confront insecurity and the lines people cross when they feel cornered.

Before ‘The Herd’, Aisida created ‘Oga! Pastor’ in 2019, a show that became a national conversation on leadership and public pressure. The series examined how people place leaders on pedestals and how those same leaders struggle to maintain the image built around them.

Across his work, Aisida often returns to questions of faith, duty, loyalty and the choices people make when nobody is watching. He says he believes stories should confront real life, not escape from it, describing ‘The Herd’ as a project he wrote with intention, not scale.