Lai Mohammed versus entertainers: Who blinks first?

The Federal Government recently declared that it was currently looking into amending the Nigerian broadcasting code, in order to discourage the production and shooting of Nigerian movies and music videos beyond the shores and borders of Nigeria. The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who announced this during a visit to the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) recently, stated that the production of movies and music videos abroad has denied the entertainment industry a greater development. He also stressed that for a product to be classified as Nigerian, it has to have an appreciable percentage of Nigerian content and it is quite disappointing that our entertainers go out to film these productions, only to bring it back to us to consume.
‘This government has agreed that henceforth, whatever we consume in Nigeria in terms of music and films, must be made in Nigeria. We cannot continue to go to South Africa or any other country to produce our films and then send them back to be consumed in Nigeria. The Broadcasting Code and the Advertising Code are very clear on this. ‘For you to classify a product as a Nigerian product, it must have a certain percentage of Nigerian content,’ he said.
Mohammed noted Nigerian musicians of today fly out of the country to record music then return it for Nigerians to consume.
‘When they get there, they will patronise the economy of that country and then bring the products back to Nigeria for us to consume. It is like somebody going to China or Japan to make a product that looks like palm wine and bring it back home to label it Nigerian palm wine. As long as we are not able to implement our own code to ensure local production of Nigerian music and movies, our young talents will not get jobs,’ he said.
It is Nigerians that pay for the consumption of these products and therefore they must be allowed and encouraged to participate in their production. I am going to meet with the relevant stakeholders over this, to see that whatever amendment that is needed to be made to our Broadcasting Code in this regard, is done urgently,’ he said.
The new policy has, since its pronouncement, become a major concern and has become the trending topic within the Nigerian entertainment industry, who have provided us with breathtaking movies, spectacular television series and sensational music videos and even the citizens, both home and abroad, who are devoted consumers of their produce.
The nation’s film industry and indisputably one of the biggest in the world, Nollywood had severely struggled in the past due to a handful of factors such as poor equipment, uninteresting story lines and lack of qualified personnel. This made it very challenging to penetrate the international market and even viewers in the country had grown tired of seeing such unprofessional material. Over the years, things began to change as a result of the influx of professionally trained movie practitioners and efficient equipment, but one factor can not be ignored and that is the incorporation of international scenes which were added to these movies. These scenes have contributed immensely to the success of recent Nigerian cinema and Nigerian musical videos, which is now being recognised and appreciated all over the world.
Also, our hardworking music artistes rarely disappoint when it comes to giving fans highly ranked music videos, which has made the music industry one of the most successful in Africa. So, the question on the lips of Nigerians is, how harmful could filming these productions outside Nigeria be?
Though it was claimed in certain quarters that the Honourable Minister didn’t mean his statement in the way it was interpreted, entertainment watchers are asking that now when Nigerians are beginning to gain a considerable amount of international exposure, the big question was how relevant and realistic is Lai Mohammed’s aspiration to promote the culture of Nigeria by filming ‘only’ within the country and is this really the way to go about the issue?
Deji Kale, a professional cinematographer, belongs to the camp of those who are against the would-be policy. He said, “As a professional cinematographer and director based in Nigeria and who has shot music videos in London, Ghana, Kenya and France, I would say the honourable minister’s decision is dead on arrival. In this age of globalisation, the Nigerian youth are striving to take the national brand to all corners of the world, trying to redeem our lost glory among world giants in our little way through hard work, sweat and blood.” He opined that variety is the spice of life and that eventually all videos may begin to look the same if the government follows through with their decision.
He further explained that industry practitioners would prefer to shoot in a location that suits the storyline, has proper infrastructure and constant power supply, to mention a few.
On a wider scale, the restriction of any sort of creativity defeats its purpose. Although the policy’s goals are quite admirable, it is very limiting.
It really seems there is definitely more at stake than the federal government is aware of as restricting and creating boundaries for these practitioners would diminish the creative possibilities that exist abroad which may have the potential to boost the quality of their production.
A movie producer based in Owerri, Sophie Adesola is also of the view that the policy would turn out to be very unfavourable. According to her, entertainment practitioners have the right and freedom to express their art in any way they please and that it is the not the place of the government to dictate how their hard-earned money should be spent. “The country is already hard to run businesses in as it is. The government should be focused on more important issues and leave matters of where to shoot films to us to bother about. Moving around the world to experience other cultures is a good way to build oneself so, why would the government try to take that away? A large number of politicians go abroad seeking medical attention for the least issue so, it would be quite hypocritical to deny us the opportunity to shoot wherever we desire,” Adesola said.
In contrast to these opposing opinions, some Nigerians are beaming rays of positivity and are optimistic about how the policy can yield a fruitful upshot.
A former insurance broker, Sunday Stephen, revealed that one of the ways the policy can bring about good results is the creation of employment opportunities. He said, “The federal government may have taken this decision in order to curb unemployment in the nation. If these movies and music videos are shot within Nigeria, a great number of unemployed citizens can take advantage of this opportunity and make a living. Filming outside the country may not necessarily help to recruit some youth who are ready and capable of being employed.” He also stressed that the government should also come to a consensus as to whether it would start funding the industry entirely or the industry would continue to be responsible financially for their productions.
A contractor, simply identified as L.O., asserted that the government has the interest of the culture of Nigeria at heart and the policy would help to promote the culture and environs of Nigeria. “Although the government may have previously made some bad decisions, they take our culture and orientation into consideration, sometimes. There are numerous locations in Nigeria which would suit our movies and music videos, be it up scale cities or ghettos. Besides Jamaicans shoot most of their videos in their ghettos so Nigerians should be open to the possibilities and endeavour to think in line with the government.”
In the heat of the arguements, a youth renaissance group under the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the arrest of the music duo, P-Square, and their older brother, Jude Okoye.
According to the group, the brothers should be taken into custody for insulting the Federal Government over its purported plan to ‘ban’ production of movies and music recording abroad.
In a statement signed by the group’s national secretary, Collins Edwin, the singing twins were helped by the government’s move to get local media to use a higher percentage of indigenous content on their platforms.
‘We read the scurrilous remarks credited to Mr Peter Okoye of the P Square group against the Federal Government’s job-saving policy in the entertainment industry with great anger and vexation.
‘Least of all persons to make scathing remark against the government is the Psquare group which the local content policy of the Federal Government dusted-up from the valley of obscurity.
‘Where was Peter Okoye or Psquare brand in 1999 when foreign music dominated our airwaves? If not for the government policy which mandated all broadcast stations in Nigeria to pay attention to Nigerian music by playing 95 per cent of Nigerian songs every day, would Peter Okoye or Psquare be known to anybody in Nigeria today? Or would they have competed with better American music which dominated our airwaves then?
‘After the government have used its policy to brush them up from nothing to something; instead of giving opportunity to other people, they are taking Nigerian jobs to foreign countries through the shooting of music videos abroad.
‘Now that government have intervened to raise great and better entertainers again, Peter Okoye has the gut to insult the entire Federal Government by calling our great leaders ‘Ndi Ala’ which means mad and stupid people. How dare you say that P Square?’
‘We, therefore, urge the security agencies in the country to arrest Mr Peter Okoye for disrespecting our government and bringing it to a disrepute.
‘If you cannot produce in Nigeria and hire Nigerians, then leave the industry. We must export Nigerian culture to the outside world through our music and videos’, their statement read.
In response to Minster Lai Mohammed, veteran rapper Ruggedman wrote an open letter, pointing out the folly in such move.
Parts of it read, “You can not privatise what you do not own or have control over. Meet with real Nigerian entertainment stakeholders and not people who have milked our entertainers with their platforms. Meet with the real stakeholders and discuss the way forward. Discuss how the Federal government can get involved with the Nigerian creative industry the right way. It is wrong to try to bully your way into the Nigerian entertainment industry you did nothing to help build…
“If you want entertainers to stop going abroad to shoot music videos and movies, then government officials should stop going abroad for hospitals, vacations and schools.We can use all those billions spent in funding foreign economies to equip our schools, hospitals and other parastatals. They are our leaders and so have to lead by example”.
Ultimately, it can be suggested that the federal government summon well-meaning and proven entertainment practitioners to deliberate upon how to develop a structure for the emrging multi-million dollar industry. After all, according to Adekitan Edward, a music producer, “this policy would have to go through the Senate. Some citizens feel that Senator Ben Bruce, who doubles as a foremost entertainer in Nigeria, should stand up and speak for the entertainment industry, which he has been heavily involved in, prior to his political career. At this juncture, one can only wonder what newly elected senator, Senator Ademola Adeleke would have to say about his lovely nephew, Davido an d son, B Red, compulsorily shooting his music videos in Nigeria.”