FG To Discourage Films, Music Production Abroad …As Paul Okoye, Others React

In a bid to develop the Nigerian entertainment industry, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has announced plans by the Federal Government to discourage production of Nigerian music and films outside the country.
The minister revealed this when he paid a visit to the headquarters of the Copy right Society of Nigeria (COSON) in Lagos, recently. He said, “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”.
He said 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 for it to be allowed and patronized in Nigeria.  The Minister also added that  Nigerian artistes were often flown outside the country to make their recordings and as a result, they help in developing the economies of whatever countries they work in.
“When they get there, they will patronize 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”, he stressed.
“As long as we are not able to implement our own code to ensure total production of Nigerian music and movies, our young talents will not get jobs. 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 authorities over this to ensure that whatever amendment that is needed to be made to our broadcasting code in this regard is done urgently”,  the minister said.
To encourage local production of films and music, the minister added that Nigeria investment promotion commission had put forward a proposal to classify the creative industry and grant it a pioneer status.
He said that with the pioneer status, the creative industry would be entitled to certain incentives and tax holiday. The minister also said that there would also be waivers for shipment of imported music and films production equipment.
Meanwhile, in reaction to the proposed plan, Peter Okoye, one half of the music due, (P-Square wrote in his instagramme page that sometimes he is ashamed to call himself a Nigerian. He further went on to  say that it’s entertainers who help the government cover up their shame. He ended by saying that government has been failing Nigerians since 1960.
In his own reaction, Nigerian ace comedian, I Go to Dye condemned the Federal Government’s  plan to stop the production of movies and music videos abroad and proposed ways the federal government could achieve their plan without any complaint and also asked relevant questions on his post; here is what he wrote:-
“Undoubtedly, Entertainment, music, comedy sports and film productions are the highest ranking human resources export from Nigeria government should protect their intellectual property and invest into its capacity building.
I have observed with keen interest the recent reports credited to the honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed-proposing  to ban the production of our indigenous films abroad, instead of such pronouncements, I expect a mutual partnership with government and all
stakeholders in the entertainment industry”.
“What level of support has government provided to the growth of entertainment in terms of protecting their works, piracy is still on the high, most of the actors, actresses and producers do not earn what is obtainable in other parts of the world in terms of technical, social support and general contribution to their well being.
“I recommend that instead of putting laws to check the issue of films produced outside Nigeria, Government  should invest in the sector to develop it, introduce partners hip that will bring about government earning funds from the services provided through technical equipment, logistics sites and establishment of a standard Nollywood village, more soft loans should be provided to film producers while the ministry of information and culture should engage the film writers and producers to build contents that can significantly profile our image as a country”.