Nollywood Actor Calls For Stiffer Measures Against Piracy

Renowned movie actor, Engr. Ben Nwaorehu, has described Nigeria’s Nollywood as the second largest movie industry in the world, which surpassed the Hollywood in 2009 as well as India’s Bollywood in sales volume.
In a chat with The Tide yesterday on the fate of the movie industry in the current dispensation, Nwaorehu explained that the industry lacks production value because Nigerian actors, especially are yet to breakout globally, noting that revenue leakages makes the 3.3 billion US dollars value worthless, since only one percent of the sum is tracked from official sales lines and royalties.
According to him, “The rest ninety-nine percent sales are from pirated copies sold through unauthorised out-lets. Therefore, producers and executive producers see only insignificant fraction of the economic value.”
As he puts it, “We looked forward to our artists breaking out into the global movie industry, that is, other global movie industries shopping for artists in Nigeria”. He urged the Federal Government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari to strengthen regulatory instruments to checkmate piracy and proffer stiffer penalties for offenders for offenders.
He stressed that the Nollywood industry remains a mirror of society as over 80 percent of the movies in the market reflect the true position of the society because they are coined from true life stories.
On the exposition of societal events, Nwaorehu pointed out that without the genuine exposition of the happenings in the society, the end leaves the people with life-changing lessons.
Concerning the under-funding of the industry, he stated that under-funding of the movie industry lacks growth due largely to no budgetary provisions for the entertainment sector by the government and other stakeholders, which needed urgent attention for blissful future.
He asserts: “Both the federal, state, local government and even the private sector failed to assist in any way to the growth of the Nollywood industry. Hollywood and Bollywood movie industries are what they are today because of funding support from the government and private institutions.”

Bethel Toby