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| General M. Buhari with some notable Kannywood actors |
Dear Mr. President,
Congratulations on your victory at the polls sir. Isn’t life just
interesting? Here you are, finally achieving your long-held dream to lead
Nigeria again, this time without the full force of the military. You have now
done what no Nigerian has been able to do before now: you unseated a sitting
president; you defeated an incumbent. Wow. Sincere congratulations are truly in
order.
Truth be told, I came late to accepting that you’re the man for
the rebuilding job that our country urgently requires. Even in my conviction,
doubts abound. But that is not why we are here today; that is not why I’m
writing this open letter.
I am here today to talk to you about my beloved industry,
Nollywood. You do not come across as someone who watches movies and (Did you
really say Nollywood was a Lagos thing and Fashola would sort it out when you
were asked about your plans for the industry? Seriously?) This isn’t
necessarily a problem. See sir, Nollywood is truly phenomenal. It is the single
biggest indigenous product to have come out of Africa in the last two decades.
It has bigger potentials than crude oil and it is worthy of your serious
attention.
You have a head start where Nollywood is concerned sir. Many of
the ‘leaders’ in the industry campaigned vigorously against you, like their
lives depended on it. (Well, the livelihood of many of them depended on it.)
So, you owe Nollywood ‘leaders’ no debt of allegiance. This is a great
opportunity to revolutionise the industry sir.
And here’s where I’d like you to start: please don’t give
Nollywood money. Let me clarify sir, PLEASE, DON’T GIVE US MONEY TO MAKE
COMMERCIAL FILMS. Sorry to write in caps sir but I needed to do that so those
who may want to misconstrue my words can see clearly.
Your predecessor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, did a lot for
the industry. Let’s give a man his due. He recognised the industry’s
contribution to the nation’s GDP. He made funds available through the Bank of
Industry, NEXIM Bank and the Project Act Nollywood project. Some of those funds
have led to the creation and expansion of cinema chains like FilmHouse Cinemas,
as well as Gabosky’s G-Media platform for DVD distribution. It was the right
thing to do and it should be commended. My grouse is how some of these funds
have been spent on training and film funding.
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| GEJ With Nollywood stars |
Let me explain sir.
Commercial films are a business and anyone going into any business
is taking a risk. When you remove the risk element by giving people free money
to make films, there’s no push to return investment and grow the business. What
the industry needs is not money. Infrastructural support is grossly inadequate
for an industry with Nollywood’s potentials. Unless these infrastructural
issues are sorted out, all the free money being thrown at the industry will end
up in that big, black hole where funds go and die in Nollywood. Ask Ecobank
sir, if, you think I’m telling lies here.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about sir. The Project Act
Nollywood initiative gave about 30 filmmakers money to make commercial films.
Most of those given that fund do not need the money. Or, they can find the
money to make their films if they want to. My good friend, Kunle Afolayan, was
one of the people given that money.
The leading light of new Nigerian filmmakers. With just 4 films he
has ensured that when the history of filmmaking in Nigeria is written, he, just
like his father, will be an integral part of that story. But Kunle does not
need free government money to make his films. He has demonstrated with his 3
previous films that he can find the funding personally and make successful
commercial films. But they gave him the money anyway. So, Kunle made his last
film, October 1, took it round cinemas and festivals.
Two weeks ago, pirates informed Kunle that they had his film and
were going to pirate it. Kunle vented on Twitter, called people names in anger,
blamed Igbo people for trying to ruin him.
Last week, the pirates released Kunle’s film and it was sold
brazenly on the streets. Sir, what Kunle and other filmmakers like him needed
wasn’t the free money to make the film. What he needed was a structure to
ensure that intellectual property laws can protect his films; that no one can
so brazenly steal from him in a society that has laws; that if this does
happen, law enforcement agencies will fight for him. But none of this is
happening. He’s on his own, as is AY and all others who daily suffer from the
effect of piracy being 82%, in an industry where distribution is grossly
inadequate. They gave Kunle what he didn’t need and refused to provide what he
desperately needed to thrive.
There is currently no way of extracting maximum value from the
value chain of the filmmaking business in Nigeria today.
Mr. President Sir, you have a chance to rejuvenate Nollywood;
start by not giving anybody money to make commercial films. Please continue the
funding and support for distribution platforms. We need to get to around 1000
cinemas quickly. They don’t have to be fancy edifices like Silverbird Cinemas.
They can be advanced forms of football viewing centres. We need these cinemas
in neighbourhoods, so people don’t have to travel to the cinema. We need to
have the sale of DVDs on the roads totally banned. It is easier to trace
pirates when their pirated goods are sold out of a shop/store. Pirates are not
ghosts, Mr. President, they are right here among us in the industry. Make an
example of one or two of them and the rest will fall in line. You say you have
zero tolerance for corruption, right? Good. Piracy is great corruption.
Then, there’s capacity building. Sir, everybody and their dogs now
run training schools in Nollywood. It is the new hustle. Those that need
training run training schools. It is important that support for training
continues but what’s the point of funding grossly inept people to train others?
What we are doing is encouraging them to spread their ignorance. It’s a
dangerous thing sir. Also, sending people abroad for what is often a jamboree
in the name of capacity building, without a properly laid out plan of how the
knowledge gained will be transferred to others, is ruinous. To leave the
transfer of knowledge acquired at great expense to this country to the whim and
caprices of funded practitioners is not true growth; it is escapism.
Please, note sir that I’m not asking your government not to fund
films at all. Surely there are non-commercial films that require funding. Young
filmmakers trying to find a foothold in the industry can be aided with little
funds for their first short films. This can be cheaply done. There are
documentaries about our history/culture that need to be funded. What I’m saying
is that anyone who wants to make commercial films and is not ready to mortgage
his/her home, sell his/her car or put his/her first child up for sale is not ready
for the business of filmmaking. Okay, I’m joking about the child part but you
get my drift, right?
Finally sir, the rent seekers, perennial industry ‘stakeholders’,
perennial holders of offices and positions in industry guilds and associations
without any worthy contribution to the industry – jobbers all of them – will
start coming to see you the moment you’re sworn in. Remember they did not
campaign or vote for you. As individuals, you owe them nothing. But you owe
Nollywood all the support you can give. So, on behalf of Nollywood please look
them in the face and say fuck you, this shit is over: no more free money!
If you can do this for the industry and me sir, I promise to move
from my position as a reluctant convert to full membership in the propagation
of your greatness.
Nollywood needs help, please don’t fail us sir.
Sincerely,
Chris Ihidero, Concerned filmmaker
This article, first published 23 April, was culled from thenet.ng
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