Lai Mohammed denies FG’s plan to ban overseas production of films & music videos
Since news broke that the FG was making plans to ban musicians and filmmakers from shooting films abroad, many have reacted negatively
Minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed has denied making such a statement
He clarifies government’s plan
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had stated that henceforth Nigerian musicians and filmmakers will not be allowed to shoot films and music videos outside the country.
This plan by the FG has been met with criticisms especially by the entertainers themselves. Perhaps as a result, the minister has come out to explain the FG’s plan explicitly.
“I didn’t say that henceforth, all music videos and films will be produced in Nigeria, or that the production of music videos or films outside Nigeria will be banned. All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian (local) content programme, we will amend the Code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria. On that, there is no going back,” he said.
The minister also recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from concerned Nigerians when they found out that popular reality show Big Brother Naija was produced in South Africa.
“Following the findings, we decided to amend the relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to prevent a repeat of that development. We are now in the process of doing that, so that anyone who intends to produce a reality show or similar programmes for Nigerians cannot take the production of such shows outside Nigeria. Nigerians are a very proud and resourceful people, and we are sure that no Nigerian will be against a decision to prevent the jobs that can be done in Nigeria by Nigerians from being exported to other countries.”
Also, Alhaji Mohammed has said the broadcasting code is also being amended to help develop the local football league.
“This (amendment) is not just about the creative industry. We are also going to ensure that the NBC Code is amended in a manner that if any company in Nigeria today invests a million dollars in promoting or supporting any (football) team or league outside Nigeria, I want the Broadcasting Code to be amended to the effect that it will not allow that programme to be aired unless that company supports the Nigerian League with a percentage that will not be less than 30 per cent of what was spent. This is because we cannot continue to develop the economies of the other parts of the world from the sweat of Nigerians and at the expense of the Nigerian economy.”
Perhaps the criticisms will stop now. naij
