How Nigeria’s clerics rallied against film industry

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari could not press ahead with his plan to build a film village in the mainly Muslim north once it faced opposition

from influential Muslim clerics and their followers. – Muhammad Annur Muhammad – BBC Africa, Abuja

Muslims form the majority in northern Nigeria

It would have been political suicidal for Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to press ahead with his plan to build a film village in the mainly Muslim north once it faced opposition from influential Muslim clerics and their followers.

As Mr Buhari has strong support in the north, it became difficult for him to ignore the opposition once the clerics started using their weekly Friday sermons to condemn the plan as un-Islamic.

They argued that the Hausa language film industry was corrupting the values of youth by promoting things like public romance and dancing, which are not part of the culture of Muslims in the north.

But many people are also bound to be dismayed by the decision because the films are extremely popular.

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