The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has reiterated that there is no going back on local production of movies, programmes meant for Nigerians.
In a statement in Lagos on Wednesday, Alhaji Mohammed said that the government’s decision is irreversible.
He made the assertion while weathering the storm triggered by his earlier pronouncement on the issue.
Recall that Lai Mohammed had taken to his Twitter handle on July 15 on the issues and said:
“If you shoot your musical videos outside Nigeria you will be prosecuted. Shoot all your videos in Nigeria we have good locations.”
The Minister said there is no going back on the issue as he was not appointed Minister to develop the economy of other countries at the expense of the Nigerian economy.
He said the Creative Industry’s potential of creating 1 million jobs in three years cannot be realised if jobs meant for Nigerians are being exported to other countries under the guise of producing, in other countries, programmes to be consumed in Nigeria.
He said:
“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 stated.
The Minister recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from concerned Nigerians when the last edition of the “Big Brother Naija” was produced in South Africa, saying he subsequently directed the
National Broadcasting Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversy.
“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,” he said.
In a related development, 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,” the Minister said.
The Minister’s pronouncement had generated sharp criticism from players in the entertainment quarters.
The Okoye Music Stars popularly known as P-Square had slammed the Information Minister for planning to ban foreign shoot of Nigerian movies.
Ruggedman, reacting to the plan to ban production of Nigerian music and movies abroad, told Lai Mohammed: “Minister Face Your Work”.
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