Stakeholders in the Nigerian movie industry have called for more involvement of the government to achieve a regulated industry.
They spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, following the backlash received by a recently released Nigerian movie, “Gang of Lagos”, for allegedly having less regard for culture.
The movie which premiered on an online platform had some sector of the audience asking the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to do the needful, which the Board immediately responded that it lacked the legal backing to do so.
The President, Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Mr Emeka Rollas, however said the government needed to do more in promotion and regulation to change the status quo.
“Taking a cue from the NFVCB, the Nigerian film industry is evolving and we are all basking in the euphoria of the success. The truth is that the government needs to do more in promotion and regulation.
“If the situation remains like this, anything can happen. The structure in Nigeria is really broken and it’s s just all man for himself, God for us all.
“What is happening in the movie industry is everywhere. There are so many other industries in Nigeria that do not regard culture because the owners of the culture themselves are not doing enough to protect it.
“The movie industry has stayed long enough that the government needs to sit down and ask the stakeholders what they want and how to make the industry better,” he said.
The AGN President said the Nigerian movie industry is so porous that people come from different parts of the world to shoot movies with no one stopping them.
“The Nigerian movie industry is the only industry where a foreign artiste can be acting without being questioned if he or she has a permit.
“It’s so bad that some filmmakers keep encouraging them and when you question this at Actors Guild conference, the people who employed them will stand against you.
“We keep playing lip service to everything. Nollywood is the only industry with no entry or exit point. A film producer can wake up, write a movie, go to the village and pack everyone in a movie then start calling them actors.
“You make code of conduct but no one is following it. You know because YouTube and other online platforms are paying well, everybody is now rushing to make content which often falls below standard,” he said.
Rollas added that the government really needed to get involved in regulating contents as most people in the industry do things their way without following rules.
