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. Nollywood was born as a commercial film industry. People made films to make money, to return investment and make a profit if possible. At its birth, practitioners mortgaged homes, sold their cars, invested their house rents and children’s school fees, risked lives and limbs to birth and build an industry. And what’s happening now? A rent-seeking mentality has descended on the industry like evil spirit and it’s eating away its soul. Sadly, your predecessor encouraged this mentality too. You need to stop it sir before it ruins one of the best things to ever happen to Nigeria 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. Kunle Afolayan 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. President elect: General Mohammadu Buhari and Kannywood actors. Photo: Filed 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
