Nollywood: Stakeholders Seek To Regulate Industry

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 reporters 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 via 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.

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The President, Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), 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 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.