Nigerian Entertainment Industry: Time to blame the government
Following the controversies befalling the present political administration in Nigeria, many lashes has been hitting the government both officials and style of administration.
The recent and most popular reproach against the government is the dilapidated entertainment industry which a lot of icon has been trying effortlessly to curd, build and rebuild by creating allies with the government through its information and culture ministry.
In a recent interview with veteran Fuji Musician, Adewale Ayuba, popularly known as Mr Johnson, a lot of blame has been laid on the government.
According to him, the current neglect of the entertainment industry at the doorstep of the government, affecting a lot of international recognition in as much as the professional in the industry are trying.
Mr Johnson told the newsmen, “The lack of investment in the entertainment industry by the government is the cause of the unimaginable loss experienced daily in the sector. A child that is not nurtured cannot grow. Positive growth is not measured by the number of years of existence but the results that can be seen”.
“The entertainment industry in Nigeria has so many sectors– ranging from music, which in itself has a lot of subsectors differentiated by the genres; movies, and comedy– that are big enough to contribute over 20 per cent of the nation’s internally generated revenue if there were good policies and the willingness to implement them properly”
Most especially in the Music industry, the award winning Musician said, the withdrawal of record label companies from the nation due to poor enabling environment and policies, as other contributing factors for the poor state of the industry, which he considered to be brain drain.
He added, “If entertainers are protected from piracy, this industry is big enough to partially solve the employment crisis in the country.”
However, Mr Adewale also called on government and well-meaning Nigerians to join forces to bring the entertainment industry back to the good and enviable state it should be.