JONATHAN'S ACTION IS DECEITFUL TO NOLLYWOOD

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Ibinabo, Agn National President

Salihu Othman Isah, popularly called HOTMAN is the National Vice President (North West), Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). Hotman held an interactive section with selected entertainment writers in Lagos recently where he explained the rationale behind the Tuesday, February 18 visit to Aso Rock by leading movie practitioners which has become an issue of controversy ever since; his quarrel with the lack of implementation of the presidential pledge to the sector by President Goodluck Jonathan, recent Federal appointments and in fact, requested that it is time a Ministry of Nollywood Affairs is created. SOLOMON OSHIOKE was there. 

 Excerpts.

                                                                                                           

President Jonathan received about eighty superstar actors and other practitioners under the aegis of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) about three months ago. What prompted the visit?

The visit was to bestow on President Goodluck Jonathan the prestigious position of Grand Patron of the Guild as well as to request the support of the federal government to move the industry forward. You know government has a big role to play if we must realize our dream of building an industry that can compare favourably with others like the American (Hollywood) and Indian (Bollywood) movie industries of this world. As it is today, the Nigerian government and those of the various states are doing next to nothing to support the growth of the entertainment sector in spite of its contributions to the growth of the Nigerian economy, especially in terms of job creations and laundering the nation’s image.

There have been series of outcries by Nigerians since that visit to the Presidency. Some of these protests are from fans of your movies and other stakeholders; while some senior practitioners also fault it. Why these attacks?

Nigerians are bound to react over issues sometimes just for the sake of reacting as they have no point to make. The reactions are just for them to be heard and not because they are justified. But why some respected players in the industry would join the outburst is what is actually baffling. With due respect to those who have criticized that visit, I would say it is uncalled for, because it is not the first time such would be happening.

Are you saying such senior and respected movie icons like Clarion Chukwura and John Okafor (Mr. Ibu) and others who have opposed the visit don’t know what they are saying?

You see, I don’t want us to make it look as if there is a controversy here, because there isn’t one. What we have instead is that some people fail to understand our mission there; where they understand, those who were not on the entourage simply resorted to crying foul. But without sounding immodest, I want to make this clarification that heavens would not fall just because Nollywood visited Aso Rock. We have been hearing all sorts of allegations against that visit with some claiming that we went to beg for handout from the presidency. What insult? Unfortunately, a director I respect so well, Charles Novia was the first to react claiming we went cap in hand to beg for money. Although, Segun Arinze who is the immediate past President of AGN have reacted adequately to his outburst and I think he understands now why the visit had to hold. However, I have to emphasis here that we did not go there for any form of handout. Ibinabo Fiberesima as our President and head of the delegation delivered a speech publicly which was very clear on the subject matter. It was clear that we were there for issues that would move the industry forward. Personally, I do not subscribe to such things as go begging for survival from government and its officials. This is the reason I kept to myself while we were in that place watching some of the stars scramble after some top government officials during and after that visit. In Nigeria, this is normal, but you will never find me doing that except I am maybe approached to offer honourable professional service. Again, don’t forget that in Nigeria; everything revolves around government due to the nation’s poor economy. So, if the likes of Mr. Ibu, Charles Novia and Clarion Chukwura were  not invited to be on the train, they should not see it as a direct affront or disrespect to their person because at the point the list was being drawn, no one probably remembered them. However, no ulterior motive was intended. Simply put, it was nothing else, but an oversight. Though, I am not trying to defend anyone over this. I am speaking because I am a member of the National Executive Council of AGN and the bulk stops at our table. So, I would not standby for anyone to rubbish the leadership.

One of the point those Nigerians who reacted through the Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media was that the visit was also to pledge loyalty for Jonathan’s campaign for 2015, how true is this?

This is funny because, I do not see how everyone in the industry, or everyone who embarked on the visit to be sympathetic to the President’s aspiration. This is impossible, I mean; for the entire industry to support his 2015 presidency project. Our visit was purely on professional ground and nothing more. If anyone went behind afterwards for other motives, it is not to my knowledge.

But Jonathan said a lot of lofty things about the sector which was seen as a way of cajoling you to jump on his campaign?

What is wrong with that? He is free to seek the support of anyone or any sector he feels would be useful to his cause. I do not fault him for doing this. But he only enumerated the advantages of sing the movie as a vehicle to propagate government policies and programmes. And I believe this is a statement of fact because movies are relied upon globally for this purpose.

It could just be a veil approach by the President to say I would use you for my campaign?

Yes, he has the right to use whoever he has to use, especially if it is done legally. President Barack Obama used entertainment as a vehicle to drive his campaign for his first and second term in office. In fact, politicians worldwide have resorted to employing entertainers for their campaign. We also experienced this a great deal in 2011 here in Nigeria. The President had some of our members campaigned for him. So, I don’t see anything wrong with that.

So, if he comes knocking on the doors of Nollywood to support and campaign for his 2015 bid, are you saying you would oblige?

To answer this question, I would say an emphatic no. In fact, I know Nollywood would not support Jonathan’s re-election. I am saying this because I know it, not just as an insider, but also a journalist who know how to nose around.

Why would Nollywood not support him?

Because they did last time (in 2011) and pledged support for the industry which he is yet to fulfill over three years after. So, we don’t see him as a honourable leader. You know, they say once beaten, twice shy.

With all his assistance and support to the sector?

Like? What is the support he has rendered to the industry? Tell me, which assistance?

But there is this N3 billion Presidential Intervention Fund meant to be a support grant for the industry that is expected to among other things help to develop the sector by building the capacity of practitioners through training, improve production and the marketing of movies among others?

Tell me which one person has benefited since he made the pronouncement during his campaign in 2011. No, I want you to mention just one beneficiary, I want to know. I have said it elsewhere before and I want to re-emphasise here that they are just playing Boju-Boju with the sector. It is like the more you see, the less you understand. We are approaching another election year in 2015; the 2011 campaign promise has not been kept. I want to let my colleagues know that it would be better for them to shine their eyes; even though, I’m aware there was a seminar for business plan and film funding which took place at the Lagos Business School in Victoria Island recently.  The very few that could be said to have drawn from the fund, especially in the marketing area are close allies of the managers of the project. What is happening to the N150 million Capacity Building Fund for the training and skills acquisition of practitioners?

There is still time achieve this, for the pledge to be kept?

Well, let us see him keep the promise first. The reason why I warn our practitioners to avoid being used unnecessarily is due to the fact that, there is no continuity in leadership in Nigeria. If Jonathan fails re-election; that is the end of it because it doesn’t even have legislative backing. So, you cannot insist that his successor must fulfill the pledge he didn’t make. It was not his project, moreso; the new President might even feel that the pledge was made by an opponent to promote his aspiration, so he would quickly jettison it. We could also have a scenario where Jonathan wins the election and is returned to office and he would cancel the whole thing because he do not need you anymore since he is not going to vie for another election; except of course, he chose to perpetuate himself in office for a third term.

It was revealed sometimes ago that structures are being put on the ground to realize it and that online application for the local and foreign trainings have been ongoing with N300 million said to have been released for this first phase. With these efforts, don’t you think they need a little more time to have a proper implementation?

I hope you heard me right the very first time. I do not quarrel with putting structures on the ground; the issue is how long for the structures to complete for the project to take off. Those in charge, especially from the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as well as the Minister of Tourism, Chief Edem Duke who are directly in charge may have to explain the rationale behind the delay since they are the one handling the issue. We have been hearing this same recycled story since June, last year or even before then. So, how long would it take to get things started; and what other structure do they want to put on ground since Project Act Nollywood, a non-governmental organisation charged with handling the project has been instituted since March 2013 and those on board have held series of meetings. The online registration that you talked about is under the Project Act Nollywood. This is mid-April 2014. As I speak; I know my members are demoralised already and some don’t know what to believe anymore; whether the project is real or not, whether it would be realized or not. Personally, I am tired having to explained things to them in my zone and seeking their patience. Let’s not fool ourselves, does it take them seconds to perfect things if they want to steal government money, why would it take them years to keep the presidential pledge.

There are other forms of patronages like appointments which have been given to some of your members by the Federal Government, the latest beneficiary being your national president, Ibinabo Fiberesima who is now a board member of the National Council of Arts and Culture...?

Are you saying in a sector as huge as Nollywood, no one is good enough or qualified to be a Minister or even a junior Minister? Though, there is nothing we could have done to force Mr. President to do otherwise, if he didn’t give these appointments, I want to make it clear that those who have gotten appointments are card-carrying members of the ruling party; except for Ibinabo. The others are politicians or personal friends of President Jonathan and were appointed due to the settlement syndrome for their contribution to the struggle of their party. Besides, how many of them got lucrative offices or are head of their corporations or organisations if not Madam Onyeka Onwenu and Bongos Ikwue. Don’t mistake the appointees filling the slots of Nollywood. They are PDP card-carrying members while some vying for offices under the platform.

Are you in essence advocating a ministerial appointment for a Nollywood practitioner?

Yes, I am advocating that a filmmaker should be appointed a minister. We have those who are very qualified to manage such office. In fact, the country is overdue for a separate ministry to oversee our affairs, because we have contributed so much to the nation’s growth. An industry that employs over a million people directly and several more through the provision of ancillary services should not be treated with kid gloves. The entertainment industry has helped to reduce the burden on the leadership in the country, because the huge unemployment rate is one of our biggest problems in Nigeria. So, there should be a complete ministry created to handle its affairs and a player appointed to head the ministry. We have practitioners such as Ibinabo Fiberesima, Pete Edochie, Kasimu Yero, Sani Muazu, Olu Jacob, Joke Silva, Emma Ogugua and Richard Mofe-Damijo among others who can be appointed Minister of Nollywood Affairs.

Ibinabo in a recent interview showered praises on Jonathan in a recent interview; here you are saying something different?

This is the problem. Ibinabo is entitled to her opinion while I am entitled to mine. I read that interview and there was nowhere she claimed to be speaking on our behalf. In any case, if Ibinabo gets an appointment you can’t now expect her to say anything wrong about her benefactor. She is one person in AGN or Nollywood, so making her a board member does not amount to settling the sector.

What form of contribution do you expect from the government?

I want the government at all levels, especially at state and Federal levels to be more proactive in offering support to the industry. It should be considered that for a sector that lacks the backing of government and the corporate sector to have achieved this much, with their backing the sky would be the limit; and this would translate to more employment and growth in the nation’s gross national product (GDP). To the FG, I expect that an independent Ministry of Nollywood Affairs should be created to handle all issues relating to creative arts in the country. Also I believe the intention of Mr. President is okay, the problem is the non implementation of the pledge. So he has to be more proactive and sincere in his dealings with us before making effort to seek our support in whatever form. He needs to work really hard to get Nollywood to back him.

What do mean when you say sincere and work hard?

Yes, I say sincere because from what I have deduced from private random discussions, especially with most top players in the industry, most of them really believe the man is playing on the intelligence of those in the entertainment sector with the huge pronouncements of support for the industry with little or nothing to show for years and with his tenure running out. To add salt to the injury, he pledged to involve the AGN in the Centenary programme and give us two slots at the National Conference and we have not seen anything happening in these direction with the conference inaugurated and into its first five weeks. I won’t talk about the secretariat complex he promised because it might be too early to start holding him or the Minister of FCT responsible for this. This explains my advice to him to be more proactive and to work hard. This simply means he should act fast because we are running against time due to the approach of the general elections.

But as observed earlier, something is being done?

The question I’d like to ask here is that, at what pace is this being done? Let us be more realistic on this matter please so that I am not misunderstood or misconstrued. The issue is that the process can be faster if they actually mean to realize it. We have instances where some state governments have sent their citizens for training, both at home and abroad. I know Kano and Borno states have done this, sending people for training is a trending way of providing dividend of democracy in this dispensation. Kano have despatched over five hundred to foreign universities to train in medicine, pharmacy and piloting among other courses. For Borno state, Governor Kashim Shettima is also preparing his state for the future challenges by sending 20 of its citizens for MSc studies in Petroleum Geo-science in the United Kingdom, 35 girls to Sudan for MBBS degree under the Female Medicine Intervention Programme, 49 teachers for three months training in India to master the K-TAN electronic teaching aides, 50 to Thailand on train the trainer course on Integrated Agriculture and another 20 for a four years degree course on Maritime Science in the UK/India in conjunction with Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). To imagine that this is a state under heavy bombardment from terrorist attack and could still send its wards for training without bureaucratic bottlenecks, we need to think twice over the slow pace of Jonathan pledge to build the capacity of Nollywood filmmakers through training. What I am trying to point out here is that it is realisable if they muster the political will to make it happen.

AGN has been undergoing series of crisis since your executive came on board. Why is this so?

Crisis is bound to happen whether it is at institutional level or family unit. The entire world is currently undergoing various form of crisis, the Jonathan government is under crisis; the state governments are under crisis, so AGN is not alone in this. Anywhere two or three co-exist, there is bound to be one form of misunderstanding or the other. The tongue and cheek also quarrel often, but it is the ability to overcome this crisis that matters.  Check out the history of great nations like the United States, Great Britain, Germany or Italy; they have all gone through one form of crisis or the other. So, AGN would get over its crisis and come out stronger in the long run; I can assure you this.

We hear the warring parties are not ready for truce while Ibinabo Fiberesima, the AGN boss herself is not helping matters and this have led to the factions in the Guild?

This is not true. You see, in every organisation where crisis brew, it is usually easy to start the crisis, but getting over it takes a little more time. It is oftentimes a more Herculean task. Ibinabo alone cannot be the problem of AGN. It goes beyond her, because the problems were there before she came on board.

So, how would you rate Ibinabo’s leadership so far?

She is trying her best. She has come and she is making her inputs as a leader and she would leave with some legacies I believe. You know, the problem with Nigerians is that they must fault every leader. This is just the Nigerian factor.