THE BABEL OF VOICES AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN NOLLYWOOD
By Odusanya Omowonuola Boluwatife
The Nigerian movie industry has been grappling with the challenge of convergence under an umbrella association that brings all the movie practitioners together. This problem stems from the gaps in Nollywood which only seems to be getting wider as the day goes by. Nigeria has over 200 ethnic groups and almost all these ethnic groups want to have their own individually recognized movie industry. One would have thought that multiplicity in the ethnicity should have enthroned deep cultural diversity and representation in Nigerian films, but unfortunately the lack of a unifying body that is capable of bringing all the movie practitioners together as one nation has caused division, confusion and lack of strict and enforceable regulations in the industry.
Precisely Tuesday, 12th April 2016, The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed inaugurated a 28-member ministerial committee to review the proposed bill for the establishment of Motion Picture Practitioner Council of Nigeria (MOPICON) as an umbrella body of professionals across Nollywood’s value chain. The idea had managed to fly before it was vehemently shot down and eventually shut down. The reasons? Pundits and Nollywood considered the bill as food for the boys and a problem rather than a solution. There were obnoxious parts of the bill that were not well thought out, hence strangulating the self-developed industry than regulating it. The landmines were said to be tucked in sections 4, 11, 32, 36 and 41 of the proposed bill that had been in existence 10 years before the intervention of the Minister.
Was there ever a time when Nollywood was one big happy family? Yes, back in the days when the movie industry was just starting to take shape. No Paul, no Apollos, no Barnabas. The zeal to succeed against all odds was the moving spirit and connecting factor.
There was a time when Zeb Ejiro’s office in the Aguda area of Lagos State was the hub or the ‘Mecca’ of the movie industry. According to Zeb, “Whether you are a producer, movie director, actor, scriptwriter, costumier, or makeup artist, that was where you come to pick up jobs. That was where the talk about Nollywood started.”
It was at that time that various associations were formed for movie practitioners including producers, actors, directors and everybody involved in filmmaking. The Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Nigerian Actors Guild (NAG) which was later changed to the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN) and many others including the Nigerian Society of Cinematographers (NSC), Screen Writers Guild of Nigeria (SWGN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria (CDGN).
All these associations were formed to cater for all practitioners that fall under that category in the Nigerian movie industry. This was the closest to a United umbrella Association Nollywood ever had.
This united front started to fall apart when some producers dumped AMP and formed the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), The Yorubas also started the Association of Nigerian Theater Practitioners (ANTP), while some breakaways also formed Theatre Arts And Motion Pictures Practitioners Association Of Nigeria (TAMPAN), Hausas came up with the Motion Picture Association of Nigeria (MOPAN), Igbos had the Association of Movie Practitioners (AMP), Itsekiris; Association of Itsekiri Performing Artistes (AIPA), Edo; Congress of Edo State Movie Practitioners (CEMP) and many others.
As of today, the list is endless as there are different fractions, caucuses and associations in Nollywood to the extent that some actors and producers even have a clique they work with and do not work with other people outside that clique. This also breeds discrimination and favouritism in the movie industry. The proliferation of associations and guilds that are mostly unregistered and controlled by sole administrators in Nollywood today is alarming.
Recently, a Federation of Nollywood Guilds and Associations FRENGAN was formed which was supposedly the coalition of Nollywood Guilds and Associations and has now become the apex body of Nollywood according to Emeka Rollas, National President, Actors Guild of Nigeria. Rollas said, “The body is out to address all issues of Nollywood professionally in line with international best practice and shall continue to build bridges to ensure the growth and development of Nollywood in good reputation.”
However, Nollywood veteran and founding president of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), Mr Alex Eyengho, has referred to the attempt as dead on arrival. In his statement, reacting to the issue, he said, “The fact remains that Adedayo Thomas and the NFVCB have no right whatsoever to regulate, control or meddle in the affairs of Guilds and Associations in Nollywood. This kind of fora (in this instance, the so-called federation) has always been there in Nollywood albeit under different nomenclature, the last two efforts being the Coalition of Nollywood Guilds and Associations (CONGA), which some of those involved in this one (federation) technically killed for their selfish reasons.”
Eyengho stated further, “The difference between CONGA and this so-called federation is that the former (and those before it) were of the industry, by the industry and for the industry, while the latter is of Alhaji Adedayo Thomas’ NFVCB, by Alhaji Adedayo Thomas’ NFVCB and for Alhaji Adedayo Thomas’ NFVCB imposed on some current jelly leadership of Nollywood associations and guilds.”
“For the avoidance of doubt and I say it for the umpteenth time, the NFVCB and Adedayo Thomas have no business whatsoever with associations and guilds in Nollywood. They only have business with individual members of producer associations, not Guilds or associations, who have contents to present for censorship and exhibitors/distributors who have premises to be licensed. These are the extant laws. Anything outside this is absolutely illegal”.
Away, from all the divisible bickering, Nollywood as a body would benefit more if all stakeholders speak with one voice as obtainable in the developed countries. The stakeholders should consider the peculiarities of the industry to design a people -centered framework that is capable of ensuring a win-win situation for all. Until we find a way to unite the Nigerian film industry, confusion of this sort might not cease. Issues like this will keep occurring because of the lack of umbrella association in Nollywood, and opportunities would continue to elude the industry.
Picture credits- Internet
