On Saturday 2nd March at the State
House in Marina, Lagos, President Goodluck Jonathan hosted Nollywood stars at a
dinner to celebrate Nollywood at 20. The dinner was organised to celebrate the
20th anniversary of the first Nigerian home-video; ‘Living in Bondage,’ which
was released in September 1992. During the occasion, he announced a whooping
sum of N3 billion grants. ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM writes on recent developments
President Jonathan according to
Reubenabati.com.ng, said he was proud of Nollywood. “Whenever I travel abroad,
many of my colleagues, Presidents of other countries, ask me about Nollywood.
Nollywood is our shining light and Africans are very proud of Nollywood, which
is why we are here today to celebrate the success story of this national,
continental and global brand.”
On that occasion, he announced a
N3billion grants geared towards supporting the nation’s foremost movie
industry, Nollywood. But ever since the announcement, a sharp division has
risen among the members of the umbrella body of actors and actresses, Actors
Guild of Nigeria (AGN), with key players having different stance on how the
money should be accessed.
All state chairmen of the guild who
reportedly met in Abuja on July 18 on the modalities to adopt in disbursing the
grants were in disarray when the news of shoddy deals began to surface.
The National Chairman and Secretary of
the guild, Agility Onwurah and Samuel Onibiyo respectively, in separate
interviews accused some of the movie practitioners of diversion of funds from
the grants.
Reports also had it that Mr Onwurah
accused some known movie producers of making moves to divert the grant for
their personal use without carrying the upcoming actors along.
He accused some of the guild members
of making surreptitious move to have the money alone to themselves, which
portends great danger for the entire industry especially those who are coming
up.
“While practitioners suffer from lack
of funds and humiliation in the quest to produce films, some people are busy
working to ensure that the guild remain static,” he alleged.
He said that the chairmen had
initially resolved that the grant should be used for production and
distribution of movies but as at now reverse seems to be the case.
It was also gathered that the
national chairman had paid a visit to the National Film and Video Censors Board
(NFVCB) and briefed them on the moves by some reputable producers to divert the
grants for their personal use. He said that the board had assured of its timely
intervention in the crisis, adding that the crisis would soon be resolved.
Mr Onibiyo, in his reaction, berated
the conduct of those he described as “star actors” whom he alleged wanted to
use the fund for their schools.
He said the demand, if granted, would
send the industry to the backstage, adding that those practitioners, who were
already established, should not be allowed to take over the grants.
A prominent actress fingered in the
controversy, Stephanie Okereke, debunked the allegation, describing it as
baseless and unfounded.
She said that the grant was broken
into three stages; production, distribution and training.
She directed the leadership of the
guild to the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the modalities
earlier agreed on the grant. She said that some people had written to the
minister stating that they no longer needed the money while some were working
to ensure that the grant reached the intended practitioners.
She called on practitioners not to
tear the industry apart, while threatening to sue anyone who makes
unsubstantiated allegations against her.
According to Producer and director,
Osaretin Ogbemudia, he stated that when there is money to be distributed for
the benefit of all in the industry, that’s when you see rancour and confusion.
He called on all parties to come
together to fashion a way out in resolving the issues once and for all.
But Simplefem, a Lagos based producer
and director who have worked with all the notable faces in Nollywood in his
reaction emphasised that they are resolving the issue and when the arrangement
is completed, he will explain more. “We are working on it. Don’t worry brother,
I will keep you posted.”
When the question was thrown to
Nollywood’s actress and activist, Dorothy Njamanze, she simply stated that “My
brother, na so we see am o. We are all in dilemma about the situation of things
as it progresses.”
So will the Actors Guild of Nigeria
resolve this issue once and for all? Or would they continue to bask in the
euphoria of confusion? Time will surely tell.
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