TO THE PRESIDENT.
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI GCFR.
ASO ROCK PRESIDENTIAL VILLA
FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY
ABUJA.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA: CREATIVE INDUSTRY FINANCE INITIATIVE (CIFI) LOAN PROGRAM.
1. The Nollywood Guilds and Associations of Nigeria with
over Five million active members seize this opportunity to thank President
Muhammadu Buhari and his administration, for affirming the critical role of the
Nigerian Creative Industry especially Nollywood as the main empowerment
instrument for millions of Nigerian youths. Nollywood is a frontline partner
with the Federal government of Nigeria to actualize President Buhari's laudable
vision of creating 100 million vital youth jobs in four years. It was therefore
welcome news when the President announced the single digit 22 Billion Naira
loan facility to the Creative industry, to spur the immediate creation of
millions of youth jobs annually.
2. The entire Nigerian Creative Industry greeted the Federal
government's intervention with initial euphoria, but immediately after engaging
the leading Nigerian Banks spearheading the actualization of the program, we
have since sadly realized that the structure of the program as being
implemented by Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, and the two leading Banks (Access
Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank) is completely flawed and will not achieve the
expectations of Mr. President.
3. It was expected that both CBN and the two main Nigerian Banks
would at least consult with the Nollywood leadership, blessed with over 500
years of combined applicable global experience in the entertainment industry,
to jointly craft an innovative, technologically advanced film production and
distribution strategy and master plan that will not only sustain the Nigerian
Creative industry, but will ultimately satisfy President Buhari's critical
mandate of massive job creation for the teeming Nigerian youth population.
Though the Nollywood leadership had already internally developed a unique and
strategic master plan for the Creative Industry based on 25 years of tried and
tested solutions with excellent Proof of Concept applications, CBN completely
ignored and relegated the 15 Federal government registered Nollywood Guilds and
Associations and shockingly imposed impossible conditionality for the CIFI loan
application which no single practicing creative industry company can meet. This
rather unfortunate action by CBN portrays a very sad, haughty, paternalistic
and disdainful view of Nollywood, the Industry that single handedly raised
Nigeria's economy to the number one position in Africa. The result of CBN's
ill-advised strategy has left Nollywood aghast. Worse still is the potential
waste of Nigeria's hard earned financial resources simply because of
bureaucratic arrogance and a lack of required due diligence.
4A. To buttress the mistake, CBN and the Banks, only created
the category of high end extremely costly Cinemas as the only viable
distribution option for Nollywood films. This is shocking and completely
counter-productive since most industry practitioners understand and appreciate
the new global distribution opportunities of 5G Digital Monetization through
the internet and several innovations in symbiotic relationship with Fintech, 25
Billion Dollars annual remittances, Nigerian advantageous Five Fiber Optic
undersea cable companies and the well developed Nigerian advertising industry.
(B) The archaic brick and mortar Cinema distribution
opportunities have been rendered not viable especially in Nigeria where the
average cinema is built with a whopping cost of over 500 million Naira with
only 400 seats with expensive Digital Cinema Print (DCP) projection technology.
A simple alternative would have been to build Five Cottage Cinemas of 400 seats
each at the over 700 local government centers, with the same amount, with
attendant world class, affordable BLURAY 1080p projection technology and
Digital Knowledge Process Outsourcing (DKPO) international monetization capacity.
(C) Ironically, the entire Nollywood shoots in 1080p, the
global standard digital format. The CBN preferred massive cinema edifices force
Nollywood film producers to convert their content to DCP at an additional cost
of One Hundred thousand Naira per cinema screen. Meanwhile the discombobulated
film Producer can only expect Thirty Percent of Cinema gate takings,
after paying Sixty percent of the gross to the Cinema/ distributor (who is
actually also the same cinema owner) and mandatory Ten percent gross as Federal
government Tax plus an additional Five percent Lagos State government VAT.
(D) This lopsided arrangement ruins the ability of Nollywood
film producers to continuously produce quality content and directly frustrates
their capacity to create much needed employment for Nigerians. Ironically, the
cinemas can only create maximum Fifty jobs per cinema location. Twenty cinemas
at the proposed Five Hundred Million Naira each (Ten Billion Naira) can only
generate at best, One thousand jobs total.
5. Nollywood Guilds trepidation therefore stems from the
naivety of the Banks in executing the CIFI loan funds without any knowledge
whatsoever about the industry. Four years from now when we all look back and
reminisce over the disaster, the Nigerian youth population would have been
cheated out of the great opportunity presented by President Buhari's kind
intervention. It is therefore simply because of this critical reason that the Nollywood
Guilds and distinguished Associations, have come together in one voice, to
raise alarm to caution against the impending catastrophe.
6. The far-reaching deplorable Nigerian Banks attitude
towards the Nigerian Creative Industry subjugates Nollywood and the entire
Creative Industry to a shameful dependence on foreign controlled media of
archaic, non-interactive set top box Satellite Technology. Apart from the
national disgrace, the foreigners make out like bandits, taking undue advantage
of the Nigerian Creative Industry art and talents. For those bold Nollywood film
and music entrepreneurs who are forced to seek venture capital elsewhere, they
are subjected to agreeing to incorporate neo cultures completely alien to
indigenous Nigerian culture and mores in their content and programming.
Unfortunately some Nigerians have acquiesced to their subtle yet potent demands
so as survive. We will witness the repercussions of their choice soon in the
Nigerian creative space.
7. Nollywood Guilds are ready, willing and able to actualize
President Buhari's vision for the empowerment of millions of Nigerian youths.
With a singular four year budget of Ten million Dollars, the industry
has the structure, experience, capacity, global relationship equity and overall
wherewithal to practically and realistically create and sustain Five Million
youth jobs by producing, distributing and monetizing 5,000 movies globally
in Four years and in the process, champion the positive propagation of the
distinguished Nigerian personality worldwide, thereby facilitating much needed
marketing opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Nigerian
economy.
The ball is in Mr. President's court. We await Your
Excellency's decision.
SIGNED BY
* PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF MOVIE
PRODUCERS (AMP)
* PRESIDENT, DIRECTORS’ GUILD OF
NIGERIA (DGN)
* PRESIDENT, ACTORS GUILD OF
NIGERIA. (AGN)
* PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF NIGERIAN THEATRE ARTS * PRACTITIONERS (NANTAP)
*PRESIDENT, MOTION PICTURE
PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (MOPPAN)
* PRESIDENT, INDEPENDENT
TELEVISION PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (ITPAN)
* PRESIDENT, SCREEN WRITERS GUILD
OF NIGERIA (SWGN)
* PRESIDENT, CINEMATOGRAPHY
SOCIETY OF NIGERIA (CSN)
* PRESIDENT, CREATIVE DESIGNERS
GUILD OF NIGERIA (CDGN)
* PRESIDENT, CONGRESS OF EDO MOVIE
PRODUCERS (CEMP)
* PRESIDENT, THEATRE AND MOVIE
PRACTITIONERS ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA (TAMPAN)
* PRESIDENT, FILM AND VIDEO
PRODUCERS MARKETING ASSOCIATION
OF NIGERIA (FVPMAN)
* PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF VOICE
OVER ARTISTE OF NIGERIA (AVOA)
* PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF CORE
MOVIE PRODUCERS (ANCOP)
* PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF MOVIE
CONTENT OWNERS AND PRODUCER / MARKETERS OF NIGERIA (AMCOD)
* PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIAN THEATRE ARTS PRACTITIONERS (ANTP)
CC: CBN GOVERNOR
CC: HON. MINISTER OF FINANCE
CC: HON. MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE
