The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Chris Isiguzo, says Nigeria should not rely solely on oil to power its economy.
He implored the Federal government to consider huge investment in the creative industry on account of better prospects it will offer the country.
Isigizo,who spoke when he hosted the
Executive Director/CEO of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Alh. Adedayo Thomas,in his office,said He said that a situation where Nigeria is being run on a mono economy will be counterproductive to its growth .
According to him,the nation’s creative industry has continued to grow in leaps and bounds and is competing favourably with Bollywood.
In his earlier remarks ,the Executive Director/CEO of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Alh. Adedayo Thomas, disclosed that the Nigerian film industry is currently the largest employer of labour, with its exponential growth.
He said in 2019, CinemaCon, the largest gathering of movie theater owners from around the world, celebrated Nigerian Cinema with the ‘Emerging Market Award’, an award Nigeria still holds unrivalled till date.
He added that Nigeria’s cinema was accorded the honour following a three-year consecutive exponential growth.
He said:”In fact, since 2017, the number of cinemas in the country has increased to 62. These are clear indications that, as governments at all levels grapple with economic challenges and consider diversification of their economies, the film industry is “the new oil” that can attract investors, create jobs, and boost the nation’s GDP if adequate attention is given to it.
” In the past four years, the current management of the NFVCB has aggressively taken on the challenges facing the Nigerian film and video industry through deliberate and practical steps towards repositioning the sector. These include sustained stakeholder engagement, rigorous capacity building for its workforce, enhanced enforcement operations, as well as building relevant partnerships to ensure that the sector does not just conform with global standards, but attracts investors, and thereby contributes more to the national economy.
” In its bid to effectively tackle the menace of unsuitable contents that threaten the sanity and preservation of Nigeria’s ethnic, racial, and religious harmony, the present leadership took deliberate steps to resuscitate the board’s National Task Force (NTF) that had gone comatose.
“The new task force formation, with the matching order to lead the board’s fight against unclassified films and exhibition centres across the country, is made up of NFVCB staff, industry stakeholders, and security agencies.
“In a bid to fulfill its mandate, the Task Force launched a nationwide raid on outlets selling illicit films and video works across the country, “he explained.
