The Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), has warned stakeholders in Nollywood to be careful of the bait being dangled before them by the federal government through its secretary, Anyim Pius Anyim, seeking the industry’s support for Nigeria’s centenary celebration holding in 2014.
In a press statement signed by ANCOP’s president, Comrade Alex Eyengho, the movie producers’ body warned that the era of reducing A-list movie stars to mere ball boys, clappers, dancers, servers of food and drinks to the amusement of the politicians and their special guests are over.
According to Eyengho, “let me make it clear that neither ANCOP nor I as the President are against this interactive session with Nollywood. I am aware that the SFG held similar sessions with other sectors.
“If and when the government wants to meet with Nigerian journalists, it goes straight through the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), for Lawyers it’s the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), for Accountants it is mainly ICAN, for Doctors it is NMA, for Advertisers it is APCON. Government even knows how to centrally reach transporters, okada riders, market women/men etc.
“The session Senator Anyim had was not with Nollywood but with Kanayo O. Kanayo and with those he decides to inform, handpick and invite.
“Enough of this laughable trend of reaching Nollywood through those who are close to the corridors of power at a particular point in time. Nollywood is a formal and serious industry replete with eggheads. We must be treated as such.”
He asked what Nollywood, which clocked 20 last year, has gained from Nigeria, which clocks 100 next year. “Where is the proposed Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MOPPCON) that would have been our own equivalent of NBA, NUJ, NMA, APCON, ICAN, NSE etc?” Eyengho asked.
On Wednesday, January 23, Anyim has a session with Kanayo O Kanayo and some others in Lagos aimed at mobilising Nollywood to drum support for the government in celebrating Nigeria’s centenary.
During the election of President Jonathan in the last general election in 2011, some Nollywood stars were used in campaigning for the President. Then, the entertainment industry was promised an intervention fund of $200million, which some industry stakeholders have denied accessing.
