SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, (THEWILL) – A group, under the aegis, Coalition of Nigeria Entertainers (CNE), has called on the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to immediatey sack the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The group declared that it was displeased with a statement credited to the Minister where he was alleged to have declared that music videos and films produced outside Nigeria will be banned.
The group thus gave the Minister a seven-day ultimatum to rescind his statement or they will be forced to lead a heavy nationwide protest against the federal government.
“We shall lead a nationwide protest to caution the government on the unhealthy decision which will undermine the international influence of Nigerian Music & Movie Content if the statement is not withdrawn,” the group stated.
“We also want the misfit Minister of Information to stop saying things that will cause crisis in our beloved country,”
THEWILL recalls that Mohammed had tried to clarify his statement explaining that he was not appointed Minister to develop the economy of other countries at the expense of the Nigerian economy.
“I didn’t say that henceforth, all music videos and films will be produced in Nigeria, or that the production of music videos or films outside Nigeria will be banned,” he explained.
“All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian (local) content programme, we will amend the Code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria. On that, there is no going back.”
The Minister recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from concerned Nigerians when the last edition of the Big Brother Nigeria show was produced in South Africa, saying he subsequently directed the National Broadcasting Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversy.
“Following the findings, we decided to amend the relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to prevent a repeat of that development.
“We are now in the process of doing that, so that anyone who intends to produce a reality show or similar programmes for Nigerians cannot take the production of such shows outside Nigeria.
“Nigerians are a very proud and resourceful people, and we are sure that no Nigerian will be against a decision to prevent the jobs that can be done in Nigeria by Nigerians from being exported to other countries,” he said.
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