4 major controversies that shaped Kannywood in 2018

2018 was one of the most eventful periods in the history of Kannywood as it was accompanied by a lot of landmark achievements that transformed the industry into a global standard. Notwithstanding the achievements however, the year was also characterised by some controversies that shaped the direction of events in the industry.

1. MOPPAN Censorship board differences over Rahama Sadau’s recall: The year started on a bright note with the lifting of ban earlier imposed on Rahama Sadau by the Kano State chapter of Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), by the governor of Kano state, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. However, the events that followed the development threw MOPPAN and the state censorship board in chaotic altercations.

The leadership of MOPPAN disagreed with the decision of the state censorship board over the fate of the Kannywood actress.

It could be recalled that the board, through its Executive Director, Isma’ila Na’abba Afakalla declared willingness to censor Rahama Sadau’s films in what many perceived as a move towards recalling her into the industry after her ban by MOPPAN.

Speaking on BBC Hausa Service, MOPPAN chairman, Alhaji Kabiru Maikaba said Afakalla does not have the authority to forgive the actress since it was not the censorship board that banned her.

2. Crisis of supremacy between MOPPAN and Censorship board: The year was also characterized by what may best be described as battle of supremacy between the State Censorship Board and MOPPAN in which MOPPAN leadership accused the Executive Director of state Censorship Board Alhaji Isma’ila Na’abba Afakalla of meddling into its affairs.

In one of the interviews with MOPPAN secretary, Malam Salisu Muhammad Ofisa, he accused Afakalla of usurping powers of the association thereby making the association irrelevant in the industry.

He said Afakalla who was from the industry continued to meddle into the affairs of the association instead of concentrating on his new role as Executive Director of the state censorship board.

This crisis dragged on until court intervened to interpret some relevant potions of the laws establishing the board and the powers acrued to it.

3. Political differences among practitioners: Political interregnums heralding the 2019 general elections manifested vigorously in the Kannywood movie industry as some of the movie practitioners didn’t hesitate to identify with political candidates of their choice both at national and state levels.

This development splited the hitherto united family of actors and actresses into two main camps.

The two camps are mainly for the major political gladiators vying for the most exalted political seat of the country between the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and the erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

4. Kannywood visit to Aso Rock Villa: In October last year, a group of Kannywood stars from Kano, paid a political solidarity visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the state house in Abuja. The visit generated a lot of reactions from some members of the industry who do not share the same political view with the visitors.

Maryam Aliyu Obaje popularly known as Madam Korede in Kannywood circles was among the movie stars who do not mince words in expressing their dissatisfaction.

The actress described the visit as demeaning to the industry, saying the president does not deserve the solidarity visit from Kannywood as he denied the industry the chance of having a film village in Kano in the pretext of protecting the moral values of the Hausa people.

She was cited in a post on Arewablog as saying, “in earnest, my colleagues actors and actresses in the Kannywood movie industry have disgraced us by their solidarity visit on president Buhari, same Buhari that said we should not have a film village that we are wayward people, you have really disgraced us by this visit.”