The Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja (UniAbuja), Prof Rasheed Na’Allah has said the government needs to support the film industry because it is a multi-million dollar industry that can turn around the fortunes of Nigeria’s economy.
Speaking at a conference on ‘Decolonisation of African Cinema in the age of Media Streaming’ in honour of one of the pioneer writers in Nollywood, Prof Onookome Okome in Abuja on Wednesday, the VC said Nollywood can create wealth as people all over the world are watching Nigeria through Nollywood.
“Is it our movies, music, cultural dances or our languages, they are all taking the world by surprise because it is going to Japan, China or America and it is creating foreign reserves for Nigeria and huge money,” he said.
The vice chancellor said Netflix is already showing Nigeria movies and “If you fly anywhere, you will watch them and that is a lot of money coming to Nigeria.”
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He said the government needed to give more support for Nollywood to change the fortunes of the country.
The VC also advised against abandoning local languages, which is our cultural identity for only the English language.
He said Okome was being honoured for being one of the few people who started writing in Nollywood from the very beginning and has built the legacy of selling it to the world.
In his remark, Okome said his interest was in popular culture and the way that it influences the way they live in Nigeria.
He agreed that the West misrepresented Nigeria in not just movies but a lot of things.
“Don’t forget that at one point, in 2010 or thereabout, Nollywood contributed four percent of the GDP of this country and that is tremendous. What is happening to Nollywood today is that the West has competised knowledge. So, we no longer get that kind of return back because it’s all streaming, which is what the conference is all about and streaming gives the filmmakers very little money,” he said.
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