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The Federal government has declared that steps are being taken to discourage the production of Nigerian films and music videos outside the country.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed made this statement on Saturday in Lagos when he paid a visit to the headquarters of the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).
Mohammed condemned the situation whereby films, reality TV shows and music were made outside Nigeria for consumption by Nigerians.
He said the situation had hindered empowerment of practitioners in the industry, the development of the sector and the nation’s economy in general.
Hear him “This government has agreed that henceforth, whatever we consume in Nigeria in terms of music and films, must be made in Nigeria,” he said.
“We cannot continue to go to South Africa or any other country to produce our films and then send them back to be consumed in Nigeria.
“The Broadcasting Code and the Advertising Code are very clear on this. For you to classify a product as a Nigerian product, it must have a certain percentage of Nigerian content.”
The Minister noted that what was happening today was that Nigerian artists were often flown out of this country to go and make their recordings.
“When they get there, they will patronise the economy of that country and then bring the products back to Nigeria for us to consume.
“It is like somebody going to China or Japan to make a product that looks like palm wine and bring it back home to label it Nigerian palm wine.”
“It is Nigerians that pay for the consumption of these products and therefore they must be allowed and encouraged to participate in their production.
“I am going to meet with the relevant stakeholders over this, to see that whatever amendment that is needed to be made to our Broadcasting Code in this regard, is done urgently,” he said.