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One of the nation’s revered comedians, Owen Gee has urged government at all levels to support the comedy industry .The entertainer, who spoke in an interview with TheNewsGuru in Lagos said the government needs to do more.
Owen Gee who also doubles a filmmaker added that there is no 100 percent transparency in the support of comedy shows at the moment.
“This is already an over flogged issue actually. We have discussed this in so many platforms, so times and in so many ways .There are good parts and bad parts. The government has tried to support stand-up comedy shows via the support of FIRS Federal Inland Revenue Service sponsorship .There is a lot of man-no man involved. There is really not 100 percent transparency in the support of the comedy shows. Some are supported, while some are not. At the end of the day, it leaves a loop hole in the system .I don’t think it should be like that. Just like every other industry apart from monetary investment, we also need a structure not just in comedy alone, but in entertainment”.
Speaking further, the producer of ‘200 million’ noted that entertainment is one of the highest earning industries in the world.
“Entertainment is one of the highest earning industries in the world and you would agree with me that the youths are tuned more into entertainment than even sports and other spheres of life. Let there be a ministry of entertainment, get an entertainer to be the minister. With that we need a structure, a film village, let’s have comedy TV stations.
“Let’s be more organised in it. Let the system pay properly. Let there be checks and balances in the associations involved in the running of these entertainment bodies. They said the CBN are currently granting loans to the entertainment industry. They chose music, they chose fashion, they also chose movies, but the comedy industry isn’t there .Our industry is the fastest growing in the last 20 years.
“Why were we not included in accessing the loans? When movie makers make low budget movies, they can make a film for as low as 1 million or 1.5 million and as high as 50 or 100 million. But you cannot host a successful and paying comedy show at a good venue with 1.5 million. Do you know how many comedians do shows at Eko Hotel every week? Do you know what it costs? They are bringing laughter every week to people. Why were we not included in the CBN loan scheme run by Access bank? That is one of the questions we need to answer. We surely need a lot more support”.