President Goodluck Jonathan says if re-elected, his administration will move the entertainment industry from the Ministry of Information to the Ministry of Tourism,
Culture and National Orientation as well as address the lingering issue of piracy which has become a major problem in the industry.
President Jonathan was speaking at an interactive session with Nollywood stars in Lagos, tagged, “ Showbiz Interactive with Mr. President.”
According to him, ” if the nation’s entertainment industry stakeholders believe that separating the industry from the Ministry of Information is what they want, government will definitely help them to achieve the dream.”
“I can move the entertainment industry from Ministry of Information to Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Definitely, it is possible. Before now, each department of government was under one ministry. Ministry of Water Resources was under Ministry of Agriculture. But we separated them just as Communication and Technology was separated from the Ministry of Information. At a time, the Ministry of Tourism and National Orientation was separated from the Ministry of Information. So, if the entertainment industry believes that it will be good for them, we will do that,”Jonathan promised.
Mr President observed that the entertainment industry like sports is very important not just at the national level but also, at the local level, hence, his interest in the sector.
“We are yet to explore the potentials we have in the industry as I am seeing a big potential in it. In Bayelsa State, we have started promoting the African Movie Academic Award, AMAA.”
“Before this time, the entertainment industry and Nollywood were not contributing much but now, even in terms of contributing to our GDP. They are presently contributing up to 1.4 to our GDP. So, why I am passionate about them is that it will create job opportunities for Nigerian youths,” the President said.
President Jonathan also said, it’s needful to review the laws to ensure that the sanctions are commensurate with the offences, stressing that the punishment meted to pirates in the country are quite light. He however, called for serious attention to be given to the problem of piracy, blaming, the security agencies for not living up to their billing in this regard.
The event which was anchored by veteran actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, RMD and comedian AY, the event was graced by dignitaries including Jim Ovia and Tony Elumelu. Nollywood stars in attendance were Ibinabo Fiberesima, Segun Arinze, Yul Edochie, Monalisa Chinda, Ali Baba, Ini Edo, Mike Ezuruonye among others.
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