By Madu C. Chikwendu
“How can a healthy balance between censorship and artistic expression be achieved in a manner that is protective of the public right to wholesome entertainment, yet is not protectionist in isolating us from beneficial trends …how can we inject imaginativeness and creativity into film scriptwriting so as to project positive contemporary images beyond monster movies and monotonously recurring themes stuck in history “
-Ven. Prof.Akin Akindoyeni.
This comment from the revered clergyman and scholar sums up the expectation from a section of the Nigerian elite. It is a more concise and intellectual expression of Minister Lai Mohammed’s anthem, Minister Babatunde Fashola’s recent injunction and Citizen Reno Omokri’s incoherent ramblings.
And why not? After all there is an old European joke that in Heaven the lovers would be Italian, the cooks French, the policemen English, the engineers German , the administrators Swiss.
While it is a joke, it still draws on the attributes of each nationality. An ideal world where everything would work perfectly, tailored to our peculiar desires with little obligation on our part and no consequences for our actions.
But this is Nigeria…not heaven. A prophet lured a Facebook acquaintance to his village , killed and used her for rituals. An undergraduate and his mother connive with a prophet to kill his girlfriend, cannibalize her in a bizarre money making ritual. Not to be outdone a young man slaughtered his mother again for money rituals. These gory melodramatic tales are not from Hammer House of Horror. They are the realities of 21st century Nigeria smack in the middle of the digital age.
This fits into what Malian Filmmaker/Theorist, Manthia Diawara describes as a cinema of social realism. Nollywood did not create these stories…merely appropriated the rich materials available from the high rise buildings on the Lagos Marina to the creeks of the Niger Delta, to the dusty savannah of the north and even mined from the bowels of the south eastern rainforests.
The 2003 film ‘The Last Samurai’ starring Tom Cruise was inspired by the true life story of an American Army officer Captain Algren who was invited to 19th century Japan by Emperor Meiji to modernize his army. Right? Well…Samurais’ did invite Westerners to modernize the Japanese Army except they were not American, they were actually French.
The historical inspiration for ‘The Last Samurai’, was a French Artillery Officer Jules Brunet who was sent by Emperor Napoleon III to modernize part of the Japanese Army. But Hollywood would rather finance a movie that promotes American martial prowess; so the character and setting was changed. The real life French military adviser was now changed to an American officer Algren played by Tom Cruise. This is a very excellent example of soft power, patriotism and nationalism. If this had been Nollywood, Lai Mohammed, Raji Fashola, Omokri and others would be ecstatic. If only wishes were horses .
Hollywood films like Ready or not “out gory” any offering from Upper Iweka much as Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Porter franchise has more juju than Nollywood and the entire Africa combined.
Nollywood can do better. Our poor Native Doctors have borne the brunt of the blows from unrepentant practitioners who continue to depict them as killers, savages, sorcerers with unrepentant diabolic inclinations and satanic manifestations. These rascally filmmakers forget so conveniently the various types of Native Doctors that exist in our society…the Healer, Midwife, Herbalist and so on. It might neither be possible nor advisable to regulate production and content. But a powerful professional union can make it mandatory to attend seminars and workshops as a precondition for membership. Professionalism has a multi layered dimension beyond professional unions. It cascades down to the management of talent and resources.
These stories can be presented in a much more edifying manner to improve the Nigerian society. Such an endeavor cannot be a sole enterprise but must be seen as a Public Limited Company. An activity for all the stakeholders.
Fortunately, Nigerians love to write even as they shun reading. The solutions to these problems are in the public domain. Some even under the control of Minister Lai Mohammed himself. He has the mandate to midwife the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria MOPCON or explore the possibilities of self-regulation. The Radio and TV Tax which was designed to fund productions fall squarely within his schedule. The National Film Policy has already advocated a Film Fund and itemized the sources including a percentage of the monies paid for censorship. The pending National Film Commission Bill is even more robust in identifying additional sources of funding. If the government had a film fund, the principle of paying the piper in order to dictate his tune would have come into force.
These would have all been ways to curb the more exuberant story telling conventions of Nollywood. And what has the government been doing with the humongous billion naira taxes flooding its coffers? Entertainment, Sales, VAT Tax, income tax…all manner of taxation yet there are no tax schemes to encourage investments in the sector.
Words like Tax Rebates, Tax Shelters sound like Greek to our tax men. Do you blame the investor who dictates his illiterate fantasies to the hungry piper? Quid pro quo. Scratch my back, I scratch your back. Support the industry and get support.
Janet Jacksons 1986 track “What have you done for me lately” appears to mock all these unmerited expectations. Using the Minister Lai Mohammed as a point of contact I use the voice of hip hop exponents Koker to declare “Oga Lai do something o!”
*Madu C Chikwendu, is a Filmmaker/Creative Industry Specialist and Public Policy Adviser
