PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, called on all Nigerians and the relevant stakeholders in the entertainment industry to join hands with his administration in the fight against piracy in the country.
Also, the former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida among other notable speakers described piracy as a greatest enemy of creative industry that must be defeated for country’s economy to move forward.
They called on other tiers of government to leverage on the platform of the entertainment sector to increase their internally generated revenue, while creating jobs for the teeming youths.
The duo was speaking at the 28th Annual International Conference of the Society of Nigeria Theatre Artists (SONTA) hosted by the National Institute For Cultural Orientation (NICO) with the theme; Repositioning Nollywood for the Promotion of Nigeria’s Cultural Diplomacy and National Security in Abuja.
Buhari, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Mrs Nkechi Ejele, said regulatory bodies would be repositioned and empowered to deal with piracy.
“Relevance agencies of government will be empowered to deal with menace of piracy which has become arbitrariness to both practitioners and government,” he said.
The President, who described Nollywood as a tool for economic development, maintained that it was imperative to diversifying the country’s economy in the face of the dwindling oil prices.
“I am deeply convinced that through Nollywood our film industry, our cultural value may be re-invented. It’s also patient to state here that this administration is committed to revamping the Nigeria economy.
“Thus, diversifying the economy in the face of dwindling oil price is imperative in this regard an industry that generate huge sum of money annually for the Nigeria economy and employ over a million of Nigeria requires our attention.
“It is indisputable that film medium is a powerful weapon for influencing behavour of our people positively. Unfortunately, due to exposure to foreign film our people most especially our youth have been negatively influenced this has resulted to moral decadence and erosion of our cherished values.
“Furthermore, we support the call for Nollywood to be reposition to serve as a veritable tool for the promotion of cultural diplomacy in view of the popularity Nollywood films enjoy globally.
“This national asset can be use to project and promote our rich cultural heritage internationally and make Nigeria attractive for tourist and direct foreign investors,” Buhari said.
In his remarks, General Ibrahim Babangida noted that the cherished cultural values in Nigeria had been eroded due to cultural imperialism, saying that the general acceptance of Nollywood films could be employed to revive it.
Represented by the Former Board Chairman of NICO, Alhaji Ibrahim Ismail, Babangida said for the entertainment industry to continue to thrive, infrastructure and enabling environment must be provided.
“The war against piracy should be supported by all and sundry, so that stakeholders are not denied the benefits of their creativity,” he said.
The National President of SONTA, Prof. Sunday Ododo called on the government to extend the fight against corruption to private sector. “Corrupt practices in the private sector should receive due attention.
“As it is concerns Nollywood, piracy is the industry’s greatest headache that needs to be specially tackled to a halt. When this battle against piracy is won, Nollywood and its economic benefits shall have stronger footing and genuine impact on our economy.”
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of NICO, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma revealed that state and the local governments could improve on their internally generated revenue through the Nollywood platform, urging them to pay attention to the sector.
He said; “The Confreence has been informed by the need to direct the attention of states that could significantly contribute to their IGR through the platform of the Nigerian film industry.
“We believe that Abia, Akwa Igom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Oyo and Kano are states that could ride on the platform of film production and marketing to create jobs and generate employment for our teeming youth
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/buhari-babangida-others-call-for-renewed-efforts-against-piracy/#sthash.0eVQsZY2.dpuf

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