The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Minister of Information

  • Kwara Gov, Minister, DG commend PRNigeria Centre, young communication fellowship

    Kwara Gov, Minister, DG commend PRNigeria Centre, young communication fellowship

    Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, have praised PRNigeria for its noteworthy initiatives aimed at mentoring and equipping the next generation of communicators.

    The commendations were given during the unveiling of the new PRNigeria Centre in Ilorin, capital of Kwara, and the inauguration of the second batch of the Young Communication Fellowship Programme.

    AbdulRazaq and Malagi recognised the efforts of Image Merchant Promotion Ltd (IMPR), PRNigeria and Economic Confidential publishers, for its dedication to providing young Nigerians with essential modern communication skills.

    Represented by Bolanle Olukoju, Commissioner for Communications, the governor stressed the importance of empowering young minds in the communications sector, highlighting the changing landscape of digital media and public relations.

    Urging the fellowship participants to display creativity and integrity, AbdulRazaq stated, “It fills me with pride to see so many bright and passionate young individuals gathered here, ready to become the future storytellers and media strategists who will shape the narrative of their communities.”

    Represented by Jibrin Ndace, Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Malagi said the PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship would hugely contribute to the country’s development goals. He charged young professionals to embrace technological innovation and become credible sources of information.

    “This Centre is a beacon of hope for the younger generation. It provides them with the knowledge, skills and tools that will enable growth and success in a rapidly evolving communication landscape,” Malagi added.

    In keynote address, Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), highlighted the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in strategic communication.

    Represented by Dr. Falilat Olaitan Jimoh, Head of Innovation & Digital Inclusion, NITDA South-West, Mr. Kashifu Inuwa acknowledged AI’s revolutionizing effect on how information is communicated and consumed. “AI is reshaping industries, especially in communication,” he stated.

    The DG elaborated AI’s benefits for PR professionals, noting that tools predict trends, understand audience sentiment, and enhance message-tailoring through technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP). “AI equips communicators to navigate today’s complex media environment,” he noted.

    In his address, the IMPR Chief Executive Officer, Yushau Shuaib, thanked those who supported the project as he underlined PRNigeria Centre’s commitment to youth development through training in journalism, public relations, fact-checking, and publishing.

    Read Also: Kwara Gov announces N100m support for Kaiama boat mishap victims

    “We appreciate the assistance of the state government, the Ilorin Emirate, and Alhaji Kale Kawu Agaka (Daniyan Ilorin). In three years, the organisation has equipped more than 280 journalists/writers to navigate the digital journalism landscape and empowered about 1,400 young Nigerians with vital skills.

    “Our collaborations with esteemed organizations like NITDA, the Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), and the Network of Advocates for Digital Reporting (NADIR) have been instrumental in enhancing our capacity for innovation and diversification.

    “Our trainees are making strides in various fields, showcasing the profound impact our programs have on their careers. There is a need for continued investment in youth development within the communications industry. We remain dedicated to nurturing talents,” Shuaib added.

  • PDM backs Buhari for second term

    The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) on Friday backed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term in office.

    The leadership of the group led by its National Chairman, Senator Abubakar Maadi, met with President Buhari on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar facilitated the meeting, which started around 11.02am when the President arrived the Council Chamber.

    Maadi, disclosed that the leadership of the party across the country endorsed President Buhari for second term on the 4th of January, 2019.

    Recalling that the party was formed by late Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua in 1987, he said that the PDM decided to endorse the President because of his giant strides in the development of the country, especially in the fight against corruption, successes against Boko Haram and improved power supply, among other achievements.

    At the meeting, the former National Chairman of PDM, Faruk Abdullaziz presented to Buhari, the signature of all the 36 states executives of the party endorsing the President for second term.

    Bauchi Governor, while making brief remarks explained that he was not a member of PDM.

    “I am a friend to the National Chairman of PDM and I facilitated this meeting.” he said

    According to him, the PDM has sat and resolved to support President Buhari for second term.

    Read Also: Buhari to Niger Delta: expect more development

    He said that the delegation comprises of national, state, zonal, coordinators of the PDM.

    The President commended the members of the group for remaining committed to the organization over the years.

    According to him, the bottom line of everything is patriotism.

    Government officials in attendance included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.

    Others include National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

  • 2019 Budget proposal ready for presentation 

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Friday approved the 2019 Budget proposal for onward transmission to the National Assembly.

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma briefed State House correspondents at the end of the special FEC session chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Read Also:2019 budget: Special FEC session to hold Friday

    He was with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.

    According to him, it is now left for the National Assembly to agree on a date when President Muhammadu Buhari can present the document to the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    Details Later…

  • Minister denies issuing ultimatum to Israel over Kanu

    The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday denied the report that he gave Israel ultimatum over the return of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to Nigeria.
    Kanu, who resurfaced in Israel at the weekend, threatened to unleash hell on Nigerians.
    Briefing State House correspondents, Lai Mohammed said “I was in London when I heard the story about Nnamdi Kanu surfacing in Israel. I was not in a position to make any statement.
    “But before I knew it, within a few hours, I saw my picture with a story saying that I had actually given Israel ultimatum to return Nnamdi Kanu otherwise, we will send them missiles.
    “I just laughed. It speaks to what we are talking about fake news because it is probably the biggest threat in the run-up to the elections.
    “Having said that I have nothing more to add, to the issue of Nnamdi Kanu.”
    He said that the appropriate authorities in the country will speak on the issue at the appropriate time.
    He said “At the appropriate time, the various authorities will make a statement about the issue of Kanu.
    “But this has proven that all along when Kanu disappeared and the mob was asking the Nigerian army to account for the whereabouts of Kanu; I kept saying that Kanu knows where he is.
    “He was not in the custody of the Federal Government. We have been vindicated today. Any other statement will be made in due course.” he said
  • FG saves N4.5 trillion from high profile cases 

    FG saves N4.5 trillion from high profile cases 

    The Federal Government on Wednesday disclosed that it has saved over N4.5 trillion from high profile cases prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice between 2015 and 2017.

    The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami briefed State House correspondents at the end of about seven hours Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello.

    According to Malami, his Ministry presented its score card to Council in the last two and a half years.

    He said “In respect of Federal Ministry of Justice what was presented to the Council today is the score card from 2015 to 2017

    “We presented a score card as to cases both civil, criminal that were prosecuted by the Federal Ministry of Justice and their implications as to savings that were done for the government commencing from 2015 to the present time.

    “Fundamentally arising from the cases that were conducted by the Federal ministry of Justice, the Ministry has succeeded in saving the government around N4.5 trillion relating to the claims that were presented in respect of these cases which were indeed conducted and concluded.” he

    Continuing, the Minister said “The Federal Government has put in place a committee saddled with the responsibilities of coming up with policies and strategies that will ease off congestion of prisons.

    “Over 70 percent of the inmates are awaiting trials there are sizeable number that couldn’t afford to pay limited fine that have been imposed by them arriving from their convictions.

    “There are those awaiting trials that have never seen the court room for over five years and above and indeed there are multiple legislation that are before the national assembly that are intended to support the decongestion of prison formation process.” he said

    He said that another area the Ministry presented its score card was the ongoing prosecution of Boko Haram cases.

    On Boko Haram suspected terrorists ongoing trial, he said that the total number of convictions so far is 255 and those discharged is 737.

    He said “We presented a position as to the number of cases that were prosecuted, number of convictions that were procured and the number of discharges that were made relating to the cases and then made a presentation as to the road maps for the continuation of the process.

    “There were other presentations that were made particularly as it relates to plea bargain. There are a lot of pending criminal cases in respect of the accused persons standing trials, who made offers for plea bargain.

    “Again there are high profile cases that we made our score card and gave an insight as to their respective positions.

    “A presentation was made relating to national prosecution team as it relates to the cases they are expected to prosecute.” he said

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi also disclosed that FEC has approved the construction of the  Ibadan – Kaduna rail lines at the cost of $6.7 billion.

    The project, he said, is expected to be completed in three years.

    According to him, the contract for the Kaduna to Kano aspect of the rail line was awarded last year.

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, also briefed on the progress made based on the recently approved executive order, the national strategy for competitiveness and the entire science and technology innovation road map.

    As part of the score card of the Ministry in the past two and half years, he presented new biscuits being produced in conjunction with Nasco Food.

    He said “High nutrient density products developed and proposed for inclusion in the current Nigerian School Feeding program will provide at least a third of the desired major macro and micro nutrients requirement stipulated by the World Health organization, Food and Nutrition Board.

    “Additionally, the products will be produced by NASCO Foods Limited, Jos that have state-of-the-art processing equipment with vast experience in Food processing, Food Safety and quality for production and supply chain nationwide.

    “The developed nutritious products have been tested using Nasco Food processing facilities in Jos and have been found to be technically and economically viable.

    “The pupils in the schools in Jos and Lagos where the sensory evaluation and consumer acceptability studies were done showed strong likeness for the products and are ready to consume the products if including in the school feeding program.” he said

    On his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said that the major projects which were rolled out by his ministry, including the citizens diplomacy program, desk to desk review initiatives and the economic diplomacy innovation, are recording successes.

    He also gave score card of his Ministry in the past two and half years to the Council.

    He listed the special interventions by the Buhari’s administration for the ministry, foreign missions and embassies to include N16.3 billion, N933 million, N7 billion, $32 million and $28 million.

    According to him, all the interventions were made as the President decided that he would not entertain sending Nigerians abroad without the necessary funding.

    He said “Special intervention fund to rescue many embassies in several countries of the world. First was in 2016 when the Naira was fluctuating terribly and of course the dollars to our embassies were too low to sustain them.

    “We received initially N16.3 billion, and was successfully distributed to all embassies. The second one was N933 million for renovations and other debts released in October, 2017.

    “The third was $32 million that were released for critically distressed 65 missions that were in serious debts and crisis. This was approved in November 2017 and we are in the process of distributing to the embassies around the world another one, $28 million and is the process of also being distributed and finally for ministry headquarters, the sum of N7 billion was made.” he said

    He added “A lot of the debts and the crisis in our embassies and missions around the world have been building over the last 10 years and Mr. President decided that he will no longer accept the situation where we are sending Nigerians out to represent this country and not given them the resources to be able to carry out their tasks. Hence he made provisions and directed that these funds should be released to them.

    “So the situation is still not perfect but this has come in very handily and of course in the interest of transparency we wanted to show how these funds had been disbursed.” he stated

    The Minister of FCT disclosed that FEC approved N1.9 billion for road reconstruction of Clinton Drive and N273 million for water treatment chemicals.

    Read Also: Tracking high-profile corruption cases

  • Maku urges Nasarawa Govt to revive cultural festivals

    Maku urges Nasarawa Govt to revive cultural festivals

    Former Minister of Information, Mr Labaran  Maku, on Tuesday urged the Nasarawa State Government to revive the cultural festivals in the state in order to promote peace among the communities.

    Maku, a 2015 governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance ( APGA ) in the state, made the call while speaking with newsmen in Wakama in Akun Development Area of the state.

    According to him, the promotion of cultural festivals of the various tribes in the state would promote peace and boost the state’s internally generated revenue.

    The former minister urged the state government to emulate Egypt in developing its tourism sector.

    Read also: Maku urges restoration of Customary Court of Appeal

    “Egypt is getting more money from the tourism sector than it gets from oil. So let us promote our cultural festivals.

    “Cultural festivals among the various ethnic groups will promote unity. Peace is the necessary requirement for the development of any society. Peace is priceless and non-negotiable.

    “Cultural festival will generate huge income for the state, considering our closeness to Abuja. People will come, watch and spent money during the events if properly organised,” he said.

    Maku, however, promised to revive the state cultural festival if elected into power in 2019.

    The former minister also renewed call for the restoration of the state’s Customary Court of Appeal in order to resolve many traditional issues in the state.

    NAN

  • Breaking: Ali, Makarfi differ on zoning in PDP 

    Breaking: Ali, Makarfi differ on zoning in PDP 

    …Southwest should produce chairman, says Ali

    Prominent leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from the three geopolitical zones in the North Tuesday urged adherence to the zoning arrangement agreed upon for the party’s national convention and 2019 general elections.

    Among others, the party has zoned its chairmanship slot to the South and the presidential ticket reserved for aspirants from the North.

    The party leaders, at an enlarged consultative meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, appealed to aspirants to various elective positions not to violate the zoning arrangement, saying the party paid dearly for such violations in the 2015 presidential election.

    But there was disagreement.

    While a former National Chairman Dr. Ahmadu Ali argued in favour of electing the next chairman from the Southwest geopolitical zone, Caretaker Chairman Ahmed Makarfi said the position was zoned to the South and that micro zoning is not binding.

    Ali said: “It’s either we choose our next national chairman from the Southwest or we forget about PDP”, adding that the zone had yet to occupy the chairmanship position since the formation of the party in 1998.

    “We must be ready to ensure that at the convention, the main issue, which is the national chairmanship of the party, is well handled. If we don’t vote the South-West, we can as well forget the PDP.”

    Ali maintained that the way forward for the PDP is to remain united and warned against unauthorised divisive meetings among certain members for selfish reasons.

    Makarfi restated the commitment of the party to respect the various zoning arrangements, adding however that those bent on going against the zonin arrangement should allowed to please themselves.

    Makarfi said: “The Port Harcourt convention decisions remain valid and one of the decisions taken at that convention was zoning.  But microzoning does not have a binding effect.

    “If a position is zoned to the North and you are from the North and you come to buy form, we will sell for you. Don’t forget that people will not get tired of taking the PDP to court”.

    Another former National Chairman Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, called for sanctions against members that go against the party’s zoning arrangement.

    Haliru added that going against the party’s zoning arrangement should no longer be tolerated; saying doing so amounted to disobedience and disloyalty that must be addressed by the leadership.

    The ex-party chair called for sanctions against Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, who declared his intention to run for President, noting that “zoning and rotation are part of the PDP Constitution. We must adhere to them if we are to keep this party alive.

    “There are people who are bent on contesting whether the office is zoned to their place or not. We must discuss with the South, so that anybody who goes against zoning can be punished. We cannot afford to have people come to the convention and make a fool of themselves and ridicule the party”.

    Former Senate President Iyorchia Ayu described the north as one with the required number to decide who becomes the next chairman.

    “We in the North have the number and we will decide who eventually becomes the national chairman from any part of the South. We have done it before and we are going to do it again”, Ayu said.

    A former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana warned against impunity and imposition of candidates to avoid a repeat of past mistakes.

    “I want to appeal to you to give to the party the very best in the positions that have been zoned to us. Let us therefore give to the party, men and women of impeccable integrity.

    “Whatever the Fayoses of this world may be doing, the party has resolved that the presidential candidate will come from one of the three zones in the north”.

    A former Special Duties Minister, Dr. Kabiru Taminu insisted that zoning was one of the principles recognised and entrenched in the party’s constitution.

    Makarfi lauded the sacrifice made by delegates to the meeting.

    Makarfi called for unity among members as the surest way for the PDP to regain power in 2019.

    The chairman announced the decision of the Osun State chapter of the Labour Party to join the PDP as part of the reconciliation efforts.

    Also present at the enlarged meeting were former Governors Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada (Kogi); ex-Governor Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); and Ibrahim Shema (Katsina).

    Others include former Ministers Abba Moro, Adamu Maina Waziri Zainab Maina and Chief Fidelis Tapgun.

    A former Deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, former National Woman Leader, Ina Ciroma and the chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin also attended the meeting.

  • Why FG declared IPOB terrorists group – Minister 

    Why FG declared IPOB terrorists group – Minister 

    The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Wednesday gave reasons why the Federal Government declared the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group.

    Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Mohammed said that the group led by Nnamdi Kanu had been using cutlasses and other weapons to terrorize Nigerians.

    According to him, the group has also been getting financial sponsorship from some quarters to destabilise the country.

  • FEC okays N20.6 billion for road contracts

    FEC okays N20.6 billion for road contracts

    …Approves policy for technology acquisition

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N20.6 billion for road contracts in Plateau and Kwara states.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah and the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu.

    The two roads, he said, are N10.4 billion for the reconstruction of Pankshin-Balank-Yalen-Salak-Gindiri road in Plateau state and N10.2 billion for reconstruction of Sharre-Patigi road in Kwara state.

    He said “The ministry presented two memoranda to the council. The first was to with respect for approval to construct the Pankshin-Balank-Yalen-Salak-Gindiri road in Plateau state for N10.46billion.

    “The second one is the Sharre-Patigi road in Kwara for N10.2 billion; both prayers were approved by the council.

    “The other memorandum was in respect to inherited liabilities from the old power ministry where a judgment of N119 billion had been signed against the Federal Government as a result of acts of officials of government who varied the presidential approval without seeking further directive from him and then awarded the contract on that basis.

    “So the party who was the beneficiary of that contract which they subsequently sought to withdraw went to court and got a judgment,” he said.

    Onu said that the Council approved a policy to encourage technological advancement in Nigeria.

    The initiative, he said, will help Nigerian firms to produce what the country needs as it will boost foreign investment in Science, Technology and Engineering from where local content could be developed.

    Through the policy, he said that technology transfer will be facilitated with more taxes to be paid to government, and wealth creation for the country and people.

    “The Federal Executive Council in its deliberations approved a policy that will help us to change the direction that we have been taking as a nation, a direction that will be very useful in helping us to start looking inwards to produce the things that we need as against depending on other outside people to import our requirements.

    “Some of the highlights will involve for example where we have bulk purchases of major items that we are bringing into the country that those who normally would have supplied from outside the country will now come to Nigeria to establish their factories to produce in Nigeria.

    “By doing so they will offer job opportunities to our people, tax will be paid to government so wealth will be created but most importantly Nigeria will now acquire the necessary technology that will help us to build capacity.’’

    Onu said that FEC agreed that henceforth whoever wanted to practice any profession, in Engineering, Science and Technology, Medicine, Accountancy, Quantity Surveyors and others must be certified by appropriate professional bodies in Nigeria.

    He said the measure was very important in building the nation’s local capacity adding that there were so many areas that the fiscal policy had covered.

    According to him the aim is that in the next 10 years Nigerian firms shall be in a position to carry out very complex jobs, especially the ones that they do not currently have the expertise to do.

    He said the country would for now rely on foreign companies for such jobs but when they arrive they have to work with Nigerian firms who would understudy them from project conception to inauguration.

    The minister stated that it was the only way that the country could acquire the necessary technology to build our local capacity hoping that in 20 years Nigerian firms should be competing with the best in the world.

    He said FEC has accepted to declare a state of emergency on Science and Technology because the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 to 2020 recognised the cardinal place of science and technology in driving the recovery and growth plan.

    “We are not looking for transfer of technology because we know it would not happen; what we are looking for is acquisition of technology and we are interested in building our own capacity.

    “We are convinced that we can do this and we believe that with the new policy we will be in a position to acquire technology,’’ he stated.

    Onu noted that the country could train professionals using the foreign professionals adding that the Ministry of Interior would be involved to ensure creation of a new classification in the immigration policy in that regard.

    He also said that the ministry of foreign affairs would help the country to improve its free visa status ranking from the present 92 position.

    He described the position as very low as it allowed Nigerians to enter only 45 countries on free visa.

    He said this was a difficult journey but would take Nigeria to where it should be in the committee of nations.

    Onu added that the approval had not been done since the country became independent and added that in project design the country would insist that all the language would be in English rather than any other foreign language.

    He noted that with the movement of other nations toward solar and other means of technology outside oil the country should be preparing for a post-crude oil era.

    Enelamah said that FEC approved a memorandum that was presented to amend the list of pioneer industries and products that will enjoy pioneer status going
    forward.

    This, according to him, is line with the ease of doing business policy of government.

    He said “As many of you know the pioneer incentive scheme is governed by ye Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act and the whole purpose is to give tax holidays to industries we consider pioneer. Pioneer doesn’t mean that they are new it only means that they are not yet mature, we want those industries to grow.

    “We want to attract investment in them and you will find that this covers a wide range of industries and those tax holidays ranges from 3-5years. The pioneer list was last reviewed by the Federal Executive Council in 2006, so you could see that this was long overdue.

    “On doing the review, special attention was paid to the ERGP to capture the current realities that will help to implement the plan to make sure we attract the kind of investment, industries and players that will help to implement and realize our objectives in the ERGP.

    “I should also point out that there was multi stakeholder engagement, private and public sector in arriving at the industries that will be included in the pioneer incentive scheme.

    “In terms of the recommendations approved by FEC today: we have tried to remove all ambiguities in the definition of industries by reclassifying industries according to the international standard in industrial classification which is the global standard which is also the standard that is used by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics.

    “The other thing we also did is to agree that the pioneer list will be reviewed regularly every two years, biannually so that just that if things come up, we live in a fast changing world and we are being responsive to our world. In the case of additions to the list they will be effected immediately, for deletion of industries that we consider mature there will be a three year window that will be allowed for those that are already investing in that industry that were enjoying pioneer status to carry on till the end of that three year period.

    “Against this backdrop, we then approved 27 industries that were recommended for addition to the pioneer list today. We also recommended and it was accepted by the Council that mineral oil prospecting which is governed by the Petroleum Profit Tax should not be part of the pioneer industries list which is really industries governed by the Companies Income Tax Act.

    “It was also accepted that given the success we have achieved in cement which are now net exporters, maybe that is an industry which we could say that we are now where we want to be in terms of maturity even though there is still a lot of scope for the application and the use of cement and you know that will continue. We already have critical mass in cement.

    “The scheme will ensure that will not deprive us of revenue. It is an incentive to make people enter your market, new enter industries, invest more for people who are already here. It will increase our tax base over time,” he stated.

     

  • BACK TO THE MULTICHOICE-WON BBN DEBATE

    JUST when you think Nigerian government is through with an issue it considers serious, momentary impulse brings back the same old matter only for us to see how inconclusive we are with several matters. It is in the same manner that most elections have not been smooth sailing.

    The Minister of Information’s strong desire to transform the creative industry into a creative economy is obvious since assuming office, but his desire alone cannot turn things around overnight. This is evident from the fact that he had met several brick walls on some of his good plans.

    For instance, inability to get the National Theatre running for the just held Africa Movie Academy Award, AMAA, despite collaborating with Lagos State Government comes to mind. It is in the same manner that the Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MOPICON) bill, for which he set up a review committee, is yet to see the light of the day.

    It is important to sit back, digest the complexity of the entertainment industry, and study the Acts before making blanket statements that breed unnecessary tirades that make fun of genuine intentions.

    When the Federal Government said, last Saturday, that whatever we consume in Nigeria in terms of music and films, must be made in Nigeria, it was Alhaji Lai Mohammed speaking passionately and personally about patriotism, but his personal desire wasn’t in synch with creativity and the liberty that independent producers have on choice locations.

    “This government has agreed that henceforth, 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,” he said.

    This was clearly a gaffe, leading to insults from people whose anger was more pronounced along political divide.

    But now that the Minister has rephrased his statement, and narrowed perceived transgressions to Nigeria branded shows like the last Big Brother Naija (BBN) and the ongoing The Voice Nigeria music reality show, which, like the former, is being shot in South Africa, one can only say, the rephrase makes sense.

    However, I am of the opinion that rather than make patriotic pronouncements that sound draconian, we can make more sense if government uses its might to put up structures that naturally will lobby the market force in a way that it would be a business folly to shoot reality shows outside Nigeria.

    For example, I like the idea the Minister’s plan to establish a one million dollar Venture Capital to boost the creative industry. I like the idea of the Creative Industry Summit, which, in structure and format appears to be the best kind of referendum ever experienced in the entertainment sector. I like the FG MoUs with Tony Elumelu Foundation, Bank of Industry and the British Council for the creative sector. I like the plan to revive the National Endowment Funds for the Arts.  I like the proposed plan to overhaul the National Theatre. I like the fact that international treaties are a possibility now that the entertainment industry is under the Ministry of Culture. I like the Innovation Distribution Fund segment of the Project ACT Nollywood grant, albeit if implemented from a very shrewd approach. In all, I like ideas that provide enabling environment for creativity to thrive.

    However, I think that not to encourage international competition is a defeatist attitude, even if our creatives are shooting for the local market. Unfortunate for this type of mindset, the world is already a global village and like they say, with a sense of priority for the Nigerian product, there is need to ‘Glocalise’.

    Based on current realities, I maintain, just like I did during the hot debate about shooting Big Brother Naija in South Africa that Multichoice was right in their business decision. Anyone in their shoes would do the same.

    After all, the Broadcasting Code and the Advertising Code say that for you to classify a product as a Nigerian product, it must have a certain percentage of Nigerian content.

    I guess that this clause was what stalled the investigations that the Minister asked Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to conduct while the last BBN was running.

    How could the NBC have found fault with Multichoice when all housemates were Nigerians; when the popular Big Brother Voice was that of a Nigerian; when the series Director, Gbenga Kayode is a Nigerian and Nigeria-trained; when head of content and about nine other members of his team were Nigerians; when Title sponsor, Payporte is a Nigerian online retail company; when foods, drinks, fabrics, decors, props are largely from Nigeria; when English, pidgin, and other Nigerian languages were permitted on the show; when Nigeria’s major language interpreters were engaged on the show; when all the eviction live show performers were Nigerian artistes; when all the coaches/mentors brought on the show were Nigerians; and the prize money of 25 million that went to Efe was in Naira.

    If the Minister decides to get NBC to amend the Broadcasting Code by saying Nigeria-branded shows like Big Brother Naija (if Naija is Federal Government copyrighted at all) and The Voice Nigeria must be produced in Nigeria without having a competitive studio and relevant infrastructures in place, we would only have succeeded in teaching the likes of Multichoice a new business trick.

    Supposing they decide to drop Naija and bring back Big Brother Africa. I don’t see how this makes any difference knowing that Nigerian housemates always hold sway with great followers that help popularize the show on the continent. What about if The Voice Nigeria is simply called The Voice just so it can be shot in South Africa?

    Looking at it critically, where you shoot a reality show is not as important as the number of Nigerians and the value of ‘Nigerianess’ in the show.  Indeed, we need to get less emotional and be pragmatic.