Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Shaibu Husseini has attributed the lack of structure in the Nigerian film industry to the free-entry nature of the sector, which allows anyone to join and create their own systems.
Husseini spoke during the first panel session titled “Building Creative Infrastructure to Power Africa’s Economic Growth” at the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive) held in Lagos.
Addressing the industry’s structural challenges and how the board is responding, he explained that the current free entry structure has led to many fragmented bodies, making regulation difficult and weakening the industry overall.
“What is wrong with the film industry? There’s free entry for everyone, especially for film. When they enter the film industry, they don’t want to professionalise; they have blown and established their own guild, especially if they contest for a position and don’t get it, so they create another body. This makes it difficult for us regulators, as we find it very hard to keep a hand on the industry because there are so many structures, yet we complain that there are no structures.
”So the fact that there’s free entry and exit does not mean we should not have sustainable structures that can help the industry grow, structures that promote professionalism, and structures that ensure the private sector takes us very seriously.
“Year in, Year out, the bank tells us they cannot do business with us because they can’t find the money; they can’t tell where it is coming from or where it is going.
“You make a film, and then, you can’t go to the producer’s bank statement to find the income of the film. I think, we need to begin to put those steps down, so that, if you know how to operate the camera, or you’re a talented actor or actress, once you get into the system, there should be some codes, some rules that you must obey, there should be some professional bodies that you must belong to, so that you can be professional, and we can get to us very easily, at the board, we try as much as possible to work with existing structures, so when you come to us and say you want to start an exhibition, to become like the Film Ones of this world, we want to find out who in your board, is a film maker and who has some of the experience needed, if you dont provide someone that is a film maker, we will not license you, no matter the amount of money you want to give to the board. This way, we will begin to remove those who wish to enter the industry to create problems. It will take some time, but we will get there.”
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When asked about the current reforms and ongoing initiatives the board is focusing on, Husseini noted that the NFVCB is balancing creativity with responsibility while formulating policies that attract investment and support infrastructure growth, particularly in cinema development.
He highlighted the shortage of cinema screens in Nigeria, which, he said, remains a major concern, especially for a country of over 200 million people.
He explained: “We are more concerned about balancing creativity with being responsible. We are also more concerned about setting down a policy that will encourage investment in the industry, after we found out that we are still battling with cinema spaces. In Nigeria, we are still talking about having 351 screens for a population of over 200 million, which is about 2 million people per cinema screen.We approached the minister to encourage investment in community cinema. You see, cinema in high-brow places is not affordable. If you want to watch a film in such places, it will cost you about 15k, and that’s just the ticket price; other factors are not considered. We went to her and said, Look, let’s encourage investment in community cinemas. If you can set up at least 20 cinemas, the government will give you tax relief for 5 years. I mean, Funke Akindele makes one billion, and with these things in place, she can make trillions.”
We are also interested in making the entertainment taxes in favour of the film-maker, cos presently it’s 10 per cent entertainment taxes, and we have work that we would like to reduce the entertainment tax to 5 per cent.”
Husseini added that the board is advocating tax incentives and regulatory reforms that will make filmmaking more profitable and accessible, while also encouraging private-sector investment in community cinemas across the country.
