The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Lai Mohammed during his visit to Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) House in Lagos, on Saturday has said that the federal government “has agreed that henceforth, whatever we consume in Nigeria in terms of music and films, must be made in Nigeria.
Decrying the situation in which the films and music meant for consumption in Nigeria are made in foreign countries, he said the government is determined to ensure that what is consumed in Nigeria, including films and music, must be made in Nigeria.
“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.
“The Broadcasting Code and the Advertising Code are very clear on this.
“For you to classify a product as a Nigerian product, it must have a certain percentage of Nigerian content,” the minister said.
He said Nigerian artistes fly out of the country to make their recordings adding that “when they get there, they will patronise the economy of that country and then bring the products back to Nigeria for us to consume.”
“It is like somebody going to China or Japan to make a product that looks like palm wine and bring it back home to label it Nigerian palm wine. As long as we are not able to implement our own code to ensure local production of Nigerian music and movies, our young talents will not get jobs.
It is Nigerians that pay for the consumption of these products and therefore they must be allowed and encouraged to participate in their production.
I am going to meet with the relevant stakeholders over this, to see that whatever amendment that is needed to be made to our Broadcasting Code in this regard, is done urgently,” he said.
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The Minister said efforts are also being made to give the Creative Industry a pioneer status so it can qualify for such incentives as tax holidays and waivers, especially of customs duties on the equipment for film and music production, among others.
