Nigeria, Nigerians

This is about Nigerians and their siddon look attitude towards Nigeria and why such attitude should have no place in our creative industries. Of course, the attitude should have no place in all areas of our lives too.

I got a feedback to one of the previous articles that I had published on this page. It said: look here, there is nothing people like you and your articles can do to change things in this country; the entertainment industry has absolutely no structure and the situation is hopeless, helpless.

The author of the feedback meant no harm. As a stakeholder in the entertainment industry, he wished things were better but over time and probably as a result of a few disappointments or frustrations, he had come to a state of resignation. I don’t blame him, his premise is right by saying that the entertainment industry has no structure but his conclusion that the situation is hopeless is faulty; I understand him but I have to disagree with him, not because I believe that I and my articles can single-handedly cause a magical change of some sort but simply because I am convinced that it is unacceptable that the situation be hopeless or helpless. We cannot take to resignation and thus become inactive. Inaction will not turn the seemingly hopeless situation around; rather it will strengthen and feed the hopelessness. There is no still position; it is either forward or backward. Creativity needs to be rewarded. The development of society depends on creativity and where the society fails to reward the energy and the minds that develop its consciousness, you find that creativity will be suffocated and thus the development of society stunted. The battle that I might appear to have joined is one borne out of the necessity of keeping the fire of Nigerian creativity alive and burning. It simply cannot be allowed to die.

It would be extreme falsehood to say that Nigeria has a well structured entertainment industry but steps are being taken to put a structure in place. An example of such steps is the recent registration by the Nigerian Copyright Commission of Collecting Societies. It is tough to imagine that there is no proper royalty collecting system in a nation, which has the largest music industry in Africa and the third largest movie industry in the world? It however need not be imagined, it is a fact.

The huge effect of this lack of structure cannot be overstated. Local artistes hardly receive any royalties for the use of their works and neither do they earn meaningfully from record sales as the market and major distribution networks are largely controlled by pirates. Foreign investors are not interested in investing in such an environment and foreign artistes and stakeholders lose heavily as the use and consumption of their work fails to result in earnings for them. In the United States as well as many other countries, the government generates a lot of income from the industry through taxes. This is not so in Nigeria. There are no structures to determine or observe industry earnings thus making it impossible to tax effectively. Nigerian artistes are exploited because they are ignorant of their rights. It is therefore important that the entertainment industry in Nigeria develops proper structures and that as many trained hands and minds as possible be available to contribute to the development.

The questions that the feedback raised are still unanswered. What can people like me do? What is the point? Society cannot be structured and ordered without the instrumentality of the law. Any efforts to structure or organize the entertainment industry will be absolutely incomplete without the law. The Nigerian entertainment law needs to be equally developed to meet the challenges of the growing industry. While such development is going on, the current body of laws forming the Nigerian entertainment law also needs to be utilized and relied on in the structuring of the industry. Industry practitioners need to be aware of their rights and the position of the law on their activities and transactions; hence lawyers and articles such as these. Need I say more?

I therefore call on all industry stakeholders to put aside their siddon look attitude and contribute what they can to the development of the industry. It need not be something huge or overly dramatic like trying to shut down the Alaba boys all by oneself; collective small efforts will create a huge impact. Isn’t there a saying that small drops of water make a mighty ocean?

Justin Ige is a Legal Practitioner. (mailjustinige@gmail.com, 08067341743)
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace legal counsel.