Nollywood Plays Major Role In Nigeria’s Economy – Adeosun

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Friday said the Nigerian movie industry popularly known as Nollywood is very important to the nation’s economy.

Speaking at a film industry stakeholders’ workshop aimed at restructuring and reinvigorating Project ACT Nollywood, the minister said the Federal Government was determined to create deliverables that would ensure maximum value for the industry’s stakeholders and Nigerians generally.

The Project ACT Nollywood is a N3 billion grant set up by the federal government to address challenges impeding the growth of the movie industry.

The workshop was to examine outstanding areas of the programme yet to be implemented, review such and ensure that they are still appropriate for the industry.

Adeosun said the problem of the industry was not in the quality of movies produced but in the structure of the industry.

She said it was regrettable that pirates were the main beneficiaries of the industry, adding that they waited for creative talents to create a product while they claimed the profit.

According to her, most of those who create the value do not actually get the value in terms of returns.

The minister stressed the need to ensure sustainability in the industry, adding that a committee would be inaugurated to address issues raised at the workshop.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on his part, said proper distribution of movies was very important in the industry.

Represented by Mrs. Grace Gebe, the minister said without proper distribution channels, piracy would continue to thrive in the country.