Any Programme To Be Consumed By Nigerians Must Be Produced in Nigeria, Minister Insists

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
reiterated the government’s decision that any programme meant for Nigerians must be
produced in Nigeria, saying he was not appointed Minister to develop
the economy of other countries at the expense of the Nigerian economy.

In a statement in Lagos on Wednesday, the Minister said the Creative
Industry’s potential of creating 1 million jobs in three years cannot
be realized if jobs meant for Nigerians are being exported to other
countries under the guise of producing, in other countries, programmes
to be consumed in Nigeria.

”I didn’t say that henceforth, all music videos and films will be
produced in Nigeria, or that the production of music videos or films
outside Nigeria will be banned. All I said was that if a programme is
designated as a Nigerian (local) content programme, we will amend the
Code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria,” he said, adding: ”On
that, there is no going back.”

The Minister recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from
concerned Nigerians when the last edition of the ”Big Brother Naija”
was produced in South Africa, saying he subsequently directed the
National Broadcasting
Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversy.

”Following the findings, we decided to amend the relevant sections of
the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to prevent a repeat of that development.
We are now in the process of doing that, so that anyone who intends to
produce a reality show or similar programmes for Nigerians cannot take
the production of such shows outside Nigeria.

”Nigerians are a very proud and resourceful people, and we are sure
that no Nigerian will be against a decision to prevent the jobs that
can be done in Nigeria by Nigerians from being exported to other
countries,” he said.

In a related development, Alhaji Mohammed has said the Broadcasting
Code is also being amended to help develop the local football league.

”This (amendment) is not just about the Creative Industry. We are
also going to ensure that the NBC Code is amended in a manner that if
any company in Nigeria today invests a million dollars in promoting or
supporting any (football) team or league outside Nigeria, I want the
Broadcasting Code to be amended to the effect that it will not allow
that programme to be aired unless that company supports the Nigerian
League with a percentage that will not be less than 30 per cent of
what was spent.

”This is because we cannot continue to develop the economies of the
other parts of the world from the sweat of Nigerians and at the
expense of the Nigerian economy,” the Minister said.