FG Seeks India’s Support For Nigeria’s Film Industry

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
enjoined the Indian Government to support Nigeria’s film industry with
the technology that will enhance the quality of films produced in the
country.

The Minister made the call in Abuja on Friday when he received the
Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Abhay Thakur, on a courtesy
visit to his office.

“I think Bollywood is probably the biggest film industry in the world,
closely followed by Nigeria, but while we are proud of what Nollywood
is doing in terms of content, I think we still need to do more in the
area of technicality and technology and I think this in one area that
I would want us to concentrate on in our bilateral relationship,” he
said.

Alhaji Mohammed also urged India to extend its support to the area of
capacity building for the lecturers of the Film Institute in Jos, in
order to enable them to acquire the requisite and relevant knowledge,
which will be imparted to the film makers.

“I want India to avail Nigeria of the opportunity to train not just
our budding producers and film directors, cinematographers and the
like but probably if India can stretch its hands of friendship to our
Film Corporation, especially the Film College in Jos, so that they can
be able to improve the technical quality of our films.

“I still believe that in the area of content, we have very rich
content, very fecund imagination but I think in terms of the quality
of the films, we still need to do much more and I don’t think there is
a better place we can look forward to than India for this,” he said.

The Minister said in spite of the huge population of India, it still
shares some similarities with Nigeria, particularly in the plurality
of culture and religion.

He sought the assistance of India in the area of capacity building for
Nigeria’s cultural officers, as well as the provision of scholarships
for Nigerians in culture-related fields.

In his remarks, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Thakur,
said in order to further deepen the ties between the two countries,
the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing Journalists
Exposure Visits for a select group of Nigerian journalists to expose
them to specific, Africa-focused business events in India

He also extended an invitation to Nigerian cultural troupes to
participate in the India-Africa Cultural Festival, which is coming up
in December, as a platform to showcase the cultural endowment of the
country.

The High Commissioner, who said his country is enjoying a long
standing relationship with Nigeria, especially in the areas of trade,
film, media and culture, disclosed that India is also organizing
special events in the area of Performing Arts, music and painting.

He said over 50,000 Indians are currently residing in Nigeria, which
he described as India’s biggest trading partner in Africa.