THE CABINET office secretariat staff was very receptive that Wednesday afternoon. A note from an aide of the Minister of Information had watered the ground. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) was held the previous day, so staffs were busy compiling approved memos for further action. The cabinet staff would entertain any question but would not release any document. He asked a clerical staff for a logbook containing memos received by the office for distribution at the weekly FEC meeting. This was in response to the reporter's inquiry on whether the cabinet office had received any memo from the Information ministry meant to formally present the Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MOPPICON) bill to the FEC for approval.There were claims by some aides of the Minister that but for 'some administrative bottleneck' the MOPPICON bill would have long been sent to the National Assembly as an Executive bill to be passed into law. According to the aides, the Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, had already prepared the MOPPICON document and the proposal on the establishment of the film village for approval by the FEC 'as far back as April 2011.'Flipping through a log-book marked 'FEC Memo's ' January to April 2011', the cabinet staff confirmed the receipt of a couple of memos including one forwarding the verified MOPPICON document from the Ministry of Information for presentation in one of the FEC meetings in March 2011, but he disclosed some of the memos were stepped down. Again, he cited administrative reasons.'We received 164 copies of the document (MOPPICON bill) and had prepared them for circulation but we were asked to leave them out for reasons best known to the initiating ministry,' the staff said, as he tucked a copy of the bill into a folder meant for file copies of received memos. He would not say more than, 'you can go and ask them (Ministry of Information officials), we only forward memos and have no power to step down a memo.'Back at Radio House where the Ministry of Information sits, no one will explain the failure of the bill to be presented for approval beyond the chorused 'administrative reasons'. But The Guardian gathered that the decision to step down the memo was to avoid inter-ministry and intra-ministry squabble. Two petitions ' one by officials of the Ministry of Culture and another by a Director General and head of one of the parastatals in the Ministry of Information, was what put paid to the decision of the Information minister to present the document, which had cost the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) so much of time and money to put together.THE MOPPICON document, which is in contention, was generated by focused and consistent contributions of elected representatives of all sectors of the motion picture practice in Nigeria. The representatives met under the auspices of the NFC, received memorandums from stakeholders from all zones of the federation and articulated a document widely believed to represent the views of every shade of practitioners in the industry.It was gathered that officials of the culture ministry demanded that the memo be stepped down because a request to have the motion picture industry under their control and supervision, as it is the practice in other parts of the world, was already receiving favourable attention at the Presidency.They argued in the petition that the ministry was in the best place to present such a memo for approval once the issue of control and supervision was sorted out.For sometime now, practitioners in the motion picture industry have joined officials of the culture ministry to argue that it was wrong to have agencies whose operations impact on arts, culture and entertainment like the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) under the Federal ministry of Information.They reasoned that apart from causing a major disconnect between the industry and other sectors in the art since these agencies were inexplicably transferred to the ministry of information early in the life of President Obasanjo's first term tenure; having to be supervised by the Ministry of Information has contributed immensely to lack of growth in the sector as most international culture treaties that would have engendered continued growth of the motion picture industry are within the purview of the Ministry of Culture.Perhaps convinced by their argument the Minister reportedly agreed that the memo be stepped down. But he had hardly concluded on the next line of action when he received a petition from within the ministry urging him not to support the establishment of the MOPPICON.The petitioner had argued that setting up the MOPPICON would mean usurping some of the Ministry's regulatory functions. The petitioner had also argued that it will be futile and wasteful, especially when government was considering cutting down on the number of agencies, to set up another bureaucracy that will enforce entry standards for a creative enterprise such as acting. The petitioner therefore requested the minister not to bother pursuing approval of the MOPPICON bill. You would just be helping to set up a structure that will be in direct competition with other regulatory agencies, the Minister was told. That petition, according to a source, got the minister confused on which way to go. He reportedly sought advice from the NFC, the agency that facilitated the drafting and review of the document and the minister was advised in clear terms that the MOPPICON is the most important intervention tool that the Nigerian motion picture industry requires to address some of its structural deficiencies.The NFC expressed optimism that the establishment of MOPPICON will streamline activities of practitioners in the motion picture industry; compelling them to conform to the guidelines of practice with the attendant benefit of tackling most of the drawbacks the industry is currently facing. Sadly, it was the week that the NFC management members reportedly turned in their reaction that the FEC was dissolved. That was the last time even the practitioners said they heard about the bill.The next time any mention was made of the bill was sometimes in June 2011 when Senior Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Mr. Oronto Douglas, met with some big names in the movie industry. The practitioners who were privileged to be at the meet had complained about the non-passage of the MOPPICON bill which they all agreed would speedily facilitate integration of Nollywood into the organised private sector and open new financial vista for the industry. They also expressed optimism that passage of the bill would lead to the much-needed motion picture rebirth.And from Douglas, they got an assurance that 'government would make sure that the Movie Practitioners Council bill which is currently in the National Assembly is passed into law.' None of the practitioners there thought it was necessary to ask the SSA to the President how the bill got to the National Assembly when even the leadership of the Coalition of Nollywood Guilds and Association (CONGA) confirmed prior to that meet that the 'draft bill has since left the Ministry of Justice and has been returned to the Ministry of Information for further action.'A practitioner had observed that no one would ask such a question as some filmmakers of late have resorted to chasing crumbs than taking up issues that border on the survival of the industry.However, a check at the National Assembly revealed that the bill has not been sent there. A member of the Senate Committee on Information, which should propose the bill for passage, said he had not received any document of that nature. 'I read once in the paper when an artiste was talking about it and the need for the bill to be passed but I have not received such a document since I joined the committee last year,' he said.So if the bill is not at the National Assembly, it should still be at the stage where it was before the dissolution of the FEC in May 2011.LUCKILY, Minister Maku was retained as Minister. But will he pursue the approval of the document and ultimately get it to the National Assembly for quick passage into law' A source at the Ministry says that the Minister is disposed to the bill ' even though he is distracted by other pressing developments. Moreso, he is conscious of plans by the federal government to streamline operations of the ministries and agencies of government.'Of course, you are aware that a panel was set up to streamline the operations of ministries and agencies and so it is possible that the responsibility of presenting the memo for council approval will fall under a different ministry like the ministry of Culture. It is also possible that some of these agencies with supervisory roles over Nollywood would be merged or moved to other ministries depending on the recommendation of the panel, and so it will be better to wait for all that to happen before reopening action on the bill,' the source said.He also debunked the claim that the minister might not be in the mood to pursue the approval of the memo because of the alleged petition by directors of one of the agencies in the ministry. His words: 'I don't know about a petition but I know that there were fears internally that MOPPICON will mean usurping their roles but that position is faulty especially if you know what regulatory councils are set up to achieve. The minister has a council like APCON under his supervision so he doesn't need any lecture on their roles in sanitising an industry. So, we have crossed that bridge because if you check the document, all they want is a body that will enforce general standards and code of ethics for motion picture practice in Nigeria and a body that will check unethical or unprofessional conduct. I don't see how that one translates into usurpation of functions of an agency like the NFVCB, for instance. I don't see how; rather, I think it will even complement their work.'BY virtue of what has transpired so far, Nollywood practitioners may have to wait until government concludes its planned rationalisation exercise to be able to have the bill move from the presidency to the National Assembly. But notable filmmaker, Mahmood Ali-Balogun doesn't think that it has to wait till then.He has a supporter in the actor, producer and former Secretary General of the Independent Television and Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN), Francis Onwochei. Ali-Balogun who signed the box office hit Tango with Me, wants the Minister of Information to go ahead and present the memo for approval so that the process of its passage at the National Assembly could go on while also waiting for the rationalisation exercise to be completed.'I don't have any problem with the argument put forward by the Ministry of Culture regarding supervision and control of the motion picture industry. I think they have a point because even in developed societies like France and even back here in Africa like in Burkina Faso, the business of motion picture and indeed the arts including rights administration, falls under the Ministry of Culture. But I don't think it should stop the passage of the MOPPICON bill.'According to Ali-Balogun, the bill could still be passed and anytime government decides on who controls the motion picture industry, MOPPICON will just fit into such a directive. 'Let's go ahead, if at the end of the day, supervision of movies is returned to culture, we will all move there but putting a stop to it because one ministry wants to be the one that will pass it doesn't add up for me,'' he said.Onwochei who produced Raging Storm and Saving Alero among other well acclaimed movies, agrees and adds that Nollywood is in dire need of a practitioner's council that will administer, regulate and professionalise the practice of motion picture in Nigeria. The stage and screen actor noted that a council backed by enabling laws has remained the bedrock of most professions. 'I am aware that there are forces within the ministry of information who don't want MOPPICON to come into being because they don't want their empire threatened. But it just shows that they don't mean well for the industry. They like it the way the industry is unstructured. But we are going to disappoint them because we know what MOPPICON will contribute to our desire to have a professionally oriented industry,' he said.Both Onwochei and Ali-Balogun spoke of plans by the practitioners to resume lobby on the passage of the bill. They intend to achieve this through CONGA, a body they had set up nearly two years ago to promote and protect their common and collective interest. Although the body led at its inauguration by the producer, director Bond Emeruwa has since been inactive, Ali-Balogun contends that only a spirit of cooperation among stakeholders which CONGA presently promotes can get the MOPPICON bill approved and passed into law.MEANWHILE, Bond Emeruwa, even though grudgingly admittedly that CONGA has been inactive in recent time, a reason there has been seeming dysfunction in the industry, pledged the readiness of the coalition to fast track the setting up of the council even if it means sponsoring a private bill at the level of the National Assembly.He said: 'It has reached a point when we should be more decisive about the issue of MOPPICON. We and the NFC have spent so much time and resources holding review meetings and workshops on the document and so I don't see why government is foot dragging on the matter. We have started the process of fast tracking the setting up of the council and won't mind sponsoring a private bill on it,' he said.Bayo Adetokunbo, a professional lobbyist and keen observer of trend in the industry, suggests that the practitioners should sponsor a private bill if government was not forthcoming with the bill it has committed resources in drafting. Like the practitioners, Adetokunbo reiterated the fact that the establishment of the Council will be pivotal to the foundation of a regulated and professionally oriented industry.Even the film scholar and former Managing Director of the NFC, Prof. Hyginus Ekwuazi has consistently maintained that MOPPICON was necessary for the development and rejuvenation of the Nigerian film industry.
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