ON March 30, 2011, The Guardian published an article written by Yinka Ogundayisi, titled MOPICON Bill: How not to kill an ant with meat axe!Ogundayisi has been known to contribute positively to the motion picture discourse in the last couple of years. His proposals have been fairly instructive and forward-looking, especially his thoughts on the new distribution model (as proposed by the Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB), which unfortunately, has not worked out for a combination of reasons, details of which we shall discuss later.I was, however, greatly puzzled as I tried to absorb the import of Ogundayisis March 30 article, which in my own opinion was retrogressive, and lacking in his usual foresight as I shall soon prove. Unfortunately, as he admitted in his article, Ogundayisi preferred to engage in discussing a document as important, germane and strategic as the Motion Picture Council (MOPICON) draft bill, without having seen it or studying it for better understanding and appreciation before writing a piece which appeared designed to hinder its (the draft bills) advancement in the public space.It is dangerous to let Ogundayisis artcle pass unchallengedso that his comments do not mislead the public, especially decision makers. With the following, I react to the said article not only to set the records straight, but to enlighten Ogundayisi and the public, while contributing to general knowledge and deeper understanding of the noble ideals of the MOPICON draft bill.The MOPICON document as it stands now is the most important intervention tool that the Nigerian motion picture industry requires to fire up and galvanize it to the next level. Given the obvious peculiarity of the loose operating environment in Nigeria, the document was generated by focused and consistent contributions of elected representatives of all sectors of the motion picture practice throughout Nigeria. Under the auspices of the Nigerian Film Corporation, and after receiving memoranda from stakeholders, the steering committee sat extensively to consider submissions from all zones of the federation, collated the aggregate contributions and articulated progressive perspectives of the practice. The draft bill can therefore be said to represent the views of every shade of practitioners in the industry. I admit that advocacy and lobby need to pick up speed but it is instructive that the draft bill be presented as an Executive Bill as practitioners are not well grounded in coordinated lobby activities.The bill is reportedly currently going through the process of due diligence and will ultimately receive desired attention at the National Assembly.Unlike other industrialised nations where professional guilds and associations have attained maturity and have become strong enough for self regulation, innovativeness, creativity and enterprise underscore the virtuosity of the peculiar never-say-die spirit of the Nigerian; thus, when men, money, materials and movies are brought under the same structure without monitoring, regulation and controlwhich the draft bill seeks to accomplish the result will be chaos, anarchy and underdevelopment.To buttress his point of the practice not needing a law to regulate its activities, Ogundayisi referenced Hubert Ogundes era that He and his team did not seek for a formal law to regulate their members. It needs to be stated clearly that the formation of National Troupe of Nigeria, a subsisting parastatal in the culture and tourism ministry first headed by Ogunde was as a result of the need to formalise the engagement of artistes after his demise.But to be more specific, the practice of motion picture is daily getting more sophisticated all over the world including Nigeria The setting up of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has proven to be successful. It is unimaginative of Ogundayisi to criticise patterning the bill after it. Eric Reinert says, an important part of the success of any civilization is its ability to emulate the factors that led to the success of other civilizations. I dare say, it will be too risky not to determine ways that must fashion out standards, quality control, protection, discipline, ethics for an industry as important as motion picture in Nigeria.I also wish to remind of Bruce Lehman, Nations wealth and influence will be measured by its cultural industriesitalics mine. And alluding to the economic propensity of the motion picture environment, Odia Ofeimun, the notable poet, essayist and social critic, said: Every year, in the past decade about 300,000 new hands have been lifted from the throes of unemployment and underemployment by the gloss and glitter of the small screen and co-jointly are responsible for over N5 Billion (Five Billion Naira) annually and has opened the floodgates to the Nigerian genius for creativity and enterprise. Practitioners cannot watch with mute indifference, passivity and cold complicity as self regulation could damage the significant strides the industry has achieved so far. Ola Rotimi ,a Nigerian playwright making reference to a peoples challenged situation in his play The Gods Are Not To Blame, says Not to do something is to be crippled fast. To lie down resigned to fate is madness.While it is the ultimate desire to wield desirable influence, associations and guilds operating in the industry today are not as powerful as Ogundayisi suggests what you have is a good intended, yet, amorphous assemblage, badly needing immediate intervention to arrive at its destination. The primary aim amongst others of the recent signing of the memorandum of understanding by the Coalition of Nigerian Guilds and Association is to increase advocacy towards passing the MOPICON bill.As a film producer, culture policy advocate and interventionist, I share these thoughts from an insider perspective. For the past 18 years, I have engaged in the various arms of motion picture practice as an actor, manager, producer and thinker; I have produced films that have won awards locally and internationally e.g. Raging Storm, Saving Alero, Claws of the Lion and others. With deep introspection, advancing beneficial social change has been my preoccupation. In the last couple of years, I have delivered compelling position papers in our emerging motion picture industry popularly referred to as Nollywood; I have done this in South Africa, UK, Italy, Germany, USA and Nigeria. I am therefore on a very familiar terrain.I do not recommend government interference in the way we tell our stories, neither am I advocating an excessively controlled environment, especially when it concerns creative issues; however, passing the MOPICON bill will impact positively on the practice, entrench ethics and foster the highest commercial and professional standards, while enforcing compliance with laid down codes.The challenges of adequate representation in the steering committee are not insurmountable as Ogundayisi portends. To the best of my knowledge, though leadership of the associations have changed considerably in the last few years due to tenure and elections, the document retains a life of its own, and membership of the steering committee has not changed. If and when it becomes necessary, the relevant changes to representation will be effected. For the avoidance of doubt, representations change in almost all aspects of our political life, not to talk of the motion picture environment.A key area that MOPICON will address is structural deficiency. I am persuaded that current regulators do not deliberately support stakeholders and so do not have enough level of influence on their practice. They lack genuine desire, willpower and commitment to grow the industry. This is exemplified by the general lack of interest to sustain the new distribution model on which the same Ogundayisi was a consultant to Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). The board, originally set out to introduce mega distributors to the equation, for the optimum exploitation of the trade, but started to issue distribution licenses to every applicant without caution and in the process stunted the project even before it was born. In fact, NFVCB needs to inform the public and practitioners alike where exactly we are in relation to the new distribution model. Producers have been in limbo as a result of the destruction of the existing model without any replacement and are no more making profit Prof. Pat Utomi said while delivering the keynote address at the 5th Lagos International Forum on Motion Picture and Videos in Africa: if people do not make money from their business all the noble possibilities are lost.Lastly, the recent $200 Million intervention initiative for the entertainment sector by President Goodluck Jonathan is an African Development Bank (ADB) loan. It is not a grant. Unlike the individual pressure reportedly claimed by leaders from a particular sector, as reported in Ogundayisis article, it was the collective activity and popularity of the component parts of the entertainment industry that necessitated the intervention. The said Bank of industry (BoI) and Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM) are still fine-tuning the modalities of how the intervention fund will be accessed by practitioners in the entertainment sector. Fortunately this is coming on the heels of the long time advocacy towards setting up the film development fund.Motion picture is the most potent culture tool available to address the image of a country. The MOPICON bill will cause for the integration into organised private sector and open new financial vista for the industry. It will drive a philosophy and lay proper foundation that if developmental, will put Nigeria on the track to progress indeed, if well handled, it can be a veritable tool to the much-needed motion picture rebirth.Francis Onwochei, award winning film producer, actor and former Secretary General of Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN) writes from Lagos.
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