Nollywood legends honour Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan was
yesterday decorated as Grand Patriarch
of Nollywood for supporting the industry
where over 200 people have been trained
with 76 film producers accessing grants
for projects.
They said television stations’ penchant for
cheap Mexican soap operas and other
foreign films was borne out of greed and
attempt to kill the industry and erase jobs.
This is even as President Jonathan
described actors and actresses as the
greatest ambassadors of the country. He
said before now, Nigerian football teams,
especially the Super Eagles, were the ones
bringing glory to the nation, but of late the
team had been fumbling, but the
Nollywood stars have remained
consistent in their craft and bringing glory
to the nation.
Jonathan stated this when the Legends of
Nollywood, led by Mr. Paul Obazele and
Zack Orji, took a delegation to the
Presidential Villa, Abuja when Jonathan
was decorated with the award.
He said, “there are so many good stories
about you (Nollywood stars). For us who
by divine providence and your own will,
made us to be here this time, you are our
pride, you are our stars.
“In fact, you are the greatest
ambassadors of this country. This is
because the Nollywood family has really
helped to bring good image to this
country.
“Before now, we were known for soccer.
After some time, we started fumbling.
Today, we are on top, the next day, we
are down. Since Nollywood came on
board, you have been quite steady and
you have been bringing good image to
this country,” he said.
The President likened the Nollywood
success to the biblical story of creation
where God made a pronouncement that
there should be light and there was light.
He said the industry was created from a
humble beginning when people did not
expect any spectacular thing to a very
formidable body, being the second in the
world.
President Jonathan expressed delight that
the commercials of the industry have now
become integral party of the nation’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The President said he remained
committed to giving government support
to the industry. While describing the
award plaque given to him as precious,
he said it would be one of the items in the
Presidential Museum he would establish
after leaving office.
Earlier, Obazele said the group gave
Jonathan the award because of the
support he had been giving the industry
since his days as deputy governor of
Bayelsa State.
He said no Nigerian president has ever
given the motion industry such support,
adding that by his actions and support,
he has walked the talk, leading to great
dividends for the sector.
“No government has shown special
interest in our industry like yours,” he
said.
Obazele said: “Mr. President as we induct
you in to the Nollywood Hall of Fame, we
want to draw your attention to the fact
that things have gone from bad to worst
in the motion picture in the country most
especially the television stations.
“I make bold to say that television no
longer excites unlike the days of old when
we had locally produced great soap
operas like Village Headmaster, After the
Sun, Mirror in the Sun, Basi and
company, our television stations have
sacrificed this great programme on the
altar of greed. Most of our television
stations now pay more attention to
foreign soap operas and contents than
they pay to locally produced programmes.
They prefer to buy cheap Maxican soap
operas instead of commissioning local
programmes or local contents. Even when
they pretend to buy local programmes,
they either acquire these local projects at
a ridiculous amount and they charge
exorbitant airtime that independent
producers find it difficult to cope.
“We call for the faithful implemention of
the various broadcast codes that enables
television and cable stations to
commission programmes or scout for
very good programmes that can
showcase on their stations. We believe
that way they will be encouraging the
development and the growth of the
industry and contributing to employment
generation”, he said.