…Why cabal is against MOPICON bill …Actresses flaunting posh cars, mansions on social media not reflecting the realities of the industry By BENJAMIN NJOKU VETERAN film maker and entrepreneur, Wale Adenuga,MFR, has always been outspoken especially when it comes to addressing critical issues undermining the growth of the Nigerian movie industry. Adenuga was at it again recently, as he made a quick assessment of the industry, positing that passing the moribund Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria, MOPICON, bill into law remains the only way to sanitize the industry in this dispensation.

He’s also canvassed for the establishment of an umbrella body that will promote the interest of all film makers in the country. The producer of popular TV series, “Papa Ajasco”, “Superstory” and CEO of Wale Adenuga Productions, made this known while in a chat with our reporter at the opening of the PEFTI film institute in Ibadan. He lamented the current state of the industry, noting that if nothing is being done to arrest the trend, it will be difficult to avert a looming disaster. According to him, “Our industry is the only one in Nigeria where we don’t have a national body. We can’t talk about a national association of film makers, the way that doctors talk about the Nigerian Medical Association,NMA, and journalists talk about the Nigerian Union of Journalists,NUJ. It’s true that we have all manner of guilds but they are all based on sentiments. I am persuaded to believe that our inability to come together under an umbrella is one of the reasons we have some of the problems that undermine the growth of the Nigerian film sector.” Speaking further, Adenuga said people who are enjoying from the muddy waters of Nollywood will not want things to be reformed. “I am not happy with the present structure of Nollywood. It’s as if we don’t have a structure. For instance, you cannot practice journalism in Nigeria without becoming a member of NUJ. But in the case of Nollywood, it’s all-comers affair. In fact, Nollywood is stand on triplot at the moment. The northerners are doing their own called Kannywood, the Yorubas are doing their own under the auspices of Association Of Nigeria Theatre Art Practitioners, ANTP, while the Igbo practitioners are doing their own in the name of Nollywood. Worse still, most of the popular film producers or directors don’t belong to any association. So, there is no structure and the only thing that would have structured the industry is this proposed MOPICON.”