Nigeria: Minister vows to fight Piracy in Entertainment Industry

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The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Dr. Festus Keyamo has vowed that the Federal Government will intensify efforts in fighting piracy in the country.

He lamented that piracy was taking over the entertainment industry and that government would do everything possible to nip it in the bud.

Keyamo said the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) must come together, to salvage the situation.

Concerns

Keyamo expressed concern that the intellectual property of artists were actually going to be lost through piracy and that if nothing was done about this, it might go on to affect Nollywood, which is the film industry in Nigeria.

He also said that the ministry was going to collaborate with other governmental agencies to tackle piracy.

“They believe that by doing this, they are going to be able to protect their intellectual property and that they can also grow the industry even more. They even have hopes that this would create even more employment opportunities too, which is always a good thing,” he said.

The Tech Industry

According to him, “Nollywood and even the tech industry in Nigeria has grown since its creation. There are now more casinos than ever and when you look at internet gambling in general, you will see that it has also increased. Of course, when you visit an online casino you will soon see that there can be internet issues due to the infrastructure in Nigeria, but if more money is pumped into this industry, then something could certainly be done about that. The AGN and the government are making effort to promote the entertainment industry in general and this could only be a good thing.”

Growing the Industry

According to him, “there are other ways to grow the industry; one way for them to do this would be to invest in building film villages and even investing in state of the art equipment. This would be done for post-production studios. This would, in-turn, make them more affordable for any young producers. Ahmed has stated that the industry has contributed a lot to job creation and that it has also made it much easier in terms of acting and film making.

“There is no age limit in employment, and this is especially the case when you look at youths, adults and even children too. Those who are challenged physically are also employed by the film industry. Nollywood has 6,000 actors alone and if you hinder this industry, then you will soon find out that there are 6,000 people who need jobs.

“NAN has reported that the film industry here in Nigeria is the second biggest in the world when you look at annual production and that they make a whopping 50 movies a week and that every movie that is created opened up new potential jobs and this is incredible news for all those who are involved.”