Rangers of Enugu v Heartland of Owerri, see attendance, negligible Why? Everyone was at home to watch Sunderland take on Arsenal on DSTV
By sheer numbers alone, our football should be the most lucrative in Africa, we have the fans in every city to fill a 10,000 capacity ground, but where are the fans? Where are the sponsors? Better still where are the Nigerian investors? DSTV is investing in Nigerian football, a South African company, they are also sponsoring the Nigerian Basketball League.
What about Nigerian music? Today Nigerian music, the hip hop brand is the best in Africa, economically that is, we have even won the Grammy Twice! these chaps were made, produced and blended in Agegunle and Jos. However It took DSTV, South Africans vis Channel O to make Nigerian music hip!
What about movies, Nollywood is a $500m industry, Nollywood is the highest employer after the Federal Government, Where are the Nigerian institutional investors? How many Nigerian banks have a Nollywood desk?
see how Economist describes the power of Nollywood.
"Nigerian films are as popular abroad as they are at home. Ivorian rebels in the bush stop fighting when a shipment of DVDs arrives from Lagos. Zambian mothers say their children talk with accents learnt from Nigerian television. When the president of Sierra Leone asked Genevieve Nnaji, a Lagosian screen goddess, to join him on the campaign trail he attracted record crowds at rallies. Millions of Africans watch Nigerian films every day, many more than see American fare"
This is power, latent power, has Nigeria tapped this power? This is far beyond some patriotric write up, this episode in Nigeria economic history will probably go down as the biggest missed opportunity by Nigerian businesses and the government.
the Pentagon has an agreement with Hollywood, Hollywood gets all the military gear it needs for it's films, but has to portray the Military and America in good light, the "bad movies" like Platoon which show GI's abusing Vietnamese girls don't get Pentagon support. Hollywood is America biggest export, it's Hollywood that sells IPods not Apple, it's Hollywood that sells American cars, not Detroit, Hollywood sells Jeans, not Levis. simplly put Hollywood is Americans marketing department.
Everybody in this planet admires America, even the Iranians and the North Koreans why? What they see ND believe on hollywood. At a point, America was beaming the Cosby Show with the Huxtables into communist Cuba to show the comrades what they were missing.
So why can't the Nigerian government use Nollywood and our hip hop music to sell Nigerian goods? Why can't the Northern textile mills get DBanji and Asa to promote "Nigerian textiles" just as the US milk industry uses hollywood stars to promote the consumption of Milk? That surly will spark a demand for the Nigerian cotton abi?
I read that 1m jobs were lost by the leather industries in Kano, Why cant Aba and Kano together ask Nollywood to promote made in Nigerian shoes, if the same Genevive says in Zambia that she wears only genuine Kano leather slippers or Made in Aba pumps, do we not think Malawians will demand those same Kano leater slippers? Even for security, Why can't the SSS sponsor a local hausa film to explain why Boko Haram will only lead to job losses and disinvestment in the North?
For our football, why cant the FGN guarantee loans to football clubs or even ask the NDE to buy bonds issued by these football clubs? The value chain for football involves the publicity, the sportswear, the betting, the broadcasters, accountants, agents, sports medicine, hospitality etc, these are all jobs long hanging fruits, have we tapped it? If DSTV can show Nigerian football, why can't NTA?
I commend Lagos state for using Nollywood to sell the paying of taxes, the result are very positive.
You can't "buy" a Nollywood, It's a godsend, and the Nigerian Govt must use it. If the banks won't loan money to Nollywood, then simply allocate money to them, because they are job creators, heck we allocate money for other consumption stuff like paying religious pilgrimage estacode.
We need to use Nollywood, we need to maximize our hip hop music and our football to create jobs, and drive Nigerian exports, if we don't, DSTV will rebranded Nollwood as DSTV Magic and that goodwill will go to Jbourg.
It's our problem and we can fix it
1 comment:
Very well said. Another proof that our solutions are staring us in the face. Using our Nolly is another way of paraphrasing, "much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is he that is destroyed for want of understanding." It takes a mindset that seeks to create rather than squander or consume value, to heed this advice. Great piece. I wish I could say more but you said it all. Thank you.
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