ABUJA – The Orientation Agency (NOA) has called for the establishment of creative bank to support artistes, saying that Commercial and NEXIM banks had not done enough.
The Director-General of the agency, Mr Mike Omeri, made the call at the 7th Zuma Film Festival with the theme “Nationalism and Patriotism”.
He appealed to the Federal Government to deposit money for the rapid development of the entertainment and creative industries in the bank when established.
Omeri also urged the Nollywood industry to centralise the theme of their movies to help the country grow.
“Let’s have a central theme that would run through all our movies in Nigeria as most of your films are centred on witchcraft.
“If we continue in this manner, then where does the greatness of the country lies?
“American flags are always seen in their films, where is Nigerian flag in Nollywood movies?”
Omeri said that the foundation of any great country laid on the citizens’ patriotism, adding that unless the citizenry believed and embrace it, the country would remain stagnant.
The NOA boss said that dress sense was part of what adds to creativity, while calling on the creative industry to bring character to the table to help the nation come out of its moral decadence.
He also called for scholarship to help knowledge-based artists to transform the country.
Mr Dayo Ogunyemi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 234 Media, based in the U.K., said the economic value of a film boiled down to the amount of revenue it generates.
He said the biggest problem bedevilling the Nollywood in the last five years was the collapse of the distribution system, adding that there was need to talk about recording security interests in films.
“One of the very key things we need to improve is the industry awareness in term of finances, risk reducing instrument as people only want to take on production risk with the reception of sales risk.
“There is no economic value created when a film is not completed,” he said. (NAN)