Culture is critical to national development

President's intervention does not reflect deep understanding of the place of the entertainment industry in the overall creative economy of Nigeria

As filmmakers salivate over the federal government's $200 million low interest entertainment intervention fund, arts promoter, Tope Babayemi, has criticised the initiative.

President Goodluck Jonathan announced the intervention in aid of the industry earlier this year at the 30th anniversary of the Silverbird Group; the money has been released to the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank to disburse to movie producers who meet stipulated criteria.

"I am not happy with the president's intervention because it does not reflect deep understanding of the place of the entertainment industry in the overall creative economy of Nigeria," Babayemi noted in an interview

He argued that since entertainment, leisure, and recreation are enterprise driven, what is needed is "more effective government regulation, not handouts; effective government regulation that respects intellectual property rights."

Holistic intervention

The first Nigerian general manager of the MUSON Centre further noted the the intervention has to be holistic rather than limited to entertainment.

"The area that needs funding is the area that belongs to Mr President himself, the federal ministry of culture and tourism, its parastatals and institutions. You don't need to take a close look to see that things are not well in that area. Infrastructure that was set up to host the world, during FESTAC ‘77, all have been allowed to dilapidate. Look at the national theatre, it has no recognisable programme. All that goes on there are non-art events.

"Meanwhile, you have a multi- venue cultural centre like the Barbican in London that is still functioning, and the Kennedy Centre in New York which is functioning. Those other national cultural institutions are functioning because they have professional managers in the specialised field of venue- based management running them. They are not just for political appointments. The infrastructure on ground, is it working and where does it need support? I think the president has to take a holistic view of the arts and culture sector and see what role that sector can play, as it does in many other countries. Not just in governance but also in national development."

He added that wastage in the culture sector has to be stopped through prudent management. "How come all government art projects only reflect expenditure, no income? They are doing that carnival; they are doing [this] festival, go check the accounts. Everybody is going to be talking expenditure because it's government money. If allowed to run well, [arts and culture] is a critical part of national development and governance."

Reiterating that filmmaking is entrepreneurial and that there is a limit to government intervention, Babayemi said, "Nollywood has made a significant contribution to Nigeria. There is no doubt that the sector has contributed to the employment of young people who otherwise would be unemployed, but there are issues of standards I think can only be resolved by self regulation. The guilds need to pay attention to the building of capacity so that quality and higher standard can be achieved."

Though he doesn't agree with the financial intervention in the entertainment industry, he is quick to add that, "I think the Bring Back the Book campaign is a great initiative."

Comprehensive review

Babayemi, who sits atop Different Aesthetics Arts and Culture Management, which subsidiaries include Top Dew Arts Marketing, Top Soul Records, and The Bostop, emphasised that the culture sector needs to be comprehensively reviewed to contribute to national development.

"There is need for a review of thinking, policy and practice. I think the best thing the new administration can do is a review. If you do a review of government spending in the arts in the last 10, 15 years, you will see a lot of wastage and corruption. There is a bottleneck of bureaucracy stopping government support from getting to the grassroots, and it needs to be rectified. There is no grant giving and training while our cultural policy has not been workable for such a long time. The Ford Foundation sponsored a cultural mapping exercise a couple of years ago when Margie Reese was here. One expected that a review of the entire creative industry would arise from the exercise, but it did not."

Professionalism is vital

Babayemi, whose Top Dew Arts runs ‘The Little Theatre', a 100 -seater studio at the Artists' Village, National Theatre, also underscored the importance of training, self regulation and having professionals manning positions in the ministry of tourism, culture and national orientation.

"When I talk about having professionals in positions that require professionalism, I am not referring to putting politicians in professional positions. I am talking about even the minister. If you dare to put a theatre practitioner in the position of minister of health, the health sector will rebel. Why is it that they are always appointing lawyers as ministers for tourism, culture and national orientation? The president should not make the same mistake his predecessors have made.

"We want someone like Tunde Babawale as minister. He has been the director general of the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization for many years and it is obvious that was the best appointment in the culture sector, as far as parastatals go. He stands out, and that is the kind of person they should be making the minister for tourism, culture and national orientation. The sector will be happy because we have one of our own, but I am dreading to hear who they are going to put there."