Few weeks after Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode tasked artistes to come up with a structured framework to grow the economy, while government provides infrastructures and initiatives to help the sector, embattled President of Performing Musician’s Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Pretty Okafor could not agree less with the governor’s vision, saying that Nigeria has no reason to be in recession, as the creative industry has the potential to reflate the ailing economy.
Sharing his thoughts on some issues affecting the creative economy, Okafor corroborated Ambode’s position, saying the solution is the fast-tracking of a structured and organized entertainment and creative industry that is monetized into a creative economy like it is done in developed countries.
Okafor, a member of the Nigeria’s earliest hip hop duo, ‘Junior & Pretty’, noted that although PMAN is already in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to develop the sector and curb piracy, the partnership must be taken to the next level with the Federal Government supporting the launch of the Nigerian creative industry through legislation, pronouncement, regulation and enforcement.
He said the partnership will help government unlock the value in the creative sector and boost revenue generation for Nigeria.
“We said it over two years ago that Nigeria was going into recession but we had no business doing so because we have vibrant entertainment and creative industries,” said Okafor who pointed out that studies have shown that creative and cultural industries globally are not usually affected by global financial crisis.
“In the UK the creative economy contributes about 84.1Billon pounds sterling to the UK economy which is about 10 Million pounds per hour! In the US the value the arts to the country’s GDP is about $700 Billion. It shows that this sector is contributing immensely to their various countries’ economies. Nigeria too can’t afford to be left behind, and from research, it has the potential to contribute about N15 trillion to the nation’s GDP.”
Okafor said, as number one in Africa and number three globally, the digitalization of the entire creative industry in Nigeria could help unlock the revenues inherent there and allow government take their share of taxes and reflate the economy.
This corroborates a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that entertainment can get the country out of the current recession, as well as Vice President Yemi Osibajo’s position on diversifying the economy.
He explained that the proposed G-Create.ng Application is the digitalisation of the creative industry by providing the requisite data for the entire industry and allow investors to track their return on investment (ROI) amongst other things.
“It also has other benefits accessible through a combo card called the PMAN biometric ID card. The benefits include medical insurance for a subscriber and for family members; life insurance that provides the next of kin of subscriber members N5 Million in the event of death; Pension plan that pays subscribers N100,000 monthly; allows barcoding and encoding of creative works physically and electronically respectively; royalty monitoring and collection and many more benefits.”
On piracy, Okafor said the G-Create.ng structure can monitor and track all the IP work coming out of Nigeria. This, he said will automatically reduce the menace of piracy in Nigeria.
“On the other hand, piracy should be seen as economic sabotage and a crime that allows government to lose close to N10 trillion annually; a huge leakage that must be blocked. A special enforcement unit as is done for drug trafficking and manufacturing like NDLEA and NAFDAC must be set up and given the powers of enforcement. Piracy must be seen as an economic crime, called same and dealt with as same through government policy pronouncements and legislation,” he proffered.
Speaking on the reported crisis rocking the association, Okafor the current ruling by Justice B.B. Kanyip of the Industrial Court, Lagos, still makes him and his Exco members the only legitimately elected and recognized PMAN executives.
“There is no faction in PMAN only the activities of a few disgruntled elements whose actions want to stall the current efforts for economic recovery.”
Okafor explained that the economic agenda of his team is bigger than any individual or group. According to him, “Their plan is to commandeer something that they were not part of creating and are not capable of managing. Something that when fully implemented shortly has the potential to fully impact Nigeria’s economy positively. Their action is also an act of economic sabotage and they must be sanctioned. My present exco and I are focused and forging ahead to make the realization of the welfare of the creative industry practitioner and make the creative economy a reality. We won’t be distracted and deterred,” he declared.
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