Lai Mohammed denies FG's policy to ban shooting abroad
It was earlier reported that Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had stated that henceforth Nigerian musicians and filmmakers will not be allowed to shoot films and music videos outside the country.
Whereas the plan by the FG has been reacted to negatively, especially by the entertainers.
However, Lai Mohammed has denied making such a statement, as he clarifies government’s plan.
Perhaps, that is why the minister has taken time to shed more light on this particular government's plan.
He explained: “I didn’t say that henceforth, all music videos and films will be produced in Nigeria, or that the production of music videos or films outside Nigeria will be banned.
All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian (local) content programme, we will amend the Code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria. On that, there is no going back,”
Lai Mohammed, also recalled how his office was bombarded with calls from concerned Nigerians when they found out that popular reality show Big Brother Naija was produced in South Africa.
He said: “Following the findings, we decided to amend the relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to prevent a repeat of that development. We are now in the process of doing that, so that anyone who intends to produce a reality show or similar programmes for Nigerians cannot take the production of such shows outside Nigeria.
Nigerians are a very proud and resourceful people, and we are sure that no Nigerian will be against a decision to prevent the jobs that can be done in Nigeria by Nigerians from being exported to other countries.”