Mr Pretty Okafor, President of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has said that the economic recession facing the nation since 2016 did not stop its entertainment industry from thriving, adding that “In the whole of Africa, only Nigerian Artistes fly Private Jets around.”
He stated this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Okafor, in a retrospective look into 2016, noted that while other sectors of the nation’s economy were grappling with the realities of the recession, the music and motion pictures industry was ‘doing well’.
The entertainment industry is the only sector that recession did not affect, and will never affect.
“While other sectors were retrenching workers in the past year and finding it difficult to pay workers salaries, the entertainment industry was employing people.
“Artistes and everyone in the industry were busy working, going for concerts, producing movies and music all over the place.
“We were shooting movies and distributing our albums all over Africa and beyond,” he asserted.
The PMAN boss explained that the Nigerian brand and artistes, in the last year, gained both local and global acceptance and relevant than ever before.
He added that besides the artistes, producers, promoters and others involved in other ancillary services within the industry reaped increased income during the year.
“Everybody who is creative and hard-working chunked out albums, and within the year, thousands of music and movie albums were produced.
“Presently, there is no other African Artistes that collect the fee Nigerian artistes collect per show.
“They collect from 100,000 to 150, 000 dollars for a single performance wherever they go all over the world.
“In the whole of Africa, it is only Nigerian Artistes that fly Private Jet around, it has never happened in Africa,” he noted.
According to Okafor, the Nigerian brand of entertainment is now competing effectively on the global stage.
He noted that many dance steps that were originated by Nigerian artistes have gained popularity around the world.
“In many media stations abroad, Nigerian music earn not less than 75% air- time, that tells you that our brand has global market.
“If you visit many night clubs in the U.S, Jamaica and other countries, Nigerian music is played.
“In Aruba Island and the Trinidad and Tobago, they collect tax from their citizens for buying Nigerian movies and music albums.
“So other countries are making money from what we produce, and we can’t even appreciate what is it has to offer back at home.”
Okafor, therefore, called on relevant stakeholders and Government at all levels to focus on exploring the potentials the industry has to offer, especially as the nation advocates economic diversification.
According to him, if given adequate attention, the entertainment industry is the only viable sector that can bail the country out of its recession in no distant time.
“The era of sole reliance on oil is gone, and the earlier Nigeria realises this, the better it will be for its citizens.
“The entertainment industry does not need intensive capital and long period to yield return on investment.
“Government just needs to demonstrate a strong political will in providing the necessary regulations and enabling environment.
“We are not telling them to give us loan, but they should provide a strong system that provides adequate management and protection for the creative rights of Nigerians, “he urged.
He said since the Nigerian entertainment industry is globally acclaimed as the third largest in the world and the best in Africa, there was need to harness its potentials.
He noted that the U.S and other developed economies in the world were maximising the opportunities their creative industries had to offer.
“The entertainment industry is a major contributor to American GDP and that of other countries that have no oil.
“The income California generates, as the entertainment hub in the U.S, can run America.
“There is money in production, branding, promotion and marketing, and an investor can venture into any of these areas, “he urged.
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