Protocols: 

• His Excellency, Governor of Kogi State
• Members of the State Executive Council here present
• Members of the State House of Assembly here present
• Chairman of BON
• Delegates of this 50th General Assembly of BON
• Gentlemen of the press, ladies and gentlemen.

      I must express my delight and honour to be invited as a guest to this august assembly which I understand is the 50th uninterrupted general assembly of BON since its revival in 1988. By shear coincidence 2009 also marks the 50thAnniversary of the beginning of television broadcasting in Nigeria. Radio broadcasting of course predated television in the country.

      We must therefore acknowledge the foresight of late Pa Obafemi Awolowo the first premier of Old Western Region who brought television to Africa with the establishment of WNTV in September 1959 at Ibadan. And also, Ambassador Segun Olusola and Dr. Christopher Kolade, among others, who pioneered professional practice in the broadcasting industry in Nigeria.

      The emergence of television in post-independence Nigeria and its proliferation across the country today has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s indigenous cinema and the phenomenon we all know today as Nollywood. Broadcasting no doubt, has had and will continue to have tremendous influence on the film industry in Nigeria.

      Of particular concern today is the quality of production which is below standard such as poor dialogue, storylines, sound and poor production values. Aside from these, our story line encourages the worst stereotypes of Nigerians such as the prevalence of witchcraft, marital infidelity, corruption and violence. This should not be the case, if indeed our films and television programmes are created and designed to educate, enlighten, inform and to entertain the public.

      There is therefore, an urgent need for closer collaboration between BON and the Nigerian film industry in the areas of programme quality, training and capacity building, funding, distribution and marketing, copyright protection etc. For instance, there is the illegal broadcasting of Nigerian films by TV stations in some African countries. The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria must as a matter of national strategic interest play a key role in addressing this issue.

      Despite the inadequacies of the sector, lack of infrastructure and government funding, the film industry in Nigeria has become the fastest growing national film industry in the world as it churns out, home video movies in the region of a thousand titles annually. The format of production which is video has severely limited returns on investment due mainly to piracy and unstructured distribution channel. The New Distribution Framework initiative by the National Film and Video Censors Board, if embraced by all stakeholders including BON, may well be the elixir for the industry.

      At the Nigerian Film Corporation we are putting in place a regulatory council known as the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria, (MOPICON) for the film industry to ensure that practitioners play by the rules. When established, MOPICON would set the minimum standards in production, post-production and marketing as well as distribution. And also to put in place a mechanism that will ensure the sustainable growth and development of the film industry in Nigeria.

      The convergence of broadcasting and distribution rights as a window of release for film products have not been sufficiently exploited in Nigeria by BON. Local TV stations could buy the exclusive broadcast rights of local film productions. This will stimulate local productions and also impact on quality. I pose this as a challenge to BON.

      Nollywood, our film industry, has actually redefined the universal paradigm of home video distribution. A combination of creativity and ingenuity gave the emergent industry a new method of marketing and distribution, thus creating a whole new economy out of nothing.

      Nigeria’s roadmap to prosperity and by implication the attainment of the 7-point agenda by the Federal Government can only be sustained by BON providing the appropriate leadership through sensitisation and mobilisation that would ensure the delivery of sustainable development not only in the entertainment industry but in the other sectors of the economy as well.

      Nollywood or the Nigerian film industry has therefore, come to define African Cinema and popular culture and the trans-national dimension is without gainsaying the best thing to have happened to the continent in the 21st century. The broadcast industry deserves to be acknowledged in this remarkable development as partners in progress particularly as we share the same technology in the production process.

      The digital revolution has thrown up more possibilities as we approach the switchover date for digitization in 2012. the film industry is also retooling to sustain the age-long partnership with the broadcast industry.

      As we rejoice with BON on this 50th General Assembly meeting and the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Television in Nigeria we want to see the following happen:

• Improved production and broadcast quality of programmes
• Strengthen national, regional and international co-operation and collaboration in film and programme production, broadcasting, exchange, distribution and copyrights protection.
• Encourage, promote and support national and continental film and television organisations,
• Promote and adopt best practices in the television and radio broadcasting in the country.

      On this note I would like to say that BON should take the initiative to ensure that there is a closer working relationship with the film industry more than ever before.

      I thank you for your attention.