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Tag: Lai Mohammed

  • Lai Mohammed calls on CBN to promote entertainment industry

    Lai Mohammed calls on CBN to promote entertainment industry

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to replicate in the Creative Industry the role it played in promoting the agriculture and health sectors.

     

    The Minister made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday when he led patrons in the Creative Industry to make a presentation to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the challenges and prospects of the industry.

     

    According to him: “I have watched over the years how the Central Bank has really been the catalyst in promoting agriculture, the health sector and the like and we believe that by the time we give you our short presentation, you will see why we have come here and we have made you our first stop to further enlist the support of the government to create that enabling environment,” he said.

     

    Mohammed emphasized on the need to change the perception about the Creative Industry as a mere entertainment instead of being a huge economic venture with the capacity to create wealth.

     

    “We need to change the perception about the industry. When people hear the Creative Industry, they think about entertainment. Yes, it’s correct but it’s also very big business. It’s an economy which we have not exploited enough. It’s an economy which is probably more sustainable than our traditional economy. It’s an economy that has the potential to employ more people and create more wealth on a long term basis,” he said.

    The Minister said as part of efforts to protect the income stream of the sector, the Ministry of Information and Culture, in partnership with the stakeholders, has taken a giant step by kick-starting a sustained fight against the piracy of intellectual property.

     

    He said through the support of the Inspector General of Police, Anti-Piracy Units have been set up in all police commands and the Federal Capital Territory, adding that the recent raids carried out at

    Alaba market in furthering of the anti-piracy campaign led to the confiscation of pirated products worth millions of Naira.

     

     

    In his remarks, the CBN Governor said government has a responsibility to support the development of talents and creativity as a deliberate policy to create jobs.

    He noted that the Service Sector, of which the Creative Industry is a part, contributes 54 per cent of the country’s GDP, saying the Industry has a potential for growth, especially if a deliberate effort is made to protect talents and intellectual property

    Mr. Emefiele said the huge potentials of the Creative industry will not be realized unless the issue of piracy is tackled decisively.

     

     

  • ‘Nigeria moving forward because Buhari is President’ – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said on Thursday that President Muhammadu Buhari has initiated several policies that have helped keep the country on the progressive growth track.

    Mohammed further noted that no amount of hatred will obliterate the solid achievements recorded by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The Minister stated this in Abuja while declaring open the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)’ Annual Lecture and 25th Anniversary celebration of the creation of the Commission.

    Mohammed said that contrary to the impression being created by purveyors of hate speech and fake news, the Buhari Administration had, in a short time, recorded solid achievements under a most difficult situation.

    He said despite operating with just 45 per cent of the funds available to the immediate past Administration due largely to the fall in prices of oil, the Buhari government had achieved tremendously.

    The minister said that it was as a result of the efficient leadership of Buhari that Nigeria had not witnessed economic and social crises like other oil dependent nations.

    “A country that has consistently produced more oil than Nigeria, despite having about one sixth of the Nigerian population, is today embroiled in the worst economic crisis in its history.

    “There is shortage of food, medicine and everything, and there is hyperinflation.

    “With Nigeria being affected by the same downturn in oil prices, coupled with years of monumental mismanagement of the country’s economy and the mindless and maddening looting of its treasury by rapacious public officials, why is Nigeria not in similar crisis as the country in question?

    “My answer is simple: Because Nigeria has a President like Muhammadu Buhari!;’’ he said.

    Specifically, the minister said that the Buhari government had brought transparency to governance, laying a solid foundation for the country’s economic recovery and growth through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and other economic policies.

    “Does anyone remember the scandalous fuel subsidies that failed to deliver fuel to filling stations? What about the fertiliser subsidies that never guaranteed the availability of fertiliser to farmers? Today, fuel queues are gone with the phantom fuel subsidies.

    “Also, thanks to the resuscitation of 11 of the country’s moribund fertiliser blending plants, fertiliser is now available to farmers nationwide.

    “In fact, 6 million bags of fertilisers have been delivered at 30 per cent below the market price, 50,000 jobs created and N50 billion saved with the stopping of fertiliser subsidy.

    Mohammed said that despite the paucity of funds, the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes were being implemented, creating jobs for youths and providing nutritious food for school children.

    He said the Micro-credit scheme of the programmes was providing over a million Nigerians with small loans at very low rates through the Bank of Industry.

    The minister said that despite the cowardly bombing of soft targets, Boko Haram insurgency was not in resurgence.

    He said that the Nigerian troops were up to the task of ensuring that there was no resurgence of Boko Haram.

    The minister said that the government is also delivering on critical infrastructures like roads and railways.

    “Contractors are back to work on roads across the six geopolitical zones, helping to recover lost jobs and put some money back in circulation, as part of government’s strategy to come out of this recession,’’ he said.

    He solicited the support of all Nigerians to enable the country to assume its rightful place in the comity of nations and make life more bearable for every citizen.

     

     

    NAN

  • Releasing names of looters will slow down anti-corruption war – Lai Mohammed

    Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has said releasing the names of some looters, as ordered by a court, would slow down the anti-graft war.

    Mohammed said this on Sunday while speaking on Channels TV.

    He said the Federal Government has to protect the privacy of indicted persons who voluntarily returned their loot.

    He said some of them were not aware that the money given to them was diverted.

    “There are some people who voluntarily returned the loot and explained that when the money was given to them, they never knew the source of these funds. Can you in good conscience name and shame that kind of person?” he asked.

    “Those who has voluntarily returned the money, I think we owe them the obligation to respect their privacy. Because they said they did not know that this money was from a particular source and they returned it.

    “Those people whose accounts have been temporarily forfeited, if you go to name them, they are going to hold you up in court for months or years. And we said that our major intention is to recover our loot first.

    “Some people returned the money that was given to them for the campaign when it has been established that that money was actually meant for the prosecution of Boko Haram. Such people, we do not feel that morally, it will be right to name them.

    “Two, we don’t want to be bugged down by litigations. You name a person that he has stolen money or he has returned money, and you have fully recovered the money from him or you’re in the process of recovering it because probably there is just an interim forfeiture,…you’re going to be bugged down with all kinds of litigations.”

  • Lai Mohammed to sue PMAN over alleged property theft

     

    Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has said he will sue the Performing Musician Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) for accusing him of intellectual theft.

     

    Recall that PMAN had claimed that the recently held creative summit organized by the minister was part of a proposal submitted to him in August 2016.The outspoken minister described the accusation as laughable.

     

    Read here-You plagiarized our concept’-PMAN blasts Lai Mohammed

     

    In a recent interview, the minister said: ”As a minister of information and culture, I can’t stop people coming to me with proposes, so when a supposedly reputable organization as PMAN comes and says he wants to see the minister and he says we want to organize conferences on creative industry, does that stop me as a minister from organizing my own creative industry, especially when you did not come to me with a blue print to show me how the conference will be?”

     

    “Even if PMAN’s proposal was visible, there was no way at that point in time that I could have asked them to go ahead to do it but where is the law that says that the minister must accept any or every proposal from a group. Your right to organize a conference is exclusive to one person or a person comes to you and say because he has given you a proposal that he wants to organize a creative conference so you as a minister you are stopped, or you can’t do your work”?

    “But I can assure you I have instructed my lawyers to sue them for defamation,” he revealed.

  • FG taking concrete steps to end piracy – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, declared on Monday in Abuja that the Federal Government is walking its talk and taking concrete steps to stamp out piracy of intellectual property.

    The minister said this when he declared open the first interface meeting of the police and major stakeholders in the creative industry to fight piracy.

    “This meeting is evident that government’s commitment to fighting piracy and placing the creative industry in its rightful position is not just about talk.

    “We are carrying along all the stakeholders in the industry and my job here is to inaugurate this meeting.

    “We believe that with the calibre of stakeholders here and two Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG) representing the Nigeria Police Force, you will be able to agree on the way to put an end to piracy,’’ he said.

    The minister stressed that piracy, if left unchecked would become a monster that would destroy the entire creative industry.

    He recalled that one of the major challenges raised at the Creative Industry Summit held recently in Lagos was the menace of piracy.

    Mr. Mohammed said that in implementing some of the resolutions at the summit, he led a team of stakeholders to the Inspector-General of Police, to seek collaboration with the law enforcement agency in fighting piracy.

    The minister added that the aftermath of the interaction with the police was the interface meeting on ending piracy.

    He tasked the meeting to ensure that whatever form of enforcement to be adopted, it must be regular and sustained.

    Speaking in the same vein, Adedayo Coker, the Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, said that the interface meeting was an indication that the industry’s players were ready for the fight against piracy.

    Tony Okoroji, the Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) said “It is a historic day for the creative industry and a warning for pirates to go and look for something else to do.”

    “This team will collaborate with the Police to ensure that wherever pirate may be in the country, they will fish them out and make life uncomfortable for them,” he said.

    Igwe Gabosky, one of the pioneer Nollywood distributors seized the opportunity of the meeting to narrate how pirates wrecked his company and made him bankrupt.

    He said he was one of the beneficiaries of the Bank of Industry (BoI)’ intervention fund in developing the creative industry.

    Gabosky said he was empowered by BoI with over one billion naira to create the biggest media distribution company for intellectual property in Africa.

    “The first job I was to distribute was “Half of a Yellow Sun’’.

    “But, before I could finish printing, pirates had released the fake copies of the film on the streets and sold them for little money.

    “The second job was “30 Days in Atlanta’’ by AY; Pirate also took over and distributed pirated copies of the films on the streets and AY was crying.

    “The third was October 1, by Kunle Afolayan; I was in South Africa negotiating for ITS distribution when I was called and told that the film was already on the streets.

    “The activities of the pirates crumbled the distribution companies and the N500 million I had already collected from BoI; I could not pay back till date.

    “The Bank is now trying to take over all my property which I used as collateral,’’ he said.

    abosky said that many people in the industry had died because of frustration inflicted on them by pirates.

    “We know these people that are pirating these works; Piracy is like terrorism.

    “If you go to Alaba International market in Lagos, there are people that believe that the market is a sovereign state inside Nigeria where copyright laws cannot be enforced.

    “I am glad today that the Nigeria Police has risen up and decided to answer us,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the police was represented at the meeting by two DIGs – Hyacinth Medugu, the DIG in charge of Criminal Intelligence and Investigation and Habila Joshak the DIG in charge of Operations.

    According to Mr. Medugu, pirates are killers who send the owners of pirated intellectual works to early graves and they should be treated as murderers.

    He gave assurances and commitment of the I-G to work with the stakeholders to stamp out piracy.

    Some of the stakeholders at the meeting included a Nollywood producer, Tony Princewill and the President of Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria, Abdullahi Maikan-Usman.

    Also at the meeting were Tundun Aderibigbe from House of Tara, a beauty outfit and Bankole Sodipo, a lawyer.

    NAN

     

  • FG’s efforts on economy positive, we should exit recession soon – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says in spite all the challenges, the federal government is making very positive impact on the economy.

    The minister stated this in Abuja on Friday when he received a delegation from the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOC), led by its Nigerian representative, Tunji Asaolu.

    According to the minister, the federal government is confident that very soon, the country will exit recession.

    “As we all know for the fifth month consecutively, the inflation index has come down.

    “For two quarters consecutively, the manufacturing sector has recorded positive growth.

    “We have been able to add over seven billion dollars to our external reserve and 250 million dollars to Sovereign Wealth Fund,’’ he said.

    The minister said that the government was committed to its avowed objectives of revamping the economy, making Nigeria safe and putting the nation on the path of probity.

    Mohammed reaffirmed government’s commitment to protecting local creative talents and generating employment.

    He said that the government would not be stampeded into abandoning its ongoing efforts to amend the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to ensure local production of programmes with Nigerian content.

    He said those who deliberately twisted his comments to allege that the Federal Government would ban the shooting of films and music videos abroad were being mischievous.

    “We will not be intimidated or stampeded by anybody,” he said.

    The minister said the amendment of the code would also encourage people to invest in the establishment of world-class studios in Nigeria to ensure that producers got the same quality of work as obtained abroad.

    “We are not going to export jobs to other countries and say our economy will grow.

    “Most of the arguments which are being proffered, honestly, are unrealistic.

    “One of them said where in Nigeria are we going to produce our music and our films when there are no studios.

    “What they don’t understand is that nobody is going to invest in (building studios) in Nigeria if the law allows you to go and do the same thing outside Nigeria,” he said.

    He said the Federal Government was consciously developing the Creative Industry in its renewed drive to diversify the economy away from oil.

    The minister pledged the ministry’s support for the African Festival of Arts and Culture to be hosted in Nigeria in November.

    Earlier, Asaolu said the AU was presently implementing Agenda 2063, which was a framework to promoting growth and social development in Africa.

    “Out of this Agenda 2063, Aspiration No. 5 talked about Africa with strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics.

    “So, even this aspiration alone if you put it out to the market it can
    solve the problems that we are facing in Africa,” he said.

    The AU-ECOSOC, which is the AU’s platform for the Civil Society, used the opportunity of the courtesy visit to confer the Distinguished Fellowship of African Arts and Culture on the minister.

    (NAN)

  • ‘You plagiarized our concept’-PMAN blasts Lai Mohammed

     

    The Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has accused Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, of intellectual property theft.

     

    A statement shared on the association’s Facebook page, said the recently held ‘Creative Industry Financing Conference’ contained ideas from a proposal it had earlier submitted to the minister.

     

    According to PMAN, the proposal was entitled ‘Bar Coding Technology for the Creative Industry in Nigeria’.

     

    The proposal which which highlighted plans on how to improve the Nigerian entertainment was handed to the minister during a meeting led by the body’s president, Pretty Okafor, on August 5, 2016.

     

    The association said the proposal contained ideas on how to improve the creative industry and generate over N15 trillion revenue for the government.

     

    PMAN alleged that the recommendations in its proposal were what the government went ahead to implement under the guise of the ‘Creative Industry Financing Conference’.

     

    Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel to PMAN, in a five-page petition, said, “Though the conference was deceptively tagged “creative industry financing conference”, it is our client’s firm belief that the conference was held in full implementation of our client’s original brain child and ideas as clearly highlighted in their respective presentation of 5th August, 2016 and Action Plan of 18th August, 2016, all in the possession of the Ministry of Information and Culture. Our client viewed this action as a grave infringement of their intellectual property rights and dubious conversion of their brain child ideas and concept, originating from painstaking professional study, research and investigation that gulped them over N500,000,” the petition read.

     

     

    PMAN has given the minister an ultimatum of 72 hours to desist from continuing with the plans in the proposal or be sued for violation of intellectual property.

     

     

  • Lai Mohammed, Kelani others laud Adebayo Faleti

    The Nigerian arts cum entertainment industry mourns the sad death of Pa Adebayo Faleti.Like a giant, he straddled the world of theatre like he was born to do it. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that his impact was real both in the arts and culture sector.

     

    According to him:“We will really miss him. Pa Faleti, as he was fondly called, was not just a successful Thespian and broadcaster, he was also a patriot. He provided an example to follow when it comes to investing one’s intellect and talent in the propagation of one’s heritage. As he was doing this in probably all areas of the arts and entertainment, he was also participating in programmes and projects that could directly or indirectly impact positively on national development. So, his legacies should console us. I believe we all need to come together to celebrate and immortalise him, and I will be ready to be in the forefront of doing that.”

     

     

    One of his protégés, Tunde Kelani described his death as that of setting a museum ablaze because he believes he represented the best of the people’s heritage

    Hear him:”We thank God for his life. There is also the consolation that we can always revisit many of the creative works he left behind. But we must also be bold enough to observe that he was part of a breed that cannot be replaced. Or, in our present circumstance of cultural, educational and economic regression, can we still produce a true icon like Faleti? I am happy that I met people like him early enough – since the Western Nigerian Broadcasting Services days – and received the mentoring that I have continued to build upon.”

     

    In his tribute, veteran actor Jide Kosoko wrote:”That was a good man; a good father to all of us. He was always very honest in his assessment of issues. If he had any fault, I think that was the fact that he was always too factual when speaking on issues. Baba Faleti would never call black ‘red’ even if that would displease his listener,” Kosoko said.

     

    Faleti was among the pioneers of the first television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), later known as the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

    He also published a dictionary containing formal Yoruba names.

    In his lifetime, he received many awards including the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), the Festival of Arts award with Eda Ko L’aropin and the Afro-Hollywood award for outstanding performance in arts in 1955.

     

     

     

  • Sponsors of hate speeches, fake news determined to bring down Buhari’s govt – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that some people are bent on dragging the President Muhammadu Buhari administration through the mire by sponsoring hate speeches and fake news both on the emerging and traditional media.

    Mohammed noted that the sponsors of these hate speeches hope to discredit the government, destabilize the polity and make the country ungovernable.

    The minister made the statement at the Extraordinary Meeting of the National Council on Information (NCI), which was themed “Hate Speeches, Disinformation, Fake News and National Unity’’, in Jos, Plateau State, on Thursday.

    ‘’The campaign (to discredit the government) is a multi-million naira project and the people behind this string of hate speech, disinformation, and fake news is not about to stop. In fact, they will become more vicious in the days, weeks and months ahead,’’ he said.

    Alhaji Mohammed blamed the resurgent push for separatism as well as the rising cases of ethnic and religious disharmony on the ‘’growing phenomenon of hate speech, as well as the disinformation and fake news campaign’’, and warned that hate speeches and incitement to violence set the stage for the genocide that left at least 800,000 people dead in Rwanda in 1994.

    He traced the worsening cases of hate speech in the country to the period leading to the last general elections, when the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, was the target of a vicious campaign.

    ‘’Never in the history of electioneering in Nigeria has such a quantum of hate speech being directed at any candidate. This did not stop even when he won the election and became President. For instance, the President had hardly left Nigeria for his vacation in London on 19 January 2017, during which he said he would have a routine medical check-up when these hate and fake news campaigners circulated the news that he had died. Between then and now, they have repeated similar fakes news times without number,’’ the minister said.

    He cited three instances of disinformation and fake news targeted at him, including when he was quoted as saying the government does not know who will sign the 2017 budget when what he said was that when the budget is transmitted to the presidency, a decision will be taken.

  • News Hour 20-07-2017 I TNGtv