'Tourism Ministry to supervise Nigeria showbiz'

The Federal Government has promised to move the supervision of the entertainment industry to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism,as part of measures to strengthen the activities of the sector. This was disclosed by President Goodluck Jonathan, at the interactive session with celebrities in the entertainment industry held at the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel, Lagos Sunday.  

The decision to move the coordination of the activities of the industry from the Ministry of Information to Tourism was at the instance of the entertainment stakeholders at the interactive session with the president.  According to President Jonathan, entertainment and sports are a unifying factor that has the capacity to further stimulate cohesion in the country.

GEJ Talk Show Segment | For supporting Creativity - GEJ and RMD at the Showbiz Interactive Session with President in Lagos.

He said, “Since the practitioners are requesting for the transfer of the industry from the Ministry of Information to Tourism, we will ensure that we move the entertainment industry to Culture and Tourism Ministry. 

"The entertainment industry has contributed significantly to the rebasing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The industry has created jobs for thousands of people, and that is why we will continue to support the players.

"In the next four years, my administration will continue to support the industry because of its significance to creating jobs." President Jonathan said.

He also added that Nollywood deserves the support of the government, because it has added value to the economy. According to him it has also helped to project the country to many parts of the world that hitherto knew little or nothing about the country.

President Jonathan said, “What we need is a proper structure that helps Nigerians artistes get the necessary return from their works. We will encourage major players in the private sector to build more cinemas to wage war against piracy. 

Nigerian artistes must be able to work with the government institutions to wage war against piracy. The industry is so big that Nigerian movie stars are respected abroad than politicians.”

According to Mr. Lambert Dike, a movie producer, Nigerian filmmakers must take advantage of some of the exotic tourist attractions in the country for their film locations to attract tourists into the country.

He added that there are so many productions in the entertainment and creative industry that has the capacity to attract millions of tourists into the country every year. 

While lauding the new initiative of the Federal Government to transfer the supervision of the entire entertainment industry to the Ministry of Tourism to supervise the activities of the industry, he said that the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) must take advantage of the global popularity of the Nigerian movie industry as a vehicle for the promotion and appreciation of Nigerian tourism.

He noted that Nollywood, if given the proper monitoring could be the country’s major export. According to him, based on the figure from the American Tourism Association, travel and tourism is one of America’s largest industries with Hollywood being a major.

Millions of tourists  from across the world visits Hollywood to see the famous Hollywood sign, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios and Miramax/Dimension Films, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, MGM. The country always receive visitors from every parts of the world who comes each year to see Oscars Movie Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Emmys and other the film festivals. The country generated about $2.1 trillion in 2013, with $887.9 billion spent directly by domestic and international travellers that spurred an additional $1.2 trillion in other industries.

Reggae steps. President Jonathan responds to the sound of Reggae music performed by Righteous Man and Raski mono