‘Government’s grants will boost job creation, capacity in creative industry’
06 August 2021 |
2:55 am
The Chief Executive Officer, Basement Africa, Okiemute Onovughakpo has called for improved government funding and support for the creative industry in Nigeria to boost the sector’s capacity to create jobs.
The Chief Executive Officer, Basement Africa, Okiemute Onovughakpo has called for improved government funding and support for the creative industry in Nigeria to boost the sector’s capacity to create jobs.
He lamented that despite its potential to generate millions of jobs, limited funds have been an obstacle.
Onovughakpo, who spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of the N25 million car prize to the winner of basement search reality TV show season II (filmmakers edition), Cynthia Chinwe Alu in Lagos, observed that entertainment space all over the world thrives on collaborations, hence the need for government to partner with operators.
“For instance, we planned to do 100 movies in 2021; we capped it at 100 because of the limited funds. If we can get grants or subsidies from the government, we will be able to do as many as 300 movies. For platforms like a TV app to thrive, you need a lot of content to engage the audience with fresh content.
“A lot of things that governments try to do involve engaging the people in entertainment and so platforms that are popular and credible in empowering content creators should be the ones that government partners with during their activities,” he stated.
Basement Africa, he said, was created based on the need to create jobs and deepen human capacity development in the entertainment market.
He said: “There is a big gap when it comes to capacity in the film industry, in Nigeria and we are poised to improve the capacity of our young stars in content creation. The film industry is a multi-billion naira industry; firms and organisations. Therefore, we need to support the sector in creating employment, removing the youths from the streets, and stop them from engaging in nefarious activities.”
He disclosed that Basement Africa plans a transition to the Lagos market to expand investment in the training of fresh minds in the entertainment industry and boost skills in poetry, acting, music, and scriptwriting through its academy and reality shows.
According to him: “We want to tell Africa stories in an ideal way to the world and ward off negative perspective the continent has held internationally. Basement Africa is an indigenous entertainment outfit in Nigeria that will continue to support young entertainers to become a star.
We have succeeded with staging the 2019 independence peace concert in Delta state, the Davido live concert, the talent hunt (music edition), and the first edition of the basement reality show.”
On her part, the winner of the show, Alu, who narrated her experience said she came top among 30 other contestants through hard work, resilience, and the ability to create beautiful things out of nothing.
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