Yesterday Nollywood stars like Ramsey Nuoah, Patience Ozorkwor, Gordons, Omooba, Zeb Ejiro, Omoni Oboli and others stormed the Delta state venue of the PDP Presidential Campaign rally to show support for the Goodluck Jonathan who is seeking re-election.
They joined Nollywood faces like Rita Dominic, Mercy Johnson & Toyin Aimakhu who have publicly endorsed the president.
Many
have wondered why these entertainers are supporting Jonathan and the
answer is easy, GEJ has injected a lot of funding into improving the
Nigerian film industry. The latest cash infusion came in the form of a $2
billion fund set up just a few weeks ago on Jan 24, 2015 to address the
urgent challenges of poor distribution system and the menace of piracy.
A recent article posted on Facebook, by veteran entertainment practitioner Femi Akintunde Johnson highlights why Nollywood stands solidly behind GEJ.
We
have never seen any President so besotted with entertainment like Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, especially the movie-making sector.
The
life and essence of the Creative wayfarers was initially ignited by
Bayelsa governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, immediate boss of GEJ around
year 2000. With dizzying state support and elaborate razzmatazz, the duo
of Alams and GEJ wallowed in the sudden euphoria of showbiz and the
attendant media opulence only comparable to IBB’s romance with PMAN’s
ding-a-long of 1989 – 1992 when Tony Okoroji was the major-domo.
It
was no surprise GEJ flowed with the momentum when fortune made him
supplant Alams as Gov. of Bayelsa in December 2005. Yet, for all his
enthusiasm for professional revelries, the make-believers could not have
believed their luck when good ol’ providence thrusted GEJ, again, into
greater prominence. In quick succession, he moved from Vice-President to
Acting President and eventually President within two years! By 2011
when he assumed office, on his own stamina, the Nollywood romance had
blown out of the creek waters. The two lovebirds were careering giddily
on a thoroughfare peopled with great thespians, gifted producers,
immaculate directors and of course a coterie of charlatans and
‘waka-pass’.
Millions of naira were mentioned, which ballooned, to
the consternation of nay-sayers, to billions of naira in creative
“stimulus packages”.
In the past ten years of GEJ’s unstinted
romance with the entertainment community, it is very uncharitable (even
for inveterate detractors) to say that Jonathan has not “performed”. You
may quarrel with the impact or management of his interventions; you may
yap him and his people for mystifying the process and access to the
several GEJ interventions in the Artsworld. You may claim he has lost
similar interest or attention to details in other critical sectors of
the Nigerian state. However, no one can simply dismiss his unprecedented
regard, affinity and seeming devotion to the people, practice and
promise of Nigeria’s movie-making community and allied sectors.
GEJ has arguably awarded more national honours to our artistes than all the past regimes rolled together!
So, when you hear and see leading lights of Nollywood rooting
aggressively for GEJ; when you read famed voices shouting on the roof of
their cyper-pages and declaring the ceaseless glory of GEJ; when you
read otherwise quiet prima-donnas spit fire and engage in
internet-‘gra-gra’ with many of their tele-fans…for the sake of their
beloved Moses (Jonathan) – you really must understand and appreciate
their position – enlightened self-interest (a completely natural
instinct).
They are not ‘bought’, ‘turn-coats’ or ‘ass-licking’ –
against their will or legacy. They simply are paying good back to the
man who has brought them a load of luck – and thus enhancing their means
of livelihood, and embellishing their relevance. No pun intended. This
2015 presidential election is a watershed for Nollywood. They cannot see
anything in the “Change”-troopers to indicate that their groovy-train
will go on; GMB has not even for once coughed about any plans for
Nollywood, one of the major revelations of the 2014 rebasing parameters!
It does appear that GMB does not even know that Nollywood exists –
beyond gyrations at campaign rallies!
So, stop yakking at Nollywooders if they have little or no sympathies for GMB – he is disconnected from them.
