Dear Mr. President, Congratulations on your victory at the polls sir. Isn’t life just interesting? Here you are, finally achieving your long-held dream to lead Nigeria again,
this time without the full force of the military. You have now done what no Nigerian has been able to do before now: you unseated a sitting president; you defeated an incumbent. Wow. Sincere congratulations are truly in order. Truth be told, I came late to accepting that you’re the man for the rebuilding job that our country urgently requires. Even in my conviction, doubts abound. But that is not why we are here today; that is not why I’m writing this open letter. I am here today to talk to you about my beloved industry, Nollywood. You do not come across as someone who watches movies and (Did you really say Nollywood was a Lagos thing and Fashola would sort it out when you were asked about your plans for the industry? Seriously?) This isn’t necessarily a problem. See sir, Nollywood is truly phenomenal. It is the single biggest indigenous product to have come out of Africa in the last two decades. It has bigger potentials than crude oil and it is worthy of your serious attention. You have a head start where Nollywood is concerned sir. Many of the ‘leaders’ in the industry campaigned vigorously against you, like their lives depended on it. (Well, the livelihood of many of them depended on it.) So, you owe Nollywood ‘leaders’ no debt of allegiance. This is a great opportunity to revolutionise the industry sir. And here’s where I’d like you to start: please don’t give Nollywood money. Let me clarify sir, PLEASE, DON’T GIVE US MONEY TO MAKE COMMERCIAL FILMS. Sorry to write in caps sir but I needed to do that so those who may want to misconstrue my words can see clearly. Your predecessor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, did a lot for the industry. Let’s give a man his due. He recognised the industry’s contribution to the nation’s GDP. He made funds available through the Bank of Industry, NEXIM Bank and the Project Act Nollywood project. Some of those funds have led to the creation and expansion of cinema chains like FilmHouse Cinemas, as well as Gabosky’s G-Media platform for DVD distribution. It was the right thing to do and it should be commended. My grouse is how some of these funds have been spent on training and film funding. Nollywood was born as a commercial film industry. People made films to make money, to return investment and make a profit if possible. At its birth, practitioners mortgaged homes, sold their cars, invested their house rents and children’s school fees, risked lives and limbs to birth and build an industry. And what’s happening now? A rent-seeking mentality has descended on the industry like evil spirit and it’s eating away its soul. Sadly, your predecessor encouraged this mentality too. You need to stop it sir before it ruins one of the best things to ever happen to Nigeria Let me explain sir. Commercial films are a business and anyone going into any business is taking a risk. When you remove the risk element by giving people free money to make films, there’s no push to return investment and grow the business. What the industry needs is not money. Infrastructural support is grossly inadequate for an industry with Nollywood’s potentials. Unless these infrastructural issues are sorted out, all the free money being thrown at the industry will end up in that big, black hole where funds go and die in Nollywood. Ask Ecobank sir, if, you think I’m telling lies here.... 
