Ladi Adebutu Ogun lawmaker proposes bill to protect movies with indigenous language

Ogun state lawmaker representing Ogun East I in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ladi Adebutu has proposed a bill to protect movies produced in indigenous languages across Nigeria.
The proposed legislation on protecting Nigeria's indigenous filmmakers, it was gathered, scaled through its Second Reading on the Floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday October 19, 2017.

During his presentation, Hon Adebutu said: "As far back as 2008, the industry has consistently produced 2000 titles every year in Nigeria’s three major languages and as a consequence of the indigenous content it serves as a channel to promote our rich cultural diversity and nuances; recreate socio-political storylines/cultural practices that are relevant to everyday situations.

"This high level of productivity can further birth a pool of creative talent, a broad skills base, and create a high demand for Nigeria’s films in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas; which in the long run will create a steady revenue stream for the Federal Government and reduce the over-dependence on revenue from oil and gas revenue."

He added that the justification for the amended Bill is that: "It will protect our culture as well as producers, marketers and filmmakers from an imminent decline in their creative work in indigenous languages. This in turn will lead to the sharpening the instrumentality of languages as a preserver of cultural heritage."

Adebutu reminded the audience that the import of the Bill will be to preserve rural harmony, give traction to our cultural values and further tell our stories to the world through films, TV drama series; generate employment and create jobs  especially in our rural communities and ultimately drive the vision to transform Nigeria's film industry from a creative industry to a creative economy.

In his conclusion, he urged his colleagues  to "support the speedy passage of this very important Bill for the protection of our cultural heritage as well as for creativity and preservation of the livelihoods of our indigenous film-makers in the overall interest of the economy."

With support from colleagues and majority of the chamber, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara, ordered that the Bill be referred to the House  Committee on National Orientation for further processing.

Adebutu represents Sagamu, Ikenne and Remo North of the Ogun East I Federal Constituency.