THOUGH not the type you see regularly on screen these days, Paul Obazele still remains an important figure in Nollywood. A former president of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), the Edo State-born producer, who has now veered into other aspects of the showbiz, has fingered poor storyline and piracy as part of the reasons he took a sort of sabbatical from acting.
The decision to take a break, according to Obazele, is basically to assess his activities in the industry, with the aim of re-strategising for the future. But in the process, he was cut in the web of Nollywood politics; incidentally the mantle of leadership was given to him to lead the producers.
“I believe that I did my best during my tenure as the president, at least the political relevance AMP is enjoying today is as a result of my effort,” he boasted.
As for the ‘sabbatical,’ “I can say without equivocation, that at some point, it appeared that Nollywood has reached its peak and was facing diminishing return; it was obvious that our stories became dry, thereby taking the intelligence of our viewers for granted.”
As far as Obazele is concerned, scriptwriters became less creative, while producers and marketers took quality for granted.
“In fact, the industry was at the crossroad and I decided not to be a part of that deceit, because the people who gave me credence today are the viewers and followers of Paul Obazele. Hence, it will be suicidal to let them down in any way.”
While holding parishioners responsible for the decline in the quality of Nollywood productions, Obazele blamed the government for the continuous rise of piracy in the country.
“How can a man spend a huge sum of money to make a film, the movie is pirated and he didn’t make his working capital; I do not see how he can plough back into such project again. Therefore, people began to cut corners in order to reduce risk.”
It would be recalled that during Obazele’s regime as the leader of AMP, efforts were made, with the advice of the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, to revive other structures that will help the industry.
“This he said will curb the activities of pirates. Luckily, in one of my trips to Ghana, I met Ben Bruce of Silverbird aboard aircraft; discussion erupted and he promised to be showing good Nollywood movies on his channel. That was how the cinema culture came back. Some producers brought their films and we discovered that we are able to make greater percent of the investment within a short time.”
Today, cinema culture has returned in Nigeria, at least in the major cities, with Nigerian films showing on big screens.
“Red carpet came back and we started taking our films to festivals outside the country. Satellite TV stations also came in and it becomes a new experience, filmmakers embrace creativity again,” he enthused.
To the former AMP boss, the damage of piracy is very disheartening.
“You will be surprised that these nefarious activities take place in high places and sadly some politicians are behind this people.”
The Nigerian Copyright Commission, in the words of Obazele, is not helping matter.
“We discovered some places where this people operate from and gave the information to NCC. But instead of the Commission to plunge into action, nothing was done till date. I just believe that the new NCC boss, who I see as a man of God, will stand his ground and work. If not, these pirates are out to destroy what God has given us. God gave us a group of creative minds that have through their movies made the image and name of our country distinct on the world stage.”
Obazele is of the opinion that the practitioners must win this war against pirates because they are passionate about what they do.
“The new crops of filmmakers have raised the bar in production; we now produce world-class movies that are screened across the globe and equally win awards. That means we are winning the war.”
Now that the coast is clear, Obazele is back for good.
“I’m back in acting and producing; very soon you will see my films, which are pure African stories. Part of the problem we had then was not telling African stories; we try to live the Whiteman’s life, this is wrong. We should not bring foreign culture into our own; we‘re black nation with great cultural heritage.”
He continued: “The moment you try to bring western culture into your own, it becomes cultural dislocation, which will affect our children because they will neither be there nor here.”
To him, bringing western world into our world is baseless, assuring that the new film industry will ensure it never happens.
“Today, our local languages are facing serious threat of extinction. However, the new Nollywood is set to correct this entire anomaly. Thanks’ to president Jonathan who has shown his love and support for the industry in several ways. I implore Jonathan to involve real practitioners in strategic areas for that professionalism and timely action. Nigeria is the future of Africa and the world; hence Nollywood is a tool that will not be left out in this match to actualize the future,” he concluded.
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