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| Mohammed Salisu |
Mohammed Salisu, aka Officer is the national vice president of the Arewa Film Makers Association of Nigeria (AFMAN). He is also the CEO, S&A Studios Limited, based in Kano. In this interaction with some journalists, he speaks on the controversial issues between the umbrella body of the Hausa movie sector, Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) and his new group, (AFMAN) as well as the federal government’s Project Act Nollywood, set up to assist the growth of the industry . SOLOMON NDA-ISAIAH was there.
How did you get into the entertainment industry, particularly the movie sector?
You know I have friends in the entertainment industry and one of them was also in the CBN. He was the one who encouraged me to sojourn into production. He helped me fast-track my move into the industry. I was operating a business centre before this friend of mine motivated me to take the production of music and movies more seriously and since then, I have not regretted taking that decision.
What was the first step you took?
I started by putting the structures in place. I installed a music (sound) studio, before adding the editing suite. So, it was a gradual process which has grown to be what it is today.
What is your motivation?
The motivation, like I have said earlier, is the business prospect I noticed in the industry. Besides, I wanted to have the opportunity to tell stories.
You have one of the most flourishing production outfits in Kano and the entire northern part of the country. What is your staying power?
My staying power is tolerance towards every player in the industry. I am a producer and studio executive. I spend most of my time in the studio or movie location. Right now, I am shooting a multi-million naira documentary film project titled, Wai-Waye (it is a focus on Hausa customs and traditions). I have gone far with this. It is about the festivities that come up during Hausa marriages and other celebrations.
What gave birth to AFMAN and how did you emerge as its national vice president?
I am one of the founding fathers of AFMAN. We created it in order to correct some of the damage that has been done by the other associations that have existed before now. As a former banker, I have the maturity and age and was initially slated to be the president. So, the proponent of the association thought my background as a disciplined banker would be useful in building the industry. You can agree with me that even as a caretaker leadership that we are now, we have effected changes in several aspects of the industry, like production for example. We have tried to a certain extent to curtail the ugly habits exhibited by practitioners. I almost single handedly attracted about N30 million from the Bank of Industry (BoI) into the industry. This was made possible using my contacts in the banking sector.
Talking about Kannywood politics, there seems to be a rivalry between AFMAN and Motion Pictures Production Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), why is this so?
In every association there must be rivalry; there must be all kinds of clashes because of differences in ideology, policies and all that differ. It is just like we have in political parties in the larger society and in non-governmental organisations. However, MOPPAN was not established to register individuals, it’s a collection of all guilds, associations and others. But they began to deviate from their responsibilities to begin registration of individuals and we said no-this is not your job. That is where the problem lies. Ordinarily, if MOPPAN had allowed every group to take care of its responsibilities, there would not be problems. But they chose to usurp the responsibilities of other guilds and associations-this is what gave birth to AFMAN.
Some people believe that the division is structured along political lines, how true is this?
Let me make this point clear-no politician is behind AFMAN. What we try to do is to sell the ideals of the association. So, we are strictly a professional group. But it is true that a serving commissioner is president of MOPPAN. Yes, it is true that MOPPAN has an ideology that tallies with the ideology and philosophy of the present government. That is why they are close to the Kano State Censorship Board which is the department of government that is executing the ideology and policies of government in relation to the movie and entertainment industry.
But don’t you think aligning the various associations to become one big force would be better for the growth of Kannywood?
We are working on it because we are currently restructuring the system. We are screening new artistes through the Artiste Guild, one of the associations in existence. We want to work on a single platform so that things will not be cumbersome for the industry anymore. This includes the marketers as well, so that we would be speaking with one voice.
Marketers seem to be part of the problems plaguing Kannywood, what is your take?
They used to run to us when things become critical for them; when for example, the problem of ‘choked market’ comes up; that is when too many films are released or on issues of piracy. As things stand now, we are in cooperation, as they are also included in committees that we have set up for these purposes.
So, what is it that AFMAN is bringing into the industry that was lacking in MOPPAN?
We are bringing in a whole lot. We have brought credibility where members are carried along. We protect them when the need arises and sanction those who err. We give them a sense of belonging. We have brought stability into Kannywood.
Is Kannywood benefiting from the Project Act Nollywood set up by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to assist the industry? Sometime ago, Kannywood was complaining of marginalisation, what is the situation like today?
Initially, managers of the Project Act fund came up with three categories of grants. One-they will give out money based on productions. The second is for capacity building while the third is for marketing and distribution. However, there was a problem because accessing the funds is supposed to be done individually, but they discarded this guideline and started lumping people together before they could benefit. This was a problem, but even at that it is a blessing to us in the north because of our peculiarity.
The new introduction favoured us and so we swiftly began to process this grant accordingly, but as an association. Reason being that here in the north, awareness is very, very minimal to individuals and because of the low level of education and enlightenment in the industry here, initially we were marginalised. So, when the fund managers introduced the new approach, we quickly queued up to it because we don’t want to lose out; that is why we have to go as an association.
As at now, they have trained 40 out of the 200 applicants we posted online, as they requested for the local training. For the overseas training, 19 have been approved as the first set to go to India very soon. So, we are expecting more will benefit in both the local and foreign training and they are currently working on that from their database. So for us, it is so far, so good, because what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. But admittedly, the process was very slow initially.
Source: LEADERSHIP
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