The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dudu Heritage Films, Oladiran Ibrionke, on Thursday said that piracy had become the pandemic virus in the entertainment industry and had refused to go.
Ibironke told the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan that the entertainment industry should have been better off its present status as Nigeria celebrates her 60th Independence anniversary but for piracy.
“The Entertainment industry in Nigeria is trying as it should in a developing country because we can’t compare ourselves with Europe,United States and the likes when it comes to development.
“Nevertheless, we can’t compare our artists to those ones in overseas. In those days, the competition was not that much, therefore, artists used to thrive quickly.
“I remember in those days when an artist or a record label used to sell no less than 100,000 copies. That was called a platinum then and an accomplishment.
“These days, hardly will you see an artist selling that much because piracy which is the disease in the industry has refused to go and it is hindering the development of the entertainment sector in Nigeria.
“The government should assist the sector by eradicating piracy. Those that indulge in piracy are quacks.
“If there are stringent laws to guide against Piracy, these quacks will be eliminated or reduced to the bearest minimum,” he said.
Ibironke added that the government was not doing enough in terms of intervention funds for the stakeholders in the entertainment sector.
“They are not really doing much to encourage the entertainment industry because loans are not easily accessible to entertainers due to the many conditions attached to getting it.
“This development is not helping most artists,”he said.
He commended some of the corporate organisations who were assisting artists to break even and survive.
“What I don’t subscribe to is investing a lot of money on foreign artists while we have our own home based artists that we can encourage and spend money on.
“When it comes to endorsements, hardly will younger be considered if not for the efforts of some multi national companies that are doing wonderfully well.
‘The artists of nowadays won’t have been better off if not for them,” he said.
He added that the entertainment industry is the biggest industry that one can ever invest in and get returns mo from.
“In the whole world, people see it as a short cut to making money,” Ibironke said.
Edited By: Peter Dada
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