Kannywood: A Luta Continua!

Why is Kannywood - the Hausa film industry - both more backward and more despised than Nollywood, and its promoters poorer in terms of material comfort? Why did Nollywood, the English language movie industry based in Lagos and Onitsha, grow so exponentially within a few years than Kannywood to become, according to UNESCO, the second largest film industry in the world in terms of the number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of Hollywood and behind Bollywood? Some reports say that Nollywood is estimated to rake in between US$200 million and US$250 million per year, churning out some 200 videos for the market every month.

Some would think it is foolish to make this kind of contradistinction because the two industries appear to be operating on different turfs. On a closer look, however, it is possible to glean the factors that make the two similar and why the fortune of one should ricochet on the other. The greatest point of divergence is language, which may appear to present certain restrictions on the Hausa industry that could militate against its growth. But if you look closer, you will wonder why Bollywood movies were able to penetrate societies globally even though they came loaded with Indian cultural motifs. If Hindi melodramas could have a universal appeal, why should the Hausa ones be restricted to particular audiences? The answer to these questions will tell us why our movies remain in chains twenty years after they began while those of Nollywood wax stronger. First, let’s take a look back at the origin of the problem. The Hausa movie industry is going to celebrate its 20th year anniversary next week, but of course not many outside its circle know this. And this is very instructive. This momentous milestone is generally lost on most people, including those who should know better, because this is an industry that has always suffered the fate of being misunderstood, misreported and even cast in the wrong league of Nigerian entertainment history.

Official history says the “Nigerian home video industry” had origins in the release of the movie ‘Living in Bondage’ in 1992. This drama thriller, written by Kenneth Nnebue and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor and directed by Chris Obi Rapu, is believed to have been responsible for the beginning of the shot straight-to-video ventures that came to define what is generally known as Nollywood today. This wrong historicisation of the art form does not take cognisance of the “other” movie industry known as Kannywood, which is so named because of its main base in Kano. It is a home video industry that is as big as Nollywood in terms of number of productions per month and the sheer population of stakeholders - stars, directors, producers, crew and marketers. Its viewership transcends northern Nigeria because its flicks are watched all over West Africa and the Hausa Diaspora.

The truth also is that Kannywood predates Nollywood. As Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, unarguably the leading scholar on Kannywood alive, told an audience in Kano on November 25, 2010 at an event to mark 20 years of the industry, Kannywood began in March 1990 with the release of the home video ‘Turmin Danya’. Written by the late Aminu Hassan Yakasai, it was produced by the pioneer drama group in Kano, Tumbin Giwa, and directed by Salisu Galadanci. The relative success of ‘Turmin Danya’ caused an upsurge in Hausa filmmaking as more and more production outfits, called companies even if they were not formally registered with the authorities, emerged, mostly as breakaways from older groups. Kano, with the biggest army of unemployed youth in the north, got an industry that was self-created, independent of government intervention.

According to Adamu, “Another landmark in the history of video films in Africa was recorded in August 1999 edition of Tauraruwa magazine - the first magazine in Africa devoted to indigenous African video films - edited by Sunusi Shehu ... that Sunusi created the term ‘Kannywood’ to refer to the Kano-based Hausa video film industry. It is significant that the term ‘Nollywood’ to refer to the Nigerian English language video film industry was created by Norimitsu Onishi, in an article titled ‘Step Aside L.A. and Bombay, for Nollywood’ published in The New York Times on September 16, 2002. This was three years AFTER Sunusi Shehu created ‘Kannywood’.

“Of further significance was the fact that ‘Turmin Danya’ was released in 1990, two years BEFORE ‘Living in Bondage’ - the video film generally acknowledged as the first in English language Nollywood film industry. So either way, the Hausa video film industry - both in terms of an industry as well as a label - is the first full-fledged video film industry, not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa.”

So, why should an industry that made this milestone be licking its wounds today instead of licking the juice of its labour? The answer is that Hausa movies veered off culturally by their adoption of alien cultural mores - Indian, Western and even southern Nigerian. They lost their uniqueness. The early movies were responsible for the monumental growth and popularity of the new art form. But when some producers in the heat of deadly competition injected the ‘Indian-type’ movies - the singing and dancing aspect, forms of dress, storylines, and even posters, etc - the audience began to shrink. I watched with keen interest, as a reporter deeply embedded within the industry, as the market went into a spin, crashing a lot of hitherto legendary production outfits and names.

Then in 2007 came the infamous Hiyana affair. An A-class actress and her non-industry lover had foolishly made a video clip of themselves having sex in a hotel room, using a cell-phone camera, apparently for the fun of it. Even though it was a non-industry event, the inadvertent release of the clip into the society created a consternation and opprobrium against an industry that had for some time been struggling to remain popular and tolerated. The scandal forced the Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who feared a backlash from Islamic clerics at a time he was instituting a Sharia law regime, into a clean-up exercise in the industry. He appointed a new boss for the state censorship board known for his heavy-handedness while working for the state Sharia police. The man, Abubakar Rabo, took it as part of his duties to emasculate the industry in any way he could. Acting on his weird understanding of the functions of a public officer and a pitiable misreading of the public mood, he battled the industry for three years, using the instrument of government power, ensuring that many actors, producers, directors, etc., were jailed or fined heavily on false charges. Many stakeholders migrated to other states. It took the sudden occurrence of his own sex scandal to check his acts of injustice and persecution and make him mellow down and seek rapprochement with his opponents.

At 20, Kannywood needs to take a pensive look at the progress it should have made but hasn't. The stakeholders, most of whom are young, need to train for roles in moviemaking, especially the technical aspect. Skill acquisition is low. The marketing system is rudimentary and pedestrian. Piracy, a big spectre, is gobbling up potential profits and keeping producers on the verge of bankruptcy. Movie stories are shallow and thematically restricted, lacking in unique cultural motifs that can create a universal loyal audience. Unity of purpose is almost absent, leading to an individualism that is injurious to the common interest of stakeholders; this makes it impossible for outfits to collaborate on productions and sometimes lead to court cases such as the current one between a leading director and a famous actor/producer. Overall, government empowerment is necessary in growing the industry as a private sector capable of sucking in thousands of school leavers and dropouts, as well as gearing the movies towards the common good.

Kannywood, as its struggles continue, can learn a lot from Nollywood, where collaborations and norms and conventions have created a cohesiveness that promotes the common good. There should be rules and regulations that everybody should be subjected to. The Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), Hausa movie industry's main trade association, has a role to play in this. Education is of paramount significance; an under-educated class cannot even write grammatically correct subtitles, talk less of producing captivating box office hits. A cursory viewing of Kannywood flicks on Africa Magic’s Hausa channel today shows just how backward Hausa movies are in this regard. If Kannywood refuses to start cleansing itself of its present imperfections, it cannot hope to make any headway in its next twenty years.

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Published in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, last Saturday

Tsugunne ba ta kare ba

Akwai alamun cewa sau}i ya fara zuwa masana’antar finafinai ta Nijeriya, wato Nollywood, domin kuwa mako uku da su ka wuce ne Shugaban {asa Goodluck Jonathan ya yi wani ho~~asa na kyautatawa ga masu aikin fasaha da basira na }asar nan. Ku]i ne zunzurutu wuri na gugar wuri har dalar Amurka miliyan 200 ya bayyana bayarwa ga masu sana’ar nisha]antarwa a matsayin rance don ha~aka sana’ar su. A ku]in Nijeriya, sun kama kimanin naira biliyan 30.

Shugaban }asar ya fa]i haka ne a Legas, a wurin bikin cikar shahararren kamfanin nan masu gidajen silima da shirya gasar sarauniyar kyau mai suna Silverbird Group shekara 30 da kafawa. Mamallakin kamfanin, wato tsohon Darakta-Janar na Hukumar Talabijin ta Nijeriya (NTA), Mista Ben Murray-Bruce, shi ne ya ro}i shugaban da ya yi wani abu don karrama masana’antar, wadda ta }unshi masu shirya fim da kuma mawa}a. Jonathan, wanda ya halarci taron da kan sa, ya ce wannan jari da gwamnati ta zuba an yi shi ne “ba don komai ba sai don a mara wa masu sana’ar fasaha baya da kuma ha~aka masana’antar mu ta nisha]antarwa.”

Mutane da yawa da ke da ruwa da tsaki a masana’antar sun yi murna da wannan ku]in, su na ganin su a matsayin agajin da ya zo a daidai lokacin da ake bu}atar sa, wato a daidai lokacin da ruwa ya kusa }are wa ]an kada. Su na ganin sa a matsayin wata babbar karramawa da amintaka ga gudunmawar da wa]annan ]imbin masu basirar su ka bayar wajen sa a }ara sanin Nijeriya a fagen ayyukan nisha]i, wato fim da wa}a.

Nollywood, wadda masana’anta ce da ke bun}asa a koyaushe, ta na tafiya kafa]a-da-kafa]a da masana’antar da ta girme ta a fagen, wato ta ki]a da wa}a. Duk an san su a duniya. A wani rahoto da hukumar UNESCO ta buga a cikin watan Mayu 2009, an bayyana cewa masana'antar Nollywood ce ta uku a duniya wajen fito da yawan finafinai, wato ta na bin masana’antar Hollywood ta }asashen Turawa da kuma Bollywood ta }asar Indiya. An }iyasta cewa darajar Nollywood ta fuskar ku]i ta kai kimanin dala miliyan 250, kuma akwai mutum a}alla miliyan ]aya da ke aiki a masana’antar. Wannan masana’anta ta haifar da ’yan wasa wa]anda sunan su ya zama ruwan dare a cikin }asar nan da }asashen waje. Sunaye irin su Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Ramsey Nouah, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Pete Edochie, Ali Nuhu, Segun Arinze, Funke Akindele, da sauran su, sanannu ne. Akwai kuma irin wa]annan sunayen a fagen wa}a. A dalilin haka, akwai manazarta da dama da ke tururuwa daga }asashen duniya su na zuwa nan domin yin nazarin irin tashin gwauron zabon da wannan masana’anta ke yi. Abu sai ka ce tsafi! A yau ]in nan akwai tashoshin talabijin na satalayit da dama da ke nuna finafinan Nollywood dare da rana, ciki kuwa har da shahararriyar tashar Africa Magic, kwatankwacin yadda tashar Fox Movies ke nuna finafinan Hollywood da kuma yadda tashoshin B4U da Zee Aflam ke nuna na Indiya. Wa]annan mutane, mazan su da matan su, wa]anda yawanci matasa ne, su na rayuwa cikin jin da]i a matsayin attajirai, a cikin aikin da su ka }ir}ira da kan su, ba tare da sa hannun hukuma ba.

To amma kuma akwai mutanen da ke kallon wannan gara~asa da Jonathan ya yi ga ’yan fim da mawa}a a matsayin wani abu bambara}wai. Su na ganin cewa ya yi abin ne da ka kawai, ba tare da ya numfasa ya yi tunani ba, don kawai Mista Murray-Bruce ya ro}e shi da ya yi masu ko ma menene don nuna kulawa. Tun daga lokacin da aka bayyana gara~asar, na ji 'yan fim da mawa}a da dama su na yin wasu tambayoyi a kan ta: Shin wannan kyautar yaudara ce ko kuwa? Shin siyasa ce? Shin Jonathan ya na }o}arin samun goyon bayan masu sana’ar nisha]antarwa a daidai lokacin da ’yan adawa ke girgiza kujerar sa? Shin kishin }asa ne ya sa ya ba da wannan babbar kyautar? Ko kuwa ma gwamnati ta na so ta yi wa ’yan fim da mawa}a }ofar raggo ne, wato ta biyo ta bayan fage domin ta mamaye harkar saboda gudun irin sa}wannin da ake iya jefawa a cikin finafinai da wa}o}i?

Bayan haka, wa zai kar~o ku]in daga hannun gwamnati a madadin ’yan fim da mawa}an, wa]anda ba su da wasu tsayayyun shugabanni da kowa da kowa ya yarda da su? A yanzu dai, ba a ma san yadda za a raba ku]in ba. Shugaban }asa dai ya ce gwamnan Babban Bankin Nijeriya (CBN) tare da ministan ku]i su ne za su je su fito da hanyar da za a bi a fito da ku]in da kuma yadda za a yi da su. Jonathan, a jawabin sa, ya ambaci kalmar Nollywood ne a matsayin masana’antar finafinan Nijeriya, to amma don Allah ainihi su wanene Nollywood ]in? Da yawa in an ce Nollywood, to ana nufin ’yan fim na Kudiu kenan, wa]anda ke zaune a Legas da Anacha. To su kuma ’yan fim na Hausa fa da ke Arewa, wa]anda sunan tasu masana’antar Kannywood? Sannan kuma ina sauran Wood Wood da ke akwai - misali masana’antar finafinai ta Nupawa, wadda }arama ce kuma ba ta kallon kan ta a matsayin wani yanki na Kannywood, da sauran wuraren da ake shirya fim cikin harsunan mu na gado? Su yaya za a yi da su? Bugu da }ari, me ake nufi idan an ce maka]an Nijeriya? Shin sun ha]a da masu wa}o}i da harsunan gargajiya, irin su Nasiru Garba Supa na Kano da Musa [anbade na Kaduna, ko kuma ana nufin mawa}a na zamani masu wa}o}in Naija irin su Dapo Oyebanjo (D’banj), Abolere Akande (9ice), Innocent Idibia (Tuface), 2-Effects da Sound Sultan? Sannan ina za a saka su Aminu Ala, Fati Nijar, Maryam A. Baba da ire-iren su? A gaskiya, akwai bu}atar a fito a yi wa jama’a bayani, kuma a fito da hanyoyin da za a bi wa]annan ku]in su kai ga ’yan fim da mawa}a. Idan har ba a bi a sannu ba, to wannan gara~asa ta gwamnati za ta haifar da babban rikicin shugabanci a industiri, ta jawo rarrabuwar kai tsakanin masu fasaha a ~angarori daban-daban.

Ni a nawa ganin, har yanzu tsugunne ba ta }are ba ga masu shirya finafinai da kuma buga wa}o}i a Nijeriya. Industiri ba ta bu}atar wa]annan ku]in. Dalili: an yanke shawarar ba da su ne kurum a cikin irin tunanin gwamnati da ya da]e ya na addabar }asar nan, wato inda za ka ga an watsa ku]i ga matsala a matsayin magani maimakon a gano dalilin faruwar cutar. Abin da masana’antar nisha]antarwa ke bu}ata shi ne a samar da kyakkyawan sararin da mutum zai yi sana’a har ya ci riba. Mu tuna, wasu ’yan kasuwa masu tarar aradu don fa]in kai ne su ka haifar da industirin Nollywood da rana tsaka kimanin shekara 18 da ta gabata lokacin da su ka fitar da fim mai suna Living in Bondage, kuma tun daga lokacin ta ke ta }ara bun}asa ba tare da jarin gwamnati ba. Na san cewa masana'antar ta na fama da manyan matsaloli. Na farko, matsalar da ke damun Nijeriya ma ita ke damun ta, domin abin da ya ci Doma ba ya barin Awai. Matsalolin sun ha]a da satar basira da wasu ~arayin zaune ke tafkawa, ga rashin tsaro da kuma ta~ar~arewar tattalin arzikin }asar nan. [aya daga cikin manyan matsalolin ita ce satar basira, inda wani zaunannen ~arawo zai ]auki kayan ka ya gurza ya ri}a sayarwa, kai kuwa ko oho. Rashin }arfin doka da oda ya sa masu aikin basira sun kasa cin moriyar shukar su. |arayin zaune sun yi masu talala. Ya kamata a fitar da su daga wannan }angin, su samu sa’ida.

Lokacin da hukumar UNESCO ta ce Nollywood ce ta uku a duniya, ta ba ta wannan matsayin ne a kan yawan finafinan da ake shiryawa kawai, ba wai saboda }arfin arziki ko kuma ingancin finafinan ba. Su finafinan mu na Nijeriya, ana shirya su ne bisa ku]i }alilan, tare da yin amfani da kayan aiki masu araha. Yawanci babu ilimin abin domin su masu ruwa da tsakin ba wani horo su ka samu a makaranta ba; duk a lokeshin ake koyon komai. Shi ya sa za ka ga a finafinan ana nuno abu a duk yadda aka ga dama. Idan ka na kallon finafinan Kudu, sai ka yi tunanin cewa a }asar mu ba abin da ake yi sai tsafe-tsafe da aikata laifuffuka da kuma tsiraici. Rashin doka mai }arfi da kuma han}oron samun }azamar riba sun sa lamarin ya }azanta. Don haka babu mamaki, finafinan Nollowood }alilan ne ake ]aukar su da wata daraja a }asashen da su ka ci gaba, in ban da a unguwannin da ’yan Nijeriya ke zaune, masu }awazucin tunowa da gida. Yanzu dubi wani fim da aka yi a Afrika ta Kudu wai shi Tsotsi, da wani da aka yi a Indiya mai suna Slumdog Millionaire. Wa]annan finafinai ne da ake ji da su a duniya. Shi Tsotsi, dalar Amurka miliyan 3 aka kashe wajen shirya shi, to amma an samu dala miliyan 10 daga nuna shi a silima. Haka kuma ya ci manyan gasa guda biyu na duniya, wato lambar Oscar (a cikin 2005) da lambar Golden Globe (a 2006) a matsayin gwarzon fim cikin harsunan }asashe ban da Ingilishi.

Amma mu finafinan mu na Nijeriya, ba su da labarai masu }arfi, sannan da an fara fim za ka iya cankar inda zai }are. Sakamakon haka, za ka ji ana kuka da finafinan a gida da waje. Yanzu haka a Uganda har wata mata ’yar Majalisar Dokokin }asar mai suna Sarah Wasike Mwebaza ta ]ora laifin }aruwar ayyukan tsafe-tsafe a }asar ga yawaitar finafinan Nijeriya a }asar. Gwamnatin Uganda ta na nan ta na shirin kafa dokar da za ta magance matsalar. Wannan ya nuna cewa ya kamata masu shirya finafinan mu su yi karatun ta-natsu, su maida hankali wajen shirya finafinai masu inganci, da nuna gwaninta wajen ba da labari, da kyan hoto da sauti. Ya kamata su nuna wa sauran }asashen duniya cewa ba wai neman ku]i kawai ya sa su ke shirya fim ba, a’a har ma don su nuna bajinta a basira da fasaha. Saboda haka, kada a dubi gara~asar da Shugaba Jonathan ya bayar a matsayin ku]i kawai, maimakon haka a ]auka cewa alama ce ta nuna goyon baya da kuma karramawa. Idan har aka saka ido a kan ku]in, to ba abin da zai biyo baya sai cacar baki da rarrabuwar kai da fa]ace-fa]ace, daga nan kuma zancen bizines ya }are kenan.

Ace Hausa Actress, Amina Garba, Dies At 52

BY ABDULAZIZ ABDULAZIZ, KANO

The Hausa film industry was thrown into mourning yesterday with the death of one of the leading actresses, Hajiya Amina Garba (a.k.a. Mama Dumba), who died in Kano.
Mama Dumba, popular with her role as an elderly, responsible mother or wife of a rich man in the movies, died at the age of 52 three weeks after she had remarried.
Her husband of three weeks, Alhaji Abdulkareem Shehu Bauchi, told LEADERSHIP that she succumbed to a long battle with high blood pressure, diabetes and ulcer.

On Saturday, Mama Dumba had been taken to the Gwagwarwa Clinic in Kano metropolis, where she worked as a nurse till her death. She was treated and asked to go home. She was, however, returned to the hospital yesterday when her condition deteriorated and died at about 2:30 p.m.

Her remains were conveyed by her family members to her house at Kofar Kabuga area of the city, where parts of the funeral rites were observed.

She is survived by her husband and five children (two of whom are female).

Shell-shocked colleagues of the late actress showered encomiums on her as she was interred at the Kofar Mazugal cemetery in Kano City.

Administrative secretary of the Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria, Malam Ahmad Salihu Alkanawy, described the deceased as a true mother whose death has created a huge vacuum in the movie industry. “She has indeed left a large vacuum. She was a real mother who was responsible. We pray Allah in His infinite mercy to forgive her shortcomings,” he said.



On his part, famous actor, Alhaji Ibrahim Maishunku, said Hajiya Amina Garba “was indeed kind; a nice woman whose good manners can be attested to by viewers and those of us who work with her in the industry.”

According to him, the death of Dumba was symbolic, considering the fact that she recently got married despite other people’s opinion about her being too elderly for a fresh marriage union.

He said: “Some people thought she was too old for marriage but Allah has destined that she would die as a complete human being, a responsible married woman.”

Another actor, Malam Jibril S. Fagge, recalled the qualities of the deceased, saying, “Hajiya was a good mother, especially for those of us who knew her and came from the same place as her. I knew her as she knew my parents; she was a kind woman.

“Today is exactly three weeks that she got married, as if she had a premonition that she was going to die. But we believe this was the doing of Allah and we hope Allah will cover her with His infinite mercy.”


Published in LEADERSHIP today.

AN KULLE BASHIR DANDAGO A JARUN

Shugaban Hukumar Hukunta 'Yan Fim ta Jihar Kano, Malam Abubakar Rabo, ya cika alkawarin sa na cewa sai ya d'aure daya daga cikin fitattun mawakan Kano, wato Malam Bashir Dandago. Domin kuwa a yau dai jami'an hukumar sun kama shi, sun gurfanar da shi a gaban kotun hukunta 'yan fim.

Haka kuma an kama wani matashi mai suna Kabir Maulana.

Laifin da ake tuhumar su da shi, shi ne: wai sun saki faifan wakar 'Tsangayar Kura' (mai dauke da wakar nan ta "Hasbunallahu" ) bayan hukuma ta hana sakin faifan a Kano.

A kotu, su Dandago sun ce, "Not guilty." To amma Alkali Mukhtar Ahmed, kamar yadda ya saba yi, ya hana belin su, ya tura su gidan yari. Ya ce a dawo ran Litinin a ci gaba da magana. Manufa ita ce, su ma dai sun yi zaman jarun.

Ga wadanda su ka saurari wakar "Hasbunallahu, " za su tuna da cewa akwai muryar Malam Bashir Dandago a ciki. To, da ma kaska ta na da haushin kifi.

Shi dai Dandago, ya yi fice ne a fagen wakokin yabon Manzon Allah (SAW), wato wakokin bege. A cikin 2009 ne aka ji muryar sa a wakar "Hasbunallahu, " wanda hakan ya kara wa wakar karfi da karsashi. A wata hira da ya yi da 'yan jarida kwanan baya, Dandago ya ce ya yi wakar ne domin ya taimaka wajen murkushe zaluncin da ake yi a Kano.

Kwanan nan kotun ta su "Asabe Murtala" ta daure jagaban wakar "Hasbunallahu, " wato Malam Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA), a gidan yari. Za a ci gaba da shari'ar sa a makon gobe.

Majiya ta ce gurfanar da Rabo da 'yan fim su ka yi a ofishin 'yan sanda na Metro kwanan nan ya k'ara hayaka malamin, har ya sha alwashin yin ramuwa.

Majiyar ta ce don haka dai kwanan nan hukumar za ta kama wasu mata daga cikin 'yan fim, musamman mawakan da ke cikin su. Sannan majiyar ta ce ana nan ana hak'on wani dan fim, tare da shan alwashin cewa a gidan yari zai yi azumin Ramadan.

"Zalunci ba zai dore ba" - Maryam A. Baba, a wakar "Rabo, Rabo"

Ba gyara Rabo ya zo yi ba

A gaskiya, ko kadan ba da nufin gyaran harkar fim Malam Abubakar Rabo ya zo ba. Ya dai zo yin gyaran gangar Abzinawa ne - wato kid'an ganga da lauje! Abin da ya sa na fadi haka shi ne, kusan dukkan muhimman matakan da Rabo ya dauka a kan wannan harkar, ya dauke su ne da nufin durkusar da harkar. Ga hujjoji na:

1. Tun daga ranar farko ta kama aikin sa, ya dukufa wajen b'ata sunan 'yan fim. Ba wai a yau ya fara ba.

2. Duk wasu shawarwari nagari da 'yan fim din da sauran jama'ar gari su ka ba shi na yin gyaran da ya dace, bai dauka ba.

3. Duk wani zaman shawara da 'yan fim su ka yi da shi, aka zartar da shawarwari, bai taba aiwatar da ko daya ba; sai ma ya rika yi masu yankan baya bayan an tashi daga zaman.

4. Rabo ya zagaya jihohin Arewa da dama inda ya bukaci magabatan jihohin da su zartar da kudirorin hana yin sana'ar fim.

5. A kan d'an k'aramin laifi, Rabo ba ya tausaya wa d'an fim, sai kurum ya sa a kulle shi ko kuma kotu ta yi masa babbar tara.

6. Ya sa an kulle 'yan fim din da ba su aikata laifin komai ba, musamman Hamisu Iyan-Tama, don kurum ya fashe wani haushi nasa na son rai.

7. Har yau bai karbo wani agajin kudi daga gwamnati ya raba wa 'yan fim ba don inganta sana'ar su ko kuma ci gaba da yin sana'ar.

8. Ya dauki masu shawara tagari a matsayin abokan adawa ko ma abokan gaba, duk da yake su ba hakan su ka dauke shi ba.

9. Ba ya yarda ya tafi tare da masu ba shi shawara, sai 'yan kore wadanda ke gaya masa abin da kunnen sa ya ke so ya ji.

10. A kullum kokarin sa shi ne ya gano hanyar da zai bi ya nakasa 'yan fim da sana'ar su, ba hanyar da zai taimaka masu su ci gaba ba.

11. Duk wata bita da ya shirya da nufin wai gyaran fim, idan ka duba da kyau sai ka ga da biyu aka yi, ba wai an yi ba ne don gyara sana'ar. Domin ko su wadanda ake zaba su shiga bitar, sai an tsamo 'yan kore, 'yan a-bi-Yarima- a-sha-kida, sannan a yi da su.

12. Yau shekarar Rabo biyu a kan mulkin, me ya kulla na kawo gyara?

Police Arrest Kano Censors Board DG

By Nasir Gwangwazo, Kano

Director-General of the Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, was yesterday arrested by the police over a complaint filed against him by the Kano State Filmmakers Association.

A reliable source told LEADERSHIP last night that Rabo had been dragged to a Sharia Court in Sabon Gari, Kano, by members of the association over an allegation credited to him, in which he was said to have described movie makers as a bunch of homosexuals and lesbians during an interview he granted Radio Kano recently.

In the interview, a copy of which was made available to LEADERSHIP, Rabo stated that he had proof that many of the filmmakers were gay, saying his intervention in the industry had helped sanitise the situation.

The statement incensed the filmmakers, and they wrote him a letter demanding a retraction and an apology within 48 hours.

But at a follow-up press conference recently in Kano, the director-general repeated his claim, warning that he would publish more damning reports about the alleged immorality in the industry if pressed further.

The association went ahead with its threat, suing him before the Sharia court, which was said to have advised the association to report the matter to the police first.
According to a member of the association and the immediate former chairman of the state chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Malam Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino, Rabo was picked up yesterday by two plain-clothes policemen at about 4pm and taken to the Metro police station located on Bank Road in the city, following a complaint by the filmmakers.

At the police station, three leaders of the moviemaking association - Nura Hussain, Ahmad Alkanawy and Isma’ila Afakalla - endorsed the association's formal complaint, which Rabo reportedly denied.

According to Gidan Dabino, the case is due for hearing at the Sharia Court, Fagge, today.

When our correspondent contacted Rabo on phone last night, however, he denied knowledge of the issue, saying he was in a meeting and promptly switched off.

Published in LEADERSHIP today

Nollywood Sans Kannywood

I think when the world (or even Nigerian federal officials) talk about Nollywood, they are not thinking about the Hausa film industry, a.k.a. Kannywood. Nollywood is simply the Nigerian movie industry WITHOUT its Hausa component. Surprisingly, Nollywood includes the Igbo and Yoruba productions. The question is: why are Hausa movies not included? In my view, it has to do with the fact that federal officials working in the culture sector - Ministry of Information and its parastatals such as the National Film and Videos Censors Board and the Nigerian Film Corporation - hardly remember Kannywood when they are designing policies. Until in recent years, they scarcely included Kannywood stakeholders in their programmes.

Of course, things have been changing in recent years. Kannywood stakeholders have been making an in-road into the federal culture sector - participating in film festivals, awards and meetings. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go before we get THERE, largely due to the dominance of non-Northerners in the sector and in the mainstream mass media. If you take a look at the entertainment pages of Nigerian newspapers where news and gossip about the Nigerian movie world are told, you will hardly see anything being said about Kannywood. That is, with the exception of northern papers like Leadership, Trust, New Nigerian and Triumph.

The senseless attacks on Kannywood operators by officials of the Kano State Censorship Board in the bogus name of sanitising the industry appears to have taken Kannywood back in reckoning. That's the actual target of the censors. But theirs is a futile exercise because only a dimwit will presuppose that a censorship regime can destroy the progress of the new information technologies, of which movies are a significant part.

This is more so in a democracy, which has a preset tenure. As the Hausa say, "Zalunci ba ya karewa!"

Interview: Rabo, Hausa Movie Chief Censor

The following interesting write-up/interview was posted by Salisu Ahmed Koki on the listserves "writersforumkano@yahoogroups.com" and "nurul-islam@yahoogroups.com" today.

Much can be gleaned from the interview about the director-general of the Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim. The title given to the piece by Koki is "Hausa Home Video Industry AND the Rabo Abdulkareem Phenomenon (The Exclusive Interview with Rabo Abdulkareem)". The piece contains some grammatical and typographical errors, which I have not corrected. Enjoy



Hausa Home Video Industry AND the Rabo Abdulkareem Phenomenon (The Exclusive Interview with Rabo Abdulkareem)

By Salisu Ahmed Koki, Kano
sakoki@gmail. com


It is an industry that churns out roughly over 2000 sellable movies to the world annually; employing over 20, 000 hitherto unemployed youths and sometimes exports to the world the once ruined face of Nigeria. But turn the clock back to the years between 1975 and 1995 and the picture would have been different, very different, for that was the long, trying period when Hausa movie industry was struggling to establish itself as a viable showbiz hub equal in prestige and whim only to Bollywood that overshadowed the northern axis, then.

And just like the tiny and equally soullessly-wrapped up pupae growing into a beautifully designed and flip-flying butterfly that can fly to various destinations at will, the Hausa popular drama has transmogrified into Home Videos that evenly instigates cultural fusion and diffusion whose implications and impact on the Hausa culture critics posits is an area yet to be fully appreciated by researchers.

Indeed, the Hausa Home Video industry is now an unstoppable phenomenon that serves as a medium exploited by NGOs and various governments to relay informatic messages to children and adults. To say the least about the interest shown by most NGOs and even Diplomatic missions within and around Nigeria on Hausa Movies, it pays to say here and now that it was alleged that the arrest and detention of one of the popular Hausa movie Producer going by the name Hamisu Lamido Iyantama couldn't be unconnected to his allegedly unauthorized release of a NGO-sponsored Hausa film.

The fact that almost 40 million people around the world use the Hausa language medium to communicate and transact gave these movie makers an unprecedented opportunity to reach out to the world.

But of recent there has been a widespread complains about the modus operandi of the Hausa Movie makers most of which are accused of indulging in entertaining misplaced priorities, movie-making wise. They are said to be employing unorthodox, unprofessional and fluke-characterized techniques and methodologies in writing, acting and shooting their now widely condemned movies. The pomp and pageantry of films produced in the Lagos axis are more pronounced on Pay TV Channels like Africa Magic than that of their counterparts in northern Nigeria obviously because of the absence of quality and catchy storylines in them, although some of the Hausa movies are beginning to find their ways into the sister Magic Channel, the Africa Magic Plus.

Most of the Hausa film makers are accused of distorting the closely guarded Hausa culture which by all indications served as the sole excuse ceased by the present administration in Kano State to take stringent majors in curbing the excesses of this so-called rogue Hausa film makers. There has been an almost general consensus that Hausa movies shot some 20 years ago and far aback are far better in substance and content than the present day Hausa movies which explain why many are of the opinion that there has to be some check and balances as far as Hausa movie making is concerned.

In ripping apart the genesis of the Hausa Home Video Industry popularly tagged ‘Kanywood’ one can hardly do away with two factors; one is the Colonial Film Unit factor that gave birth to some of the first produced feature films on celluloid made in Hausa and the other factor been that of the Hausa society which is theatre personified like any other society. As put forward by Haruna Aminu of the Institute of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the Hausa society is so theatre personified so much that “in every aspect of the Hausa living tradition, one finds various manifestation of the dramatic indices, and this come in different forms due to the nature of the occasion that produces it. When one takes into consideration the idea of celebrating birth and death one can appreciate the impact of entertainment and imitation of life”.

Through the introduction of cinema or ‘Majigi’ as it is called in Hausa into the north via the Colonial Film Unit, the Nigerian colonial masters were given a sure medium for using the concept of ‘Massive Media Campaign’ to further their varying propaganda interests. Though a downside in some respect, it served as an upside for the Hausa movie industry as it served as a transiting medium from where traditional Hausa drama or ‘Wasan Kwaikwayo’ (‘wasa’ for ‘play’ and ‘kwaikwayo’ for ‘imitation’) have developed today into a full blown Hausa Movies/Films.

The first indigenous play ‘Wasan Marafa’ (the Marafa’s Play) by A.T Marafa made its appearance in 1949. Soon others followed, with the likes of ‘Malam Inkuntum’ (1954) and ‘Bora da Mowa’ (1972) as been the first to be staged before been reduced into writing. The first commercially successful Hausa movie was ‘Turmin Danya’ produced in 1990 in Kano selling about 100, 000 copies then and it was not until between 1997 and 2003 only that there was a massive surge in the production of these home videos. According to Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, a very popular and widely respected Change Analysts, so far about 800 Hausa Language Video- about 80% produced in Kano have been registered with the National Film and Video Censors Board in 2003 only. “Such high volume in a relatively short period of time indicates an underlying cultural change and transformation that requires a systematized study” Professor Abdalla hypothesized.

Interestingly enough for the reader to know is the fact that Sir. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the slayed pioneer Prime Minister of Nigeria was among the opportune-few to first wrote a book in 1933 which was later translated into film. Again, one of Nigeria’s most renowned sociologist and the person adjudged by many to be Africa’s best in that field, Dr. Ibrahim Tahir (Talban Bauchi) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria was the principal character in one of the pioneer Hausa films ‘Dan Arewa a London’ which if translated into English means ‘A Northerner in London’, a film that propagated the use of agriculture to propel growth. And with Adamu Halilu at the helm of affairs at the Colonial Film Unit in the early years of Nigeria’s life, some more Hausa feature films were produced among which are Baban Larai (1968), Shehu Umar (1976), and Kanta of Kebbi (1978) to mention but a few.

With most of the nations’ film regulatory agencies and some of the best public-owned film training institutions concentrated in the north, Hausa films and their makers were presented with a golden opportunity to propel themselves and attain success. Imagine, the National Film Corporation (NFC), National Film Institute (NFI), National Video Archives, National Film and Videos Censors Board (NFVCB), NTA TV College amongst others all are situated in and around Jos, the Plateau State capital. Also, with about 40 million Hausa speaking audiences spread across the entire African continent and beyond, filmmakers in the north have a great market potential; little wonder the rise among the Hausa filmmaking folks of some of Nigeria’s best in showbiz, the likes of Sadik Tafawa Balewa who Directed the winning feature ‘Kasar Mu Ce’, Sani Mu’azu who feature in many award winning films and TV series including Mr. Johnson (that featured the popular Hollywood actor, Pierce Brosnan) and NASCO-sponsored Riddles and Hope, Malam Abdulkareem Mohammed who Directed the film ‘Dan Adam Butulu I’, Dr. Sule Umar who directed the duos of ‘Maitatsine’ and yet-to-be released ‘General Murtala’, Ibrahim Buba who is the CEO of Newage Networks Kaduna and film stars Ali Nuhu the principal character in Amstel’s revered ‘Sitanda’ who won the coveted ‘Best Up Coming Actor Award’ at the AMAA Awards 2007, Sani Musa Danja, Ruqayya Dawayya, Safiya Musa, Ummi Zizi to mention but a few.

Considering the rising popularity and growth of Hausa films and its industry despite its prevailing complexities, controversies and allegedly unprofessional conjunction, a team of concerned practitioners and renowned academicians got together in the month of August 2003 to discuss the state of research on Hausa popular culture and media technologies, with particular reference to the Hausa home videos. It was an event chaired by the renowned Change Analyst, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu of Bayero University Kano and was tagged ‘International Conference on Hausa Films’. The event was meant to be a brainstorming session with various inputs from members overshadowed then by the then current crisis in the non-marketability, and non-exportability of Hausa Home Videos beyond Hausa communities either in Nigeria or abroad. The event attracted scholars from close and afar including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany whom many considered an indication of the success recorded by the event.

Not long ago after sponsoring the International Conference cited earlier, the British Council Nigeria through its ‘Connecting Futures’ project gave 5 budding filmmakers first class training in filmmaking for two years, which culminated in the youth producing five winning short films. Also, the French Embassy in Nigeria in collaboration with Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) it is that wholly sponsored a 4 day workshop on filmmaking in 2005, adding to the support the industry is now gaining from the international community.

The recent crackdown of filmmakers in the north particularly in Kano State by the authorities signaled a very interesting epoch in the history and relevance of this important industry in the north, and by extension in Nigeria.

Part of the symptoms of the alleged excesses of the present crop of Hausa filmmakers is said to be the almost uncontrollable pollution of the closely guarded and respected Hausa culture that leads to some female admirers of Hausa Filmmakers to publicly showcase their sexual orientation, meaning that some women did publicly declare that they are going to emulate Californians by getting married to each other publicly and fearlessly, an action viewed by many as a taboo. It is a story of awe and confusion and it is what can rightly be described as the most demeaning abuse of fame ever to bear its ugly head out of the now allegedly promiscuous Hausa film industry; a rare show of feminine crudity and a terrifying tale of rumpus manifestation of prevalent lesbianism that is eating deep into the fabrics of Kanywood. On 22nd April 2007 the most talk about religiously- tense Kano state witnessed yet another attempt by some group of people at tying the hands of people of the same sex into the bonds of marriage, only that in this case it wasn’t masculine gays but a fair-looking and pleasurably hot lady going by the name ‘Aunty Maiduguri’ getting married to four sanguine girls- a sure feminine polygamy you can call it!

The contentious act swiftly invited the wrath of Kano state government whom since expressed bitterly its skepticism over the activities of those operating in the film industry. For a start, the venue slated to host the four modish brides alongside their groom for a party which also happened to be an open theatre where plays were staged was demolished beyond recognition alongside two adjacent theatres on the instructions of the state governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau with their Certificate of Occupancies and Operating Licenses all revoked. Soon followed an announcement that the government has sternly banned all forms of Gala and stage plays to be performed by men and women of the Hausa film industry, indefinitely! Then came the last, but expected one- order from the state government to the security agencies in the state to fish out and arrest ‘Aunty Maiduguri’ and her accomplices whom are already on the run.

Also, not long after the infamous Aunti Maiduguri Affair a video sex scandal involving one of the most popular Hausa actresses compelled the authorities to have a second thought on Hausa filmmaking and Hausa filmmakers not to mention a promiscuous music video released by one Adam Zango a background singer which leads to his detention for a prescribed period of time. What follows was a complete shutdown of filmmaking activities in Kano State for about a year now and the detention of the Hamisu Lamido Iyantama (a producer), Adam Zango (background singer), Rabilu Musa IBRO (a popular comedian) among others by Kano State Films and Videos Censors Board.

The leak of a sex video involving popular celebrities may prove a good omen to celebrities in the Western world, but from the harsh treatment received by the leak of the Hausa celebrity's sex video; it is obvious that the reverse is very true for celebrities in northern Nigeria.

Most of the stakeholders, especially the filmmakers, actors and actresses condemned the actions of the Kano State government alleging that it was the wrong decision for the government to take considering that most of the people, young and old that are having a means of livelihood via Hausa filmmaking process are rendered jobless and penniless by the government's action, worst they claimed, the government has failed to provide jobs for these people and has shown little interest in the Hausa filmmaking business which leads to its lackluster attitude towards Hausa filmmaking and Hausa Filmmakers.

In the midst of all these controversies this writer deemed it fit to get to the source of the matter and to achieve that he went all the way to interview the Director General of the Kano State Films and Videos Censors Board. The following is the outcome of our interview with Malam Rabo Abdulkareem which was initially meant for a national daily that requested for it but after reviewing the content and weighting the importance of the information embedded in it, I deemed it wise to distribute it via a medium that can allow for wider readership which is why the online platform is chosen.

A Brief on the Director General, Kano State Film and Video Censors Board.

Rabo Abdulkareem: Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem are my names, I am the Director General Kano State Censorship Board, I am 35 years old and hail from Chiromawa of Garun Malam Local Government of Kano State. Earlier before my appointment here, I was the Deputy Commander of the Kano State Hisbah Board, much earlier I was a school teacher but of course I have my first and second degree in humanities.

What Specialization or area of study to be a little specific?

R. A: My first degree has been in Mass Communications- Special Honors (Broadcast) and my second degree is in Developmental Studies all from Bayero University, here in Kano.

What little can you say authoritatively about the history of and rationale behind the setting up of Kano State Censorship Board?

R. A: Historically and globally censorship is not a new thing, and of course it is because of the need in every responsible society or community to have moral values been upheld and things done the right way to the taste of the uniqueness of the individual community or society that censorship is accorded a unique priority in the history of mankind, this is why you see Censorship Board in the history of the Greeks, you see it in the history of the Persian Empire, in that of Europe, and in that of the United States America in particular which emanates from the need to build a 'hays code'. Coming back to Africa, I believe as Africans revered as the custodians of some of the worlds' most treasured and respected cultures we cannot be an exception, most particularly in Nigeria going by our populous nature and standing in the world. Here in Kano, particularly in the year 2001, there was this law established by the State Assembly and accented to and endorsed by the then executive arm of the government of Kano State and of course what informed the decision of the then government to come up with the law was a confusion, or rather mix-up of cultural values which was largely attributed to foreign influence and the weird culture of blind copy-cating of foreign cultures by most of the Hausa filmmakers which results to public outcry in the 1999-2000 of then Kano, and of course that was how the then administration sanctioned activities of filmmakers in the state. In fact, most of the filmmakers were suspended and entire cinematographic activities were suspended, of course after that very suspension there was the idea of coming up with a regulatory body and that was how the Kano State government then came up with the present Kano State Censorship Board Law 2001. And the interesting thing was the power giving to the state governments in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria whereby state governments are regarded or rather are given the leverage to go ahead and establish their respective state Censorship Bodies on film making and other thearitical activities and section 16 of the 1999 constitution of the concurrent legislative list is the main bedrock which result to this very kind of state Censorship Board Law, meaning that what we are doing is in consonant with the constitution of the federal republic and of course in it we can see some virtues, we can also see some positive results out of what we have so far established, because at least, the social responsibility expected of a government in ensuring and above all the outcome and output of the film project is becoming this time around very professional in nature, ethical and of course there is quality, quality in the content and quality in the critique of what is churn out for the viewership of the general public. Being a federating unit here, we are empowered and we have every right to have a very unique mechanism of governance, to have our uniqueness and peculiarity very well accommodated and reflected in the way we do our things in the state. We are trying to conform with the arrangement of the federation, been a federating unit, we want to have our own unique good governance, our unique security and of course, not undermining the constitution, not undermining national interest, but above all, we want to contribute to the growth of our GDP, this time around economically to tally with the vision 2020 of the present administration.

Can you please shed more light on your board's modus operandi?

R. A: The modus operandi or rather the goal is to ensure that things are done the right way. Considering film making as a profession just like journalism and accountancy, we don’t want to believe that illiteracy can bring the needed security into the filmmaking fold, rather the skill, and the knowledge. We are emphasizing on skill acquisition, this is our primary responsibility, and this is why all professional crew are mandated to have the basic training, to have the basic knowledge of filmmaking before they are certified to either direct, to produce, or act a professional role in a film. Of course there are artists that have abundant talent, and some can be special artistes, but notwithstanding how talented somebody is or gifted by the Almighty if he is taken to a film school where he will be groomed, if he is well shaped by the professionales that knows the film business bette, he will fare better in the film making business compared to when he or she is on her own. Be it may, what we are now saying is professionalism is emphasized in our modus operandi. The context, essence and the fundamental aspects of censorship, are to ensure that the younger ones, the future generation are not misguided or rather are not feed-up with destructive items (values).

What can you say about the success your board recorded so far?

R. A: What we’ve achieved by our own majors so far is a very good way forward because we are now censoring films and we are now correcting things not ours. Notwithstanding, other cultures must be seen in own films, because we are not living in isolation, but they are to be portrayed the way they are, we wouldn’t allow other cultures to be belittled in any way in the process of censoring, we also wouldn’t allow other ethnics or religions to be belittled because it is duty bound on government, especially the Nigerian government which has a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society to rationally and wisely manage. This is why I say by God’s grace, sooner or later, we would have what is called maximum output.

The recent visit of the duos of the Managing Director, Nigeria Film Corporations Jos and the Director General National Film and Videos Censors Board marked the beginning of the spread of the prevailing rumor that your board is gradually attracting national attention. What can you say about these visits?

R. A: Much earlier before the visit of the DG NFVCB, there was that of the MD Nigeria Film Corporation, Mr. Afolabi Adesanya. When he was here, he pleaded with the board on a lot of things, and of course, out of our stakeholders meetings, we resolved to went back and start censoring films, while been very considerate of our contemporary regulations and guidance or rather guidelines, because we will not undermine what we believe is the best solution to that public outcry that I stated to you earlier. When the DG NFVCB was here, we came up with a very good and formidable position; in fact, he is a very good representation of the nation because he was emphasizing on locality and the positive side of local content generation and integration while also insisting on originality in film projects. Above all, he was saying that every public servant must be like what we are in the state, acting as a guardian, or rather custodians of national legislations and state legislations. So, he was trying to make a point to the filmmakers, that if they find ease in belittling the law, if they see no harm in belittling the state legislations, that means they are not helping matters, above all, they will continue to be at logger leads with authorities and of course by so doing, they are but becoming deviant elements of the Nigerian society. So, I respected his submission or rather proposition, not withstanding his appeal that we should be very considerate of the baby industry, a.k.a Kanywood in trying to relax some measures that might be employed in the next ten years not now, for instance, on the issue of digitization, he is not saying we should relax our stance on digitization, but that we should try to revisit our measures so that we will not make filmmakers close shops needlessly and prematurely. We are emphasizing on erecting and maintenance of excellent and equally professional facilities; what we are saying now is that all production companies must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission like any other business entity or rather body, but to ask them to do this, they say is a stringent measure. But the reality is, you ought to be registered, because you are in a business, and film making is an investment with its attendant risks and prospects. Also, the issue of a production firm to have the basic office accommodation where at least a computer system is there with a Secretary ought to be considered and checkmated. Most of the companies before we are here are nominal, nominal in the sense that they are nowhere to be found. Most of the so-called production companies believe you me, are mobile and they are not there. Believe you me, we would by God’s grace try to standardize things, and we can only do that with the cooperation and understanding of the stakeholders, that we are out for their betterment, and if they cannot appreciate that, then that’s their problem. Most of them exist without the knowledge of their local authorities; their respective local government authorities don’t even know them, because they don’t have office accommodation. What we are now insisting on is that, you must go back to the local government where you are located, be registered, and be introduced to us by your local government authority before we register you, that’s the best way for us to help the government fetch the required tax from the companies and that’s why we are saying that a tax clearance certificate must accompany your application, and the most astonishing thing to us is that all these to them are stringents, they consider every measure to sanitize and breed order to the system, a stringent measure. That’s why they complain and I don’t think we will compromise on this.

Is it true that your board is given the opportunity to censor films that are not made in Kano?

R. A: You see, we have a very good point here and I want them to stick to their promise. I told you much earlier that in Nigeria we are a federating unit; there are customary laws in the west and in the south; there is the Shari’a penal code in the north and above all there is the constitution. The issue is this, if national agencies or organizations will accord recognition, respect and certain privileges to specific agencies like ours on the area that we are more primaric, then this we can say is a very positive development. Let's assume, in the NFVCB's Preview/Screening Committee there is no, single typical Hausa-Fulani there representing the people? But if we do it here, I mean if we censor Hausa films here, and at the end our certificates are presented to NFVCB during a submission of a Hausa films projects for their own preview, it will be easy for them to censor and nationalize the film project.

What can you say about the controversies surrounding the recent court cases between your board and the film makers in Kano?

R. A: I hope our stakeholders are not mistaking by seeing the KFCB as a home of punitive measures, as if we are the only one. Punitive measures taken by a censorship board globally is the tradition, even NFCVB use to take defaulters before a court of law, High Court of justice for that matter; our is ordinary Magistrate Courts where the provision of the law is very light and mild. Now what I will like people to appreciate our own measures as excellent nd is better than that which is obtainable in the US for instance; the logic is this, employment preventive measures is far better than curative, because it is our tradition, it's our religion to guide stakeholders, preventing him/her from defaulting or erring. Now, what we are doing is before you are allowed to go ahead and kick start the shooting you are required to first of all submit to consultants the proposed script for the film for their vetting, so after been vetted by the consultant, tell me who will complain on it on merit? Unlike allowing somebody accomplished the project, and allowing him to release it into the market and then when some foul are found in it, you then effect an arrest or ban order, is this wise? And believe me that’s what is obtainable in the US, that’s their version of censoring. Our preventive measures can be regarded as Shari’ah and also the tradition of the Hausa Fulani. In our tradition, you don’t allow somebody to breach a law, rather guide him, educate him and saying this thing you are trying to do is consequential, illegally, anti-religious, economically and culturally implicative. By so doing, you are making it less damaging; you are making it less difficult for someone. If you are told on how 3-5 minutes clips are made in a film, you won't be happy asking someone to remove it after he or she is done with the project and we don’t want our stakeholders to be in this big loss, that’s why we are preaching the preventive approach to censorship. What I am now saying in that, these known of controversies has maliciously emanated from people that feel they are above the law, and we believe that nobody is above the law (a principle of democracy 'rule of law'). So our so-called punitive measures, is meant for NFVCB. So what we are saying in essence here is that we will make sure that anybody who feel like he or she is arrogant, or he or she is above the law, face the wrath of the law.

Irrespective of your caliber and status in Kanywood, I am sorry for you, if you breach the law. As per as my own style leadership is concerned, I believe nobody is above the law and above all the most respected element among the stakeholders in our eyes is he who obey the law religiously; somebody who will respect the law however minimal, however insignificant, and however basic he is in the industry, believe you me he is a very big person, but he who sees little harm in breaching the law, however well placed, however influential he is, be he a marketer, be he or she a producer, I am sorry for that person, because, he will find us very uncompromising.

We are on a professional and legal mission, not on political or related issues; I can assure you here and now that there is no any sentiment attached to our activities.

What can you say about support or otherwise that your board is receiving from international bodies?

R. A: Immaterially, we do have support from NGOs and foreign bodies because we use to have intellectual fora, sometimes organized here locally and sometimes we are invited outside the country and sometimes we invite resources persons who are not Nigerians to give transfer skills and modern discoveries to production, just like what happened in the SHOOT 2008 (Jos), which we are there in numbers that not a single state of the federation can match. What I am trying to say is this, as par basic working tools, we are very grateful to this administration of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. We also have a very good pledge, in fact we make the government to believe that it is high time for the government to invest money in filmmaking and to impact knowledge through seminars, workshops, training, and to sponsor various stakeholders to courses in Nigeria and abroad; all this things we are doing is to complement government accomplish its social responsibilities to the industry.

What about problems?

We don’t have any believe you me. I am not saying we don’t have any in the context that really there are not problems but what I am saying in essence is that the problems we are facing are tolerable. The problem of non-confidence by the general public in the products churned out by our crops of filmmakers is a central problem, and if confidence is lost, everything is lost, and that confidence is what we are assiduously working towards restoring. The crux of the matter is and will be the pursuit of excellence and professionalism in film making and that’s why we are all out to see to it that we will not leave stakeholders that are fond of dishing out all rubbish for the viewership of the teeming public unturned or alone, we will touch you, the way you molest the law; we will deal with you, the way you negatively dealt with the law; in a nutshell this is my prayer, this is my call and in as much you will do it, the way we are urging you to do it, you will have our support.

Indeed, Hausa Movie Industry has its own teething problems- but as Professor Abdalla put it; “that is natural, because it is (still) in its infancy. However, it has the potential of a giant buried in a tiny acorn.”

Iyan-Tama: Matters Arising

Hamisu Lamido Iyan-Tama, the famous Hausa actor and producer jailed for three months by a magistrate court in Kano, was released from prison on Monday. He had been jailed for allegedly releasing a feature film without government approval and running a filmmaking company without registration. In an open letter to the Governor of Kano State, published in this column two days after Iyan-Tama was sent to prison, I pointed out that the two charges were false and a concoction of the Kano State Censorship Board which has been waging a war of attrition against Hausa filmmakers and authors, based on a dubious claim of cleansing them of all immoralities. In that piece, I called on His Excellency, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to, as a matter of utmost urgency, investigate that act of gargantuan injustice and enter a no-case submission in the appeal Iyan-Tama filed at a Kano High Court, paving the way to the freeing of the actor.

A government functionary told me a day later that Malam (as the governor is widely known) had read my letter. But Iyan-Tama was left to languish in prison for almost three months until Wednesday last week when the government did exactly what I and many other folk beseeched it to do: file a no-case submission. Obviously, the governor has shown a soft heart here, but the wheel of justice in Kano, as it is everywhere else in Nigeria, is very slow. And that’s sad, considering what the actor suffered during this period. For during his incarceration, Iyan-Tama was made to suffer a lot of indignity, including a psychological warfare waged against him by the Kano State Censorship Board headed by Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim. The Director-General of the board, Rabo, whose stock in trade is a blitzkrieg of propaganda against movie practitioners, embarked on media interviews in which he justified what he clearly knew to be a travesty of justice against Iyan-Tama; he knew quite well that the plot to deal with Iyan-Tama was conceived, hatched and executed by him and a few of his cohorts, and his wish was granted by the magistrate who had proved in more ways than one that he was a willing tool to be used against anyone connected to the movie industry.

Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked at midnight by a colony of thugs, who held his wife and children hostage, threatening to kill them. The family had to flee the house in the morning. About a month later, another house connected to Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked by a group of thugs (widely thought to be the same as the first group). During this attack, the thugs even raped a female house-help, thinking she was a member of the actor’s immediate family.

Be that as it may, Iyan-Tama is now half-free. He was let out of prison this week, following a prayer to the High Court by the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice that the court should grant him bail and order for a retrial of the case. According to the Attorney-General, Barrister Aliyu Umar, the first trial was besmirched by irregularities. Due process was not followed in the trial that led to the conviction, he said. He used very uncomplimentary terms to describe the trial conducted by a senior magistrate, Alhaji Mukhtari Ahmed, such as “improper,” “incomplete,” “a mistake,” summing up by insisting that a “more competent magistrate” should be given the case to try again. Umar told the court presided over by Justice Tani Umar: “I am not in support of the conviction in this trial. It is obvious that the trial was not completed before judgement was delivered but there and then the presiding magistrate went ahead and delivered a judgement.”

Now, these words are proof that my argument that Iyan-Tama was punished by some conspirators because of his political views (he contested the state gubernatorial seat for the 2007 election), not because he had broken any law, have been vindicated. The learned commissioner would not have made this submission flippantly, without carefully examining the facts of the case that played itself out in the magistrate court. And as a government official charged with superintending the legal field in Kano State, he must have endeavoured to discharge his duties with utmost responsibility.

Governor Shekarau deserves commendation for the confession by his government that Iyan-Tama was unjustly imprisoned. But then, there are questions that the day’s hearing brought up. One, was Barrister Umar’s submission not a clear indictment of the magistrate who jailed Iyan-Tama? By questioning the competence of Ahmed, going to the extent of asking the high court to reassign the case to another magistrate, he has clearly shown that the judge was not qualified to sit over all such cases. In this situation, does Ahmed merit serving as a judge in the service of the Kano State Government, having committed an injustice that can be successfully argued even by a baby lawyer to be a travesty of justice? Is it not more honourable to the magistrate to resign immediately or be sacked by the government? And how many more such magistrates are working in the Kano State courtrooms, handing down selfish judgements?

And what of Rabo’s war? Is it justified anymore? Is it truly meant to sanitise the filmmaking business or kill it, using weapons of emasculation at the disposal of a punitive, merciless government agency? For me, Rabo has been discredited as much as Ahmed was, and should, therefore, embrace the same fate: resign or be sacked. In more civilised climes, Rabo and Ahmed would have simply thrown in the towel, having been proved to be fraudulent.

What of the proposed retrial? Is it normal to try an accused person twice for the same charge? I am not learned, therefore, I will not question her lordship’s discretion in this. But suppose after going through the whole hog of a retrial in another court, Iyan-Tama is adjudged guilty again, would he be sentenced again (maybe for ten years!) in prison? Would that be justice?

Will Iyan-Tama be compensated for his recent illegal imprisonment? Or did he suffer for nothing? Iyan-Tama’s lawyer, Suleiman Abdulkadir, SAN, had stated that if at all a retrial was to be ordered, the government should pay N100 million as compensation to his client. I hear that the Shekarau government had feared that Iyan-Tama would demand a compensation for his unjust arraignment, hence the decision to jail him. Now the word going round is that they have dangled the sword of Damocles of the retrial option over his neck for the same purpose. If these claims are true, I doubt if that’s the best way to institute Shari’ah law in our society.

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Published in LEADERSHIP today

Tsare Iyan-Tama: Sabon Zubin Zalunci

BUD'AD'D'IYAR WASIK'A ZUWA GA MALAM IBRAHIM SHEKARAU

Daga IBRAHIM SHEME


Mai Girma Gwamna,
NA rubuto maka wannan bud'ad'd'iyar wasik'a ne saboda na yi amanna da cewa za ta fi saurin isa gare ka maimakon in bi hanyar da ku ka tsara, saboda ina da magana mai buk'atar sauri. Idan na mik'a wasik'ar a ofishin ka, za ta iya d'aukar kwanaki da yawa ko ma watanni kafin ta isa gare ka, kuma kafin lokacin ba za ka iya samun bayani na hak'ik'a ta kafa mai zaman kan ta ba kan tantagaryar zaluncin da wasu jami’an ka su ke aikatawa da sunan ka. Na biyu, tun tuni ma ake ta zancen a majalisun hira a tsawon watanni da su ka gabata. Yanzu akwai alamun an jingine maganar ta hanyar wata shari’a wadda ko kad'an ba ta da kan-gado, inda wasu masu fushi da fushin wani su ka yi amfani da ak'idar ka ta aiki bisa doka da oda, da tausayin talakawa, da rashin yaudara da kuma tanadodin Musulunci. Bugu da k'ari, buga wannan wasik'ar a bainar jama’a zai ba wa duk wani mai sha’awar sanin abin da ake ciki damar samun k'arin haske kan d'aya daga cikin muhimman al’amuran da ke gudana a gwamnatin ka.

Ran ka ya dad'e, ina da cikakkar masaniya kan wannan lamari, ba kawai don ina biye da maganar a kotun majistare ta Kano inda aka kai ta ba, a’a har ma saboda ni d'an cikin gida ne a al’amuran sana’ar finafinan Hausa. Ba sai na nanata maka ba cewa Kano ce cibiyar finafinan Hausa a sama da shekara goma da aka yi ana yin sana’ar.

Na tabbatar da cewa ba za ka rasa masaniya ba kan shari’ar da ake tafkawa tsakanin Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta Jihar Kano (KSCB) da wani furodusan fim ba mai suna Alhaji Hamisu Lamid'o Iyan-Tama. Ran ka ya dad'e, Iyan-Tama d'an asalin Kano ne wanda ya taka muhimmiyar rawa wajen ciyar da harkar finafinan Hausa gaba, sannan kuma d'an wasa ne d'an sahun gaba. Hasali ma dai shi ne shugaban farko da aka zab'a na K'ungiyar Masu Shirya Finafinai ta Arewa (AFPAN). Kowa ya san cewa bai tab'a shirya fim ko kuma ya fito a fim d'in da za a yi Allah-wadai da shi ba, wato wanda ya sab'a wa kyawawan al’adun jama’ar Kano ko addinin Musulunci. Duk rol d'in da zai yi a fim, za ka taras na manyantaka ne; ya kan nace kan lallai a yi fim da ya dace da al’adun mu, sannan shi mutum ne mai bin doka. Finafinan sa sun ci manyan kyaututtukan girmamawa.

Ran ka ya dad'e, idan har ka samu damar karanta wannan wasik'ar a yau, to Iyan-Tama ya kwana biyu a gidan yarin Kano, domin a ran Talata wata kotun majistare ta yanke masa hukunci kan abin da ta kira laifuffuka guda biyu, bayan an shafe watanni ana yawo da hankali a kes d'in. A hukuncin da kotun ta zartas, Iyan-Tama zai shafe wata uku a tsare ba tare da zab'in biyan tara ba. Haka kuma zai biya mak'udan kud'i na tara ko kuma ya yi zaman kaso na tsawon shekara d'aya.

Yawancin mu da ke sa ido kan lamarin ba za mu damu ba ko kad'an da hukuncin in da a ce da gaske Hamisu ya aikata laifuffukan. Ni d'in nan na yarda da bin doka da oda, domin hakan shi ne ginshik'in d'orewar mulkin dimokirad'iyya. Ba wanda ya fi k'arfin doka. In an yi amfani da wannan tsarin ne dimokirad'iyya za ta iya d'orewa kuma k'asa za ta samu zaman lafiya. To amma gaskiyar magana ita ce, Hukumar Tace Finafinai ce ta k'irk'iri laifukan da aka ce Iyan-Tama ya aikata, sannan wani alk'ali mai goyon bayan hukumar, wanda kuma ya yi k'aurin suna wajen d'aure duk wani wanda aka gurfanar a gaban sa, ko da bai da laifi, shi ne ya yanke masa wannan d'anyen hukuncin. Wani abin ban-damuwa shi ne ana tafka wannan aika-aikar ne da sunan tanadojin nan masu tsarki na Shari’ar Musulunci. Daga fahimta ta da abubuwan da ke fitowa daga bakin ka da ganin wasu abubuwan da ka aikata, har yanzu ban amince ba da cewa kai d'in nan za ka goyi bayan zalunci ta kowace fuska ko kuma ka bar wani ya na saka siyasa cikin shari’ar Musulunci don ya ci mutuncin jama’a cikin son rai.

’Yallab'ai, bari in d'an fad'a maka abin da ya faru. Jami’an Hukumar Tace Finafinai sun kama Iyan-Tama a ofishin sa a Kano, su ka kai shi kotun tafi-da-gidan- ka wadda aka kafa don yi wa ’yan fim da marubuta shari’a (aka fad'ad'a zuwa duk wani nau’i na rubutu). Abin mamaki, babu wata kotu irin ta; babu kotun ’yan acab'a ko ta karuwai ko ta ’yan caca ko ta ’yan luwad'i, da sauran su. An tuhumi Iyan-Tama da "laifuffuka" guda biyu:

1. Sakin fim d'in sa na ‘Tsintsiya’ a Kano ba tare da Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta amince da shi ba kamar yadda doka ta tanada;

2. Gudanar da kamfanin shirya fim mai suna Iyan-Tama Multimedia, ba tare da yin rajista da gwamnati ba.

To amma duk wad'annan tuhumar, k'arya ne, kuma lauyan sa ya yi k'ok'arin nuna wa alk'ali Alhaji Mukhtar Ahmed hakan. An d'auki watanni kafin a yanke hukuncin, wanda ya yi matuk'ar girgiza yawancin mazaunan Kano da wajen ta.

Bari mu fara da tuhuma ta biyu. An yi wa kamfanin Iyan-Tama Multimedia rajista da gwamnati wato a Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), wadda ke da alhakin yi wa dukkan kamfanoni rajista a Nijeriya. Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta Kano ta ce wai Iyan-Tama bai sabunta rajistar sa ta shekara-shekara da ita ba. Wannan ma k'arya ce domin watanni kafin a kama shi, ya sayi fom d'in har an ba shi rasid'ai. To wanda ya yi wannan yunk'urin ai ya na kan hanyar yin rajistar ne kuma bai yi kama da wanda ke k'ok'arin karya dokar yin fim a Kano ba. Kuma ya na da amincewar gwamnatin tarayya.
Tuhuma ta farko ma ta fi ban-haushi. Ran ka ya dad'e, Iyan-Tama bai saki fim d'in ‘Tsintsiya’ a Kano ba. Hasali ma dai ya yi tallace-tallace da hirarraki a rediyo da jaridu kafin a k'addamar da fim d'in a Abuja, inda ya fito k'arara ya ce ba za a saki fim d'in a Jihar Kano ba.

A lokacin da Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta yanke shawarar "koya wa Iyan-Tama darasi," jami’an ta sun karya shagon saida finafinai na HRB da ke unguwar Tarauni a Kano, su ka samo faifan sidi na fim d'in, wanda wani d'an wasan fim ya b'oye cikin durowar teburi wanda ya ce a Kaduna ya sayo shi da nufin zai ba wa wata mai sha’awar finafinan sa. Ba wai an kasa sidi d'in don sayarwa ba. B'ullar sa a Kano bai da wata alak'a da Iyan-Tama. Idan ka karanta takardun kotu inda lauyoyi ke yi wa jami’an Hukumar Tace Finafinai su biyu tambayoyi a gaban alk'ali, za ka yarda d'ari bisa d'ari cewa ba a tabbatar da cewa Iyan-Tama ne ya kawo faifan sidi d'in wannan shagon ba.

A bayyane ya ke cewa shari’ar Iyan-Tama ramuwar gayya ce kurum. Wani b'angare ne na yunk'urin yak'i da wasu ’yan fim ko ta halin k'ak'a wanda Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta d'aura. A gajeren tunanin hukumar, ta hanyar yin haka ne za a iya share duk wani abu na sana’ar fim da harshen Hausa. Hukumar ta na amfani da bak'ar farfaganda, ta na ba da bayanan k'arya, tare da yin ragguwar fassarar Dokar Tace Finafinai ta 2001, sannan ta na amfani da sunan Musulunci ta hanyar da ba ta Musulunci ba wajen sauya alk'iblar hanyoyin nishad'i a Kano.

Mai Girma Gwamna, duk wannan ya sab'a wa furucin ka na tabbatar da adalci. Kuma hakan ya haifar da abubuwa marasa dad'i ga gwamnatin ka da kai kan ka, wad'anda zan fad'a maka su yanzu tare da duk girmamawa a gare ka.

Ya Girma Gwamna, yak'in da ake yi da sana’ar fim a Kano, ana yin sa ne da sunan Shari’ar Musulunci, to amma ko kad'an ba Musulunci ba ne. Wad'anda ke yin yak'in sun yi gangami ne su na furta kalaman Alk'ur’ani mai tsarki da Sunnar Manzo, to amma abubuwan da su ke aikatawa kai ka ce Hitla ne ya ce su aikata shi. Babu wani abu da su ka aikata kan ’yan fim da ya nuna cewa sun bi nasihohin Annabi Muhammadu (SAW). Kamar yadda na fad'a a sama, tsarin da su ke bi na halaka sana’ar fim ta na da illa matuk'a, ba wai kawai ga ’yan fim ba har ma ga gwamnatin Jihar Kano. Zan d'an bayyana wasu daga cikin illolin yanzu:

1. An jefa dubban matasa cikin rashin aikin yi bayan kuwa a da su ne su ke sama wa kan su hanyoyin abinci, wanda hakan ya shafe su tare da iyalan su. Ba a sama masu wasu hanyoyin na daban ba domin samun abinci. Mayak'an ka su kan ce, "Ina ruwan mu da su? Ai yawancin su ba ’yan Kano ba ne!" To amma hakan ya sab'a wa k'ok'arin gwamnatin ka na sama wa d'imbin matasan Kano da aikin yi.

2. Yak'in ya kawo koma-baya ga tattalin arzikin Kano wanda da ma ya na cikin garari. Da yake manyan kamfanonin Kano duk sun durk'ushe, kamata ya yi a gina harkar fim ta yadda za ta kasance mai dogaro da kan ta, kuma wadda ta dace da al’adun Kano da dokokin hukuma. Maimakon a yi hakan, sai aka koma ana kashe ta.

3. An haifar da fargaba da rashin sanin alk'iblar rayuwa a zukatan matasan, kuma da yawan su sun koma ’yan maula.

4. An haifar da k'in Shekarau a zukatan matasan. Hujja ita ce irin wak'ok'in b'atanci da ke ta bayyana daga situdiyoyin wak'ok'in finafinai a Kano, Zariya da Kaduna. Da fari, irin wad'annan wak'ok'in su na sukar Hukumar Tace Finafinai ne, to amma yanzu akalar su ta sauya har su na had'owa da gwamna da iyalin sa. Kai, wak'ar da ta fi yin fice a wannan fagen ma, an shirya ta ne a situdiyon da wani na hannun daman ka ya mallaka, to amma Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta kasa yin komai a kai saboda shi mai situdiyon ba ya tab'o a gare ta. Wannan tsanar da ake yi wa Shekarau ta na ta k'aruwa kuma za ta iya kasancewa bak'ar guguwa ga jam’iyyar ANPP a zab'en da za a yi a shekarar 2011 a Jihar Kano.

5. An fara yin shakku kan manufa da kuma alk'iblar yekuwar Shariar Musulunci, wadda miliyoyin jama’a su ka runguma. Duk shugaban da ke yin nasihar adalci da gyaran tarbiyya, bai kamata ya hana dubban matasa hanyoyin samun abincin su ba.

Ran ka ya dad'e, ina daga cikin masu goyon bayan shirin ka na gyaran zamantakewar jama’a ta yadda za su yi daidai da al’adu da tanadodin addinin da jama’ar mu ke bi. Shi ya sa na ke goyon bayan shirin gwamnatin ka na A Daidaita Sahu, wanda abokin mu Malam Bala Muhammad ke aiwatarwa cikin ban-sha’awa da kuma samun cikakkar nasara. To amma Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta na warware duk wata tufka da A Daidaita Sahu ta cimma nasarar yi. Gaba d'aya tsarin a baud'e ya ke, kuma ana aiwatar da shi a kan tafarkin mugunta da ramuwa da rashin jin k'ai. Ya kauce wa duk wani tsari na ya-kamata.

Mun yarda da cewa sana’ar finafinai ta shiga rud'u wanda ya kamata a gyara ta a cikin shekarun baya. Hakan ya k'ara bayyana ne bayan b'ullar majigin batsa na Hiyana. To amma akwai buk'atar a jawo shugabanni na sosai na industiri d'in don a samu nasara. Maimakon haka, sai Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta ture su gefe d'aya, ta jawo wasu ’yan koren ta, sannan ta na shirya tarurruka na yaudara da rainin wayo, har ma da shirya dina don magoya bayan ta su zo su ci abinci. Ba shakka, wannan tsarin na raba kan jama’a da farfaganda irin ta ’yan Nazi da hukumar ke yi ba abin da ya haifar sai bala’o’i, sannan an samu gazawa a wajen gyaran tarbiyyar industirin finafinan Hausa.

Har yanzu ana sayar da finafinai da fosta-fosta na batsa a Kano. Haka kuma, ’yan k'alilan d'in finafinan Hausa da magoya bayan Hukumar Tace Finafinan su ka shirya (tare da amincewar hukumar don a b'oye k'aryar cewa ba kashe sana’ar fim ake yi ba) ba su da wani bambanci da irin finafinan da hukumar ta ke ik'irarin cewa marasa inganci ne. Don Allah, finafinai masu inganci kuma "wad'anda sun dace da tarbiyya", guda nawa ne aka shirya a k'ark'ashin jagorancin Hukumar Tace Finafinan tun daga lokacin da majigin Hiyana ya fito?

Ran ka ya dad'e, za ka yarda da ni idan na ce maka ainihin dabarar shirin fim ba aba ce mai illa ba, don haka bai kamata a kashe ta ba. Za a iya shirya finafinai kan jigogin rayuwa iri-iri wad'anda su ka dace da al’adun mu. Kamata ya yi a yi wa ’yan fim jagora, ba wai a rik'a yi masu b'atanci ba ko kuma a yi masu korar kare daga gari.

Ran ka ya dad'e, Hamisu Iyan-Tama dai fursunan siyasa ne: ya yi adawa da kai lokacin zab'en 2007 ta hanyar fitowa takarar gwamna shi ma. Ai bai ma yi maka wata barazana ba. Kai aka k'ara zab'a. To amma saboda tsaurin idon da su ke ganin ya yi na yin takara da kai, jami’an ka su na hukunta shi. Sun ce wai shi mutum ne mai cika baki, mai surutu kuma wai ya na sukar gwamnatin ka. To mun ji, shin su d'in ba masu cika baki ba ne, su na yin abu sai ka ce sun fi kowa iko a duniya? Shin ba sa kallon duk wani wanda bai yarda da ra’ayin su ba a matsayin abokin gaba ko su kafirta shi, ko maras bin biyayya gare su, ko su ce ai ba d'an Kano ba ne ko kuma bai san ainihin abin da ake ciki ba? Shin wannan ba babbar d'agawa ba ce?

Kuma ma ko da a ce Iyan-Tama na da cika baki ko kuma abokin adawar ka ne na siyasa, shin hakan hujja ce ta hukunta shi da zaman gidan yari duk da yake bai karya doka ba? Shin ya yi maka illa a siyasance irin illar da masu surutan nan ke yi maka a gidan Rediyon Freedom? Shin a ina dimokirad'iyyar da ake ta magana ta ke? Shin ko Manzon Allah (SAW) ko wani daga cikin halifofin sa ko d'imbin tabi’an da su ka biyo bayan su za su bi irin wannan hanyar don hukunta abokin adawa?

Mai Girma Gwamna, ya kamata ka binciki wannan al’amari na Iyan-Tama, don Allah, musamman rawar da alk'alin da ya d'aure shi ya taka a shari’ar da sauran shari’un zalunci da ya yi wa masu sana’ar fim. Kuma don me za a ce kotu ta na yi wa wata hukumar gwamnati aiki? Don me alk'ali d'aya ne kad'ai zai rik'a yin duk wata shari’a da ta had'o da Hukumar Tace Finafinai bayan an ga sau da yawa ya nuna inda bakin sa ya karkata? Shin wannan mutum ne mai tsoron Allah ko kuwa d'an siyasa mai k'ullatar jama’a?

Ka yi amfani da k'arfin mulkin ka ka fitar da Iyan-Tama daga k'angin da aka saka shi a ciki ta hanyar janye k'arar da ku ke yi da shi a kotu. Na san ka na da zuciyar yin hakan domin ai ka tab'a yin irin haka a wasu al’amura da su ka had'o da kai, ciki kuwa har da wanda ya had'o da b'atancin da aka yi wa maid'akin ka. Kada ka bari wasu mutane ’yan d'oki wad'anda ka ba muk'amai su rik'a yak'ar abokan adawar ka ta hanyar zalunci domin kuwa Gobe K'iyama za ka amsa tambayoyin ka ne yayin da za su amsa nasu daban da naka.

’Yallab'ai, zan tsaya nan sai nan gaba za mu k'ara yin wannan magana da sauran maganganu a nan gaba. Ni ne mai biyayya a gare ka, kuma mai ba ka shawara tagari. Wassalam.

(Wannan fassara ce na sharhin Turanci da na yi kwanan baya. An wallafa wannan na Hausan a jaridar LEADERSHIP HAUSA ta ranar Juma'a da ta wuce)

DEATH THREAT FROM KANO CENSORS

Religion aside, We respect ur person. We see u as patriotic Nigerian who also has d intrst of d North in his heart, hence ds call to put a stop to d activities of ur editor Sheme. His personal attack d censorship board in Kano is attack on Islamic moral values which d Board is protecting and it is doing a good job of it. We don't want to believe u hv a hand in ds, hence ds call to put a stop to it. We don't know what will happen if u do not, but we do know tht d u're putting d Leadership nwsppr on line as well as ur othr invstmnts. We don't know wht indvdl members of d Coalition will do, but I do know tht we've been restraining thm with effort. And these youth are very restive. A stitch in time...

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MY COMMENT: My boss, Mr Sam Nda-Isaiah, the Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of Leadership newspaper, Abuja, which I edit, received this threat today. Later, I got a similar threat. Such threats were received by me since last Friday. One was also sent to Mr Nda-Isaiah before his present trip abroad. Apparently, someone is not happy with the paper's coverage of the activities of the Kano State Censorship Board, headed by Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim. Whoever it is thinks that the best way to stop or influence the coverage is to issue an anonymous death threat, waving the religion card. Honestly, I never realised that the coverage was having such a big impact on some fellow(s) as to attract such a commentary. I also do not believe that apart from keeping the issues of censorship in the news the coverage was unfair. For example, we always made efforts to get the two sides of the story at any time. Mal Rabo was interviewed, at my behest, by all the media in which I have interest. His actions and utterences were always reported very well. We may have disagreed with some aspects of his methods, but not the idea of sanitising society. So why all the fuss? A friend has asked me the question today: "Don't you think Rabo was the one behind the text message?" I do not know how to answer the question very well except to say: But who gives life? Allah. Who takes it? Allah.

AN SAKO IYAN-TAMA

Malamai,

Idan kun tuna, a ranar Litinin da ta wuce kotu ta sa aka kama furodusan nan Hamisu Iyan-Tama, a kan lafin wai ya k'i zuwa kotu a kan shari'ar da su ke tafkawa da Hukumar Tace Finafinai da Dab'i ta Jihar Kano. An sako shi a yau Laraba bayan lauyan sa ya rubuta takardar neman a ba da beli a karo na biyu. Wasu kuma sun ce manya ne su ka sa baki!

Shi dai Iyan-Tama, abin da mu ka ji na kusa da shi na fad'a shi ne, ko kadan bai k'i zuwa kotu ba. Hasali ma dai ya je kotun da ke Railway har karfe 12 ba su ga alkali ko lauyan gwamnati ba; sai ya wuce kotun Normansland, a can ne ya samu labarin cewa alkalin ya na kotun hanyar Airport. Sai ya tafi can. To amma kafin ya je, ashe har an kira k'arar sa, ba ya nan, sai kawai aka ba da odar a kamo shi a kan laifin wai ya karya belin da aka ba shi tun da farko.

Yanzu dai ya na nan a gidan sa. Za a koma shari'ar a ranar 20 ga Agusta.

Allah Ya kai mu, amin.

Censorship in Kano

Some Preliminary Thoughts





I have restrained myself from commenting on the new regime of censorship in Kano (the latest I mean, which affects writers) because I had wanted to study the trend of opinion among the writers themselves. Being an author, my first reaction was one of anger, anger against those that work to emasculate intellectualism in Hausa land.

Kano is too important to ignore when it comes to intellectualism and creativity. It is the hub of intellectualism in Hausa land - an enviable position it seized from my native Katsina State. It is as the saying goes - when Kano sneezes, other Hausa cities catch cold immediately. Little surprise, then, that when movie making was banned for six months last year, the ripples were felt all over Northern Nigeria.

I have found myself caught between the extremes of the two stages of censorship unfurled by the Kano State Censorship Board. As a filmmaker myself, and publisher of the leading Hausa movie magazine, I was directly affected by the ban on moviemaking and the subsequent measures that were announced with the clear (though hidden) motive of emasculating the young, albeit vibrant film industry. Many of my close friends were affected; they were thrown out of work. I knew that most of them depended on the movie market to fend for themselves and even feed their kith and kin. They thus added to the army of the unemployed in Kano State. The government of Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (pictured above) has done little to reduce poverty through job-creation for the youths. I was told it employed many driving the A Daidaita Sahu motor-scooters and others in serving the quasi-police agency Hisba. But by banning filmmaking, it created a big market of unemployed youths, this time with young girls as half of the number of victims.

The level of discontent among the populace is unquantifiable.

Now that the censors are preparing to punish unregistered authors, I am caught in the centre again. Being a Hausa author myself (NB: I won the biggest Hausa writers' award with my novel "'Yartsana'), I felt doubly certain that part of the new legislation was directed at me! Of course, I am not the sole target. Everyone else is a target. In fact, I could even be considered a distant target, having not depend on book writing for a living. But the truth is that any writer worth his salt on the globe is a victim of the attack on creativity by a regime anywhere on earth.

The censors have no moral standing to prescribe a moral yardstick for authors because if they were to be judged using the same yardstick, many of them would be sent to jail first. The kind of stories one gets to hear about government officials in Kano, many of them verifiable, you would be at your wit's end trying to decipher the purpose of the current onslaught. Here are people who have failed to provide basic amenities for the common people, but they are using religion to attack others.

Can't those victimised use religion to fight back? This question is important in settling scores in the matter. No government official should consider himself holier than the next person just because he has money to employ hungry malams as radio propagandists. For, religious sentiments were used copiously to overcome filmmakers. The same sentiments have begun to be used by Malam Abubakar Rabo, the Director-General of the Censorship Board, against the authors. In the coming weeks and months, be sure to hear him on radio and TV using moral dogma to belittle and tar the authors.

The Hausa writers should not fear to fight this war. They should assemble their own Qur'anic surahs and the Prophetic hadiths against the unjust rulers and pretenders in order to defend themselves. They should visit radio and TV stations to speak out. They may be gagged there because government happens to be the biggest advertiser, but then they should use the independent media all over the world to expose the hypocrisy embedded in the ongoing war against intellectualism. Their war should be waged against the avalanche of intolerance and insensitivity which seems to be increasingly cultivated by some minority elements within the Kano State government.

They may not be rich enough in material resources to fight, but their ideas and their tenacity of purpose will be of great benefit to them. They are going to be supported by all persons of conscience. They should watch out against fifth columnists among themselves who shall be easily bought with cheap porridge by the censors.

Above all, they should be consoled by the knowledge that power is transient. Shekarau and all those book burners will not be in power forever. By 2011 there shall be a general election and Shekarau will not only go away but also fade away like an old tale. Even if he manages to plant a lackey/stooge as the next state governor, he would not have the guarantee that his interests would be safeguarded perpetually. It happened in Zamfara and many other states of the federation. And even if his stooge remains loyal to him, that stooge would one day leave. Remember that Dr Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, whom he defeated in 2003, was the most powerful governor Kano ever had, but where is he now? Is he not in the Siberia of political power even though he had been rewarded with a ministerial post by Obasanjo?

How I wish I could join this war. But I will not. I have only expressed my mind - for the records. My weapons shall remain in their armoury because I have friends in the Kano government. My heart will, however, remain with my friends the authors and the filmmakers. If the war degenerates, I shall fight. But on a different pitch from where both the dog the monkey shall be bloodied.

I have spoken. Ma'assalam.

Kano Writers Vow To Fight Censorship

* Begin a 3-week ‘warning strike’


From Mansur Sani Malam, Kano

Due to apprehension about the intentions of the Kano State Censorship Board in its decision to censor individual authors and literary works, creative writers in the state have embarked on a three-week warning strike with effect from yesterday, in which they have suspended all production of literary works and decided to use their pens to protect their liberty and freedom of expression.

This was disclosed in a communique signed by the leaders of the Coalition of Authors' Associations in the state shortly after an emergency meeting held yesterday in Kano.

This followed an extensive discussion and review of the state of arts and literature in Kano in the context of the crisis between the authors and the censorship board.

The board recently unveiled plans to begin the registration of all authors and the vetting of literary works.

Those who signed the statement yesterday were the chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kano chapter, Malam Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino; chairman of Hausa Authors Forum (HAF), Malam Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (a.k.a. Ala), and chairman of Brigade Authors Forum (BAF), Malam Abdullahi Muktar Yaron Malam.

Others are chairperson of the main women writers' group, Kallabi Writers Association, Hajiya Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, and chairman of Hausa Writers Association of Nigeria (HAWAN), Malam Ibrahim Ahmed Daurawa.

As a way of confronting the challenges that seem to lie ahead of them, the various writers groups have also resolved to work under the umbrella of the state chapter of ANA. All engagements, commitments and correspondence of the associations, which had hitherto promoted divergent views, are now to be handled by ANA, said the communique.

This was done apparently because ANA has a national spread and an international network.

A source within ANA Kano told LEADRSHIP yesterday that the authors are considering legal action against the censorship board.

The writers enjoined the Kano State Government to call the Director-General of the censorship board to order, saying his actions would have damaging consequences on the good image of the state and its leadership, as well as undermine the literary prowess enjoyed by the state.

The censorship board had early this month ordered the authors to register with it from August 1 or expect sanctions.

The warning was issued to the writers by the Director-General of the board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, during and after a meeting he had with the writers at his office.

At the time, he explained that his board could have begun the registration exercise immediately, but relented by giving a month's deadline.

"We see it as very merciful, we see it very lenient of us to at least relent any enforcement effort until the next one month given to them, in addition to the first six months that have already lapsed that they did not formalize, which now we are expecting them to do so in the next one month", he had declared.

The director-general also revealed that the essence of the registration was to check the influx of obscene materials into the state.

"We have designed this in near future and we see it very viable. We see it very good of us if we establish what we call pro-activeness, so that the stakeholders in the literary works can be enlightened and be guided in order for them to be perfect and to make necessary corrections in form of preventive measures," he added.

Rabo revealed that the board had received complaints from the general public, and that some people were using the mass media against some aspects of the creative works, especially the Hausa romance books or novellas in circulation, adding the board intends to help guide the authors through their potentialities of using their creativity for the benefit of society.

Contrary to what he told the authors at the stakeholders' meeting, he explained that the registration exercise would not be on an individual basis, but through writers' associations, emphasising that there is no any process of registration that can be undertaken individually unless if an individual author is operating outside any professional association.

He requested the respective associations to forward members of their associations for the board's processing and registration.

He pointed out that the registration processes would be carried out because the law mandated the board to do so, adding that registration of authors is normal everywhere in the world.

"The National Film and Video Censors does register its stakeholders, so also guilds," he said.

Malam Rabo said whoever does not accept what the board is doing should challenge it in court.

He said: "We are determined to enforce the law because we are law agents. We are established by the law and we must abide by the law because it is the primary yardstick, the primary tool binding the board and the stakeholders together. Anything contrary to the law is not condonable and it is very unbecoming of a law or agency like us to outrage or to operate or to breach the law."

The censors board had waged a long-drawn battle against filmmakers in the state after the sudden appearance of the Hiyana sex clip last year, banning the movie industry for six months and sending leading artistes and producers to jail.

Its current decision to register authors has opened a new theatre of war against the creative arts in the state, a decision the authors seem to be committed to fight in any way they can.

--

Published in LEADERSHIP on Monday, July 28, 2008

Brief report on the state of film industry in Kano State, Nigeria

Monday 18 February 2008

By
DR. AHMAD M. SARARI
National Vice President
Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN),
Kano, Nigeria


Preamble

Motion picture industry in Northern Nigeria popularly known as Kannywood was founded in 1990 when the first Hausa home video titled "Turmin Danya" was produced. The industry was brought into being and nurtured to the present level by the practitioners themselves. Today, the industry employs the services of more than fifty thousand people and supplies 35% of Nollywood movies. It generates over N20 million to the Federal Government annually through National Film and Video Censorship Board (NFVCB). In Nigeria it’s been argued that our film industry alone generates over N30 billion worth of economic activities. This implies that Hausa Film industry generates about N9 billion (about 35% of 30 billion) worth of economic activities.

The following are the existing guilds and associations recognized by Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) in every state:

1. MOPPAN State chapter

2. Film makers Association

3. Film Producers Association

4. Guild of Directors

5. Guild of Artistes

6. Guild of Cinematographers

7. Guild of Script writers

8. Guild of Editors

9. Guild of Production designers

10. Distributors/Marketers Association

11. Association of Film Exhibitors

12. Association of Musicians and Lyricists


Aims and objectives

a) To promote and encourage the interest and advancement of its members in all manners affecting them, as professional Motion Picture Practitioners’.

b) To promote and encourage any activity whereby members will be held qualified in their particular field within the Motion Picture industry in Nigeria.

c) To regulate the relationship between its members and the public based on professional ethics and the Associations code of conduct as may be regulated and modified from time to time.

d) To facilitate professional growth in the art, practice and techniques of the Motion Picture industry by holding seminars, conferences, workshops and film festivals, at national and international levels.

e) To collate and tabulate statistics and publish information useful to its members, and to issue suitable literature and publications, including an official journal to assist in attaining the objectives of the Association.

f) To advance by any legal means deemed fit the standard of technical work in the Motion Picture industry, thereby improving the knowledge, skills and experience of the Associations members generally or individually.

g) To, on behalf of it’s members, liaise with the Nigerian film cooperation for the purpose of patronizing and putting in to effect, usage the technical infrastructure already available in Nigeria i.e. colour film processing laboratory, sound dubbing studio, production and editing facilities and also negotiate rates and credits for the usage of those technical infrastructure in favour of its members in order to boost Motion Picture production In Nigeria.

h) To acknowledge and also reward professional merits and achievements made by Motion Picture Practitioners in Nigeria who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields, and related creative arts.

i) To work towards the promotion of, distribution, exhibition and utilization of Motion Picture throughout Nigeria, African continent and the world at large.

j) To offer its services in resolving any differences that may arise between its members and to defend their various interest as part of the promotion of Motion Picture production.

k) To promote the welfare of the members of the Association in such a manner, as shall be deemed conductive and expedient, but subject to the overall interest of the general public.

l) To cooperate and associate with, or be a member of or to affiliate the Association to any organization nationally or internationally having similar objectives, or whose interest in anyway connected with the aims and objectives of the Association.

m) To undertake all other things as may be considered incidental to or conductive to the attainment of all or any of the objectives of the Association.


Report on cell-phone pornographic clip involving a popular Hausa film actress

Background

Six months ago, there had been several media reports both locally and internationally regarding the above subject matter. Therefore, it had become extremely necessary for MOTION PICTURE PRACTIONERS ASSOCIASTION OF NIGERIA (MOPPAN) to provide a clarification on the subject matter. Following the massive dissemination of this immoral content which was started by some disgruntled elements within the Hausa film industry, MOPPAN instituted investigation to find out the truth of the matter. The Association was interested in the followings:

1 Whether the said incident really occurred.

2 Who are the people involved and their level of involvement?

3 To establish the extent of the spread of the issue within and outside the industry.

Some of the executive members of the Association were assigned to investigate these issues and report to the Association.

Findings

After careful investigation the Association was able to establish the following facts;

1 The said incident really occurred some time in early 2006 in Lagos involving a (Yet to be) Hausa film star.

2 The artist involved, Maryam Usman was actually in Lagos on a private trip to Lagos, to meet a male friend, who turned out to be the one who used his cell-phone to record their private sexual activity.

3 That though this incident occurred some 21 months earlier, it did not become a public content until late July 2007 when Maryam Usman acted and become a notable star in a film titled ‘Hiyana’ a year ago, through one of the artist’s female friends within the industry, substantially out of envy.

The Issues

The Association established that this content was massively distributed on cell-phones, CDS, Video cassette, Internet, and Computer flash disk throughout Kano state and possibly beyond. The extent of the spread of this content generated serious controversy within the Kano community especially taken cognizance of the state’s Shari`a policy and the apparent popularity of the film star involved. Prior to this, a Lagos based magazine early this year had published this information. This resulted in the misconception that;

A A pornographic film was made.

B Filmmaking is immoral

C All artistes engage in immoral acts and as such are negative role models on the society.

D Appeals for Government to ban filmmaking.

E Calls for the head of Maryam and others suspected of engaging in acts of immorality.

F Active media discourse on the issues above especially in Kano.

Decision / Resolution

As a result of these developments, especially the way and manner some members of the general public started expressing their concern and disapproval over the clip, stake holders from the film industry convened an emergency meeting of all the Guilds and Associations under MOPPAN. The meeting took stock on activities within the industry and the following decisions were taken in the interest of filmmaking as a reputable profession.

1 The Actress involved, Maryam Usman, was suspended for a period of five years for causing disrepute to the profession.

2 17 other members identified by an investigative panel with different unethical conducts (Not related with Sex) capable of bringing the film profession to disrepute were also suspended for different periods of time.

3 The Kano State Government, through the Kano Censorship Board endorsed the ban on the affected practitioners and call on all production companies/studios to register or revalidate their registration status with the Board immediately.

4 The National office of MOPPAN here endorsed the resolutions of the Kano Censorship Board in tandem with other Guilds and Associations in the state.

5 The National office also resolved that film production practice be suspended for a period of three months during which codes of practice for different guilds shall be distributed and explained to members.

6 MOPPAN will also update its membership register during this period.

Above is for your information, support and assistance please. Be assured of our total commitment to the development of filmmaking in Nigeria and beyond while we remain truly yours.

Banning of all location activities and imposing of new guidelines

The state censorship board broadcasted and distributed a press release in which film activities were further banned for the period of six months and new guidelines for the film practitioners were as circulated without our consent. The Board also urged all the film makers in the state to go and register with them which is the sole responsibility of the guilds and associations. We as well challenged the banning and thought for clarification of the new guidelines which the Board depended in line with the Shari’a system. We lay our complains to the bodies concerned but all in vain. Below is the translated version of the guidelines under which we must practice when the ban is lifted

Guidelines for film censorship in Kano State films must comply with the following guidelines to conform to Islamic Shari’a

1 Singing and Dancing is prohibited.

2 Actresses are prohibited from appearing in trousers, skirts or short tops.

3 Dressing in see-through or tight costumes that expose body features is prohibited.

4 Male Actors are prohibited from appearing in tight fitted clothes that expose their features or haircuts that do not fit with our culture.

5 Actresses are prohibited from combing or exposing their hair.

6 Indecent utterances and seductive actions or immoral dialogue are prohibited.

7 Ridiculing of any religion, tribe or a section of the community is prohibited.

8 It is prohibited to use children in films that are prohibited.

9 Re-inserting expunged scenes from an already censored film, and taking such film into the market is a major crime.

10 Fetish activities and the wrong use of weapons are prohibited.

11 Producers are prohibited from releasing posters and trailers without the permission of the board.

12 Films must have a clear meaning (message) with appropriate names.

13 No films can be produced in Kano, or brought in for sales or exhibition without the permission of the board.

14 All Actors or Actresses and other filmmakers are prohibited from doing film business without obtaining license from the board.

15 Sleeping overnight at film locations with males and females are prohibited.

16 No films shall be made without censorship of its script.

There is a mobile court attached to the board to arrest, harass, detain and prosecute members of the motion picture practitioners’ association of Nigeria including all its 12 affiliate guilds and associations in kano. The Board is also making a serious media campaign misleading the public by making inflammatory utterances portraying filmmakers as anti-Islamic dissident and declaring that hausa filmmakers are pornographic filmmakers. The association organized end of year stakeholders’ forum the communiqué of which is below:

Communique

The Kano Film Industry Stakeholders Forum was held on Sunday 30th December 2007 at Mambayya House. Major stakeholders were invited to the meeting. They include all the professional guilds and associations operating in the industry, MOPPAN, national head quarters, the State Censorship Board, The Nigerian Film Corporation, National Film and Video Censors board, the Nigerian police, Office of the Advisor on NGOs, State Ministry of Justice, the State Ministry of Information, Nigerian Copyright Commission, National and international media organizations and some Local and international Human rights organizations. The objective of the meeting is to review the issues and events which affected the industry over the last twelve months with a view to moving the industry forward.

Four papers were presented at the forum covering several areas of great significance to the operations of the industry. Based on the presentations, and after careful deliberations on the issues rose, the meeting took the following resolutions:

1 the Forum agrees to continue respecting and abiding by all the laws and regulations (both state and national) relating to the operations of the industry and encourage practitioners to demonstrate their commitment to this pledge.

2 that there is the need to Islamize film making such that its content conforms with the Islamic heritage and need to our good cultural values

3 that film can be an effective medium for shari’ah advocacy programs,

4 that there is a need to hold an interactive forum between shari’ah bodies and the Industry stakeholders with a view to allowing the practitioners benefit from the abundant resources available in such organizations

5 that relevant governmental organizations should be more concern with educating the public concerning the type of film content they should watch.

6 that the industry was not accorded it’s right status due to the Government failure to hold audience with them as was the case with other organizations of lesser importance to the state economy and social development,

7 that never was a pornographic film produced in this Film Industry,

8 that the forum demand the state government to explain to the stakeholders reason behind the suspension of film activities for a period of six months in the state,

9 that the forum decried the state censorship board’s deceptive attitude, prior to this day the Executive Secretary pledged to stop his insinuating media campaigns against the industry but only to dishonor his pledge. This is quite embarrassing to the government he represents.

10 That the suspension order resulted to about 8.5bn Naira loss in the industry. If Government could pay compensation to the bird flue victim which is a natural disaster, we equally demand compensation from the state government to the industry as to alleviate the suffering caused by Government’s suspension order.

11 The forum also calls for government’s consideration to include stakeholders in any policy formulation in all issues of concern. The previous action where Government constitutes a task force committee on the film industry without our representation was bitterly decried.

12 The forum also notes the need for the state government to come up with means of empowering the industry in conformity with SEEDS policy.

13 That the forum demands that Government should stop the draconian tribunal; instead a disciplinary committee by the professional bodies should be formed, lest we forget that this is a democratic dispensation.

14 The forum calls the state censorship Board to reconsider their position of censoring films already produced prior to the new regulation.

Conclusion

We would like the world to know that our fundamental human right is seriously tempered with as our members (especially marketers and producers) are being arrested, harassed, detained and prosecuted. Most of the practicing artistes, producers, directors etc have fled Kano to other states to exercise their right of earning a living. The local media is restricted from broadcasting or writing our own version of the case. In fact, our lives are in danger as any attempt by us to challenge the Government is termed un-Islamic which exposes us to stigma and even attack from the public.

Thank you very much.