Nigerian filmmaker, actor, and CEO of Uzee Concept, Uzee Usman, has called on the government to help kick piracy away in the movie Industry, particularly in Kannywood.
He made this known during an interview with newsmen at the movie shoot of White Blood (Farina Mini) in Abuja recently.
He said though no doubt that the Nigerian film industry is growing fast, what requires greater attention is the problem of piracy, which has become a menace that has eaten deep into the industry and may grind it to a halt.
He pointed out that although Nigeria has laws against piracy, it remains a thriving business partly due to poor implementation of copyright laws, a near-lack of prosecution of offenders, and corruption in governance agencies.
He added that it’s still becoming a huge problem in the northern part of Nigeria which has made many producers in Kannywood retrogress on profit.
He said, “I produce years back in Kannywood, but now I’m more of an actor because of piracy. Investing your money to topical northern story may result to a huge problem because 50per cent of pirates are base in Kano and Niger.
“The northerners want to watch the topical northern content, but I found out that all northern parts including Niger and across other countries are all pirates. You invest huge amount of money to produce content for the northern viewers but the pirates eat more from it.
“So I call on the Nigeria authorities to help nip it in the bud. It’s becoming embarrassing that we can’t end privacy even in this digital era,” he stated.
Uzee has produced and acted in countless movies and has bagged numerous local and indegenous award.
