Jonathan: Why I’m Passionate About the Entertainment Industry

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has explained the reason for his unusual interest in Nigeria’s
entertainment industry.

The president, who gave the hint during an interactive season with the Showbiz stakeholders on Sunday night in Lagos, explained that lately he has noticed that the entertainment industry, like sports, is not just a unifying factor for the nation but is fill with great potentials which if invested more in is capable of boosting the Nigeria’s tourism sector.

“I have seen the entertainment industry just like sports, as a unifying factor for the nation, not just at the national level because but even at the international level. So at the national level it brings unity and togetherness.
Secondly, entertainment industry is key in terms of tourism and we have not yet explored the great potentials we have in tourism in Nigeria.

He said: “I am seeing a great potential in the Nigeria’s movie industry. I have noticed that if we encourage the entertainment industry, that is the Noollywood family, we would really be pushing this country forward because before this time, the Nollywood and the entertainment industry in general was not producing much but now even in terms of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), presently it is contributing over 1.4 per cent growth to the nation’s GDP. So it is a sector that I am so passionate about and want to encourage because it will create a lot of jobs for young people as well as adults who are in business. I think we should make the industry bigger as we progress.”

Jonathan also hinted that it was most likely that the entertainment sector be moved from the ministry of information, which it is presently to that of culture and tourism ministry.

“Definitely, is possible we move the entertainment industry from the ministry of information to the ministry of culture and tourism, he noted.

“Before now, these departments of government were under one management but at a point they were separated. But if that is where this sector will function well, then we may have to move it there in the next dispensation.”

Jonathan, who also promised to fund the entertainment industry better that it has done before now, noted that the N3b that was approved initially for the sector was just an experimental process.

“We know that they’re quite a lot of potential in the industry. The first N3billion that was released was experimental and now that we have seen that it is quite successful, we surely will do better. If we must make the industry bigger, and of course we have seen the potential in it, we are talking about contributing about 1.5 per cent to the nation’s GDP when it was initially at Zero”, Jonathan said.