Popular Fuji singer, Adewale Ayuba has stated that the current neglect of the entertainment should be put at the doorstep of the government.
Speaking in a chat with Punch, he said: “The lack of investment in the entertainment industry by the government is the cause of the unimaginable loss experienced daily in the sector. A child that is not nurtured cannot grow. Positive growth is not measured by the number of years of existence but the results that can be seen.
“The entertainment industry in Nigeria has so many sectors– ranging from music, which in itself has a lot of subsectors differentiated by the genres; movies, and comedy– that are big enough to contribute over 20 per cent of the nation’s internally generated revenue if there were good policies and the willingness to implement them properly.
“However, like many other sectors of the economy, the decadence being experienced in the entertainment industry can be linked to neglect and the placing of round pegs in square holes, such that a medical doctor could be appointed to oversee the education or tourism sectors.”
Speaking further, the self-proclaimed ‘Mr Johnson’ stated that the withdrawal of record label companies from the nation due to poor enabling environment and policies, as other contributing factors for the poor state of the industry. He added, “If entertainers are protected from piracy, this industry is big enough to partially solve the employment crisis in the country.”
The musician also called on government and well-meaning Nigerians to join forces to bring the entertainment industry back to the good and enviable state it should be.