Sometime ago, the Nigerian government announced plans to establish a N3 billion world-class film village in Kano state but it never saw the light of day.
The film village, which was to be built on 20 hectare land, was intended to have a cinematography centre, 400-capacity auditorium for training, hostel, sound stage, eatery block, three-star hotel, shopping mall, stadium, clinic and equipment for filmmaking among others.
The plan was shelved by the federal government largely as a result of opposition from Muslim clerics who complained that it would promote immorality in the state.
Even though the project was part of the government’s efforts to improve the Hausa language film industry known as Kanywood, Muslim clerics saw it as an avenue to feed vices.
Some Nigerians described the project as a misplaced priority, saying what the state needed from the government was the revival of its dams for agricultural development.
Now that the dust has settled on the matter and the project appears to be a foregone conclusion, here are three things Kano may ultimately miss out on.
TALENT DRAIN
By turning down the offer of a film village, Kano state is embracing talent drain.
With the absence of top-notch equipment for filmmaking and opportunities for actors and actresses, there is every possibility that movie makers would migrate to other states for opportunities to develop their craft.
A direct effect of this is some level of depletion of the state’s best talent.
VIBRANT FILM INDUSTRY
Perhaps, Kano would have been able to boast of a vibrant film industry if the project ever did come to fruition.
Kannywood, with the advent of the film village, would have had the opportunity to compete with other sub-industries (Yoruba and English) and contribute to Nollywood on a whole.
Following the development, members of the Hausa film industry who were initially psyched about the project, became disappointed about the cancellation.
Othman Omar, an international analyst, had noted that Saudi Arabia has “30 film companies and operates cinema houses”, hence, calling off the project over religious concerns was not good enough.
EMPLOYMENT/ECONOMY
Another major ripple effect of building such a massive film village would have been a spike in employment.
The Kano film village would have definitely attracted entrepreneurs, companies, vendors among others and this would have created job opportunities.
Kano state would have been able to generate another source of internal revenue which would have helped boost the state’s purse.
The establishment of the film village would have also contributed to tourism in Kano state.
But now, that’s all water under the bridge.
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You should know that in Kano, we respect our religion and GOD more than any other thing. The film industry was not rejected by the people of Kano but by our religion. So we have no option beyond our religioud provisions. The expected outcomes of the industry will be nothing rather than promotion of social and societal vices, rapes, adultery and fornication, among others. You should know Kano needs so many things that will provide the so called employment and generate revenue to the government, while keeping our religious and cultural provisions “safe” such as Creating skills acquisition/Entrprenueral centres, programmes that wil enhance agriculture and boost our industrial productions both at mega and small scales. We not Lost Anything for Rejecting a firm will do nothing to us rather than harm