‘Why Nigerian artistes prefer to shoot music videos abroad’

A rap artiste, Efa Iware, says artistes prefer shooting musical videos abroad because it is cost effective and cheaper.

Iware told NAN that in Nigeria, people tend to be unprofessional in doing their jobs “which is not the case abroad”.

He said: “There are some sophisticated equipment and modern technologies required for good productions that we do not have in the country and in terms of logistics, it is very terrible here.

“If you schedule a video shoot for 8a.m., it may not start till 3p.m. or later because of hold up and other problems.

“If structures and amenities are in place in this country and we have less hold ups, maybe artistes will not go out to do their videos.”

Iware said if the artistes were being empowered and if they could get their money’s worth from the works they released, they might be forced to do their shootings in the country.

“They may be able to produce more quality videos because they have the money to go for that,” he said.

“If we have videos that are poorly produced and it is showcased, people will not go for them.

“We need to scale up our production to be as good as those produced abroad.”

The musician noted that lack of good equipment in the country was one of the challenges facing production of good videos.

“These equipment cost a lot. It is few individuals that own them and they loan it out for just a day or hours because they will need to give it to others too,” he said.

He said the country needs to put the right policy in place and give artistes rebates on the importation of musical equipment.

Iware, who studied Geography at the University of Ibadan, is a rapper and actor, who was a member of the group known as X-Factor in 2011.