Zebrudaya: Our TV series suffering because of Telemundo and Zee World

Veteran actor Chika Okpala, better known as Zebrudaya, says the lack of sponsorship has hindered production of most television series in the country.

He said foreign television networks like Telemundo and Zee World are drawing the interest of Nigerians at a high rate.

Okpala said old soap series like ‘Masquerade’, ‘Cockcrow at Dawn’, ‘The Village Headmaster’ and others were left to dwindle because sponsors withdrew.

He said: “The dwindling economy is the major problem of production in the country and lack of sponsorship has contributed to the dearth of programmes on Television stations in the country.

“Foreign soaps like Mexican soaps, Telemundo, the Z-world and the rest of them have flood[ed] our TV screens now and ours are suffering.

“Those popular programmes the Masquerade, Cockcrow at Dawn, The Village headmaster and others were left to sleep away.”

The veteran actor expressed optimism that if those programmes were still being aired; actors, actresses, producers, directors and the rest of the Nollywood would be employed and people would be entertained also.

“The private sector complained about the economy and without the economy being vibrant you cannot push the programmes forward.

“People cannot do productions without it yielding something substantial to take care of their families.

“If you engage an artiste and he performs for free today, tomorrow he may not because he has to pay his bills. He has to pay his rent and take care of other things.”