Nollywood
N3Billion Nollywood Fund: Actor Emeka Ossai Reveals Why Filmmakers Are Not Qualified
Dec 28, 2014 – N3Billion Nollywood Grant: Actor Emeka Ossai Reveals Why Nigerian Film Producers Are Not Qualified
Emeka Ossai, a Nollywood Actor, has urged his colleagues to structure their businesses properly to enable them access the Federal Government’s grant meant to boost the entertainment sector.
Ossai is a renowned Nollywood actor known for his role as a doctor in the TV drama series, “Clinic Matters’’.
Ossai, who successfully fulfilled the requirements for the grant, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that the process was very complex and competitive.
He said that it took him and others who received the first batch of the grant almost a year to satisfy the requirements.
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“It was very thorough, it was highly competitive, we even had to go for a crash session at the Lagos Business School in order to understand how to process it.
“But basically what they were looking for is evidence to show that you are a practitioner, a responsible practitioner, both to the industry and to the government.
“You run your business well; your records are very well kept; there’s evidence that you are doing business and doing it rightly.
“And there’s an assurance that when you are given this money, you will utilise it well to do business and create employment and also satisfy other purposes for which government set up the grant.
“I will tell them to do business rightly and properly. Some of us that scaled through were lucky because from the beginning, we have been doing our business well.
“We did not begin to reorganise ourselves just because there was a grant to collect and we had some conditionalities to fulfill but rather, we had been doing our business properly.
“So when it was time for us to key in, it was rather easy, even though we still had to go for some lectures to understand some technical questions that were being asked by the panel.
”But I would say it’s a highly competitive one and anyone who scales through is a true business person.’’
NAN reports that the Federal Government had instituted the Project Act Nollywood, a N3 billion grant programme to encourage the Nigerian film industry.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, recently revealed that N215 million had been disbursed to 26 beneficiaries for film projects. [NAN]
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Kunle Ilahor
December 28, 2014 at 6:47 AM
You people are full of deceit, @ ossai what movie did you release this year and who did u employ
U got the money because u have long legs. Please shut the trap
Are u saying u’re smarter than other veterans who deserved the money? Onye oshi
Conscience 1
December 28, 2014 at 9:12 AM
We all say the government is corrupt and what not….Government is by the people for the people.So we D people are also part of D government .The disbursement of these funds(#3billion)should be made transparent.By this I mean there should be a register made available for easy access to people for them to know who &who has benefited from the funds,also the criteria used to qualify eligible beneficiaries should be published.Hence to know who has benefited from the funds,lastly the account where the money is lodged should be audited by an independent audit firm and the outcome of the audit should be published yearly.Lets not forget this money belongs to Nigerians .It was given to the organisation by the Nigerian government,so we all have the right to know how this money will be spent .