Psquare, Lai Mohammed and The Rule of Law

Peter Psquare

Pix Source: Instagram Page

Two weeks ago we were greeted with news on the noble directives of the honourable minister for information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that all Nigerian musical videos should not be shot outside the shores of the country. In a swift reaction, Peter Okoye of the P-Square fame made a mockery of the directive and not so few Nigerians went for his jugular and requested that he be arrested.

While the directive of the minister may had been made in good faith, Peter’s response was also not borne out of disrespect for constituted authorities but as a result of failing and falling institutions. Before a government should indicate interest in regulating an industry, it should put in place structures that should promote, encourage and stimulate positive growth and development in that industry. This way, it will be a win-win situation for all stakeholders and boost government revenue.

I expect the minister to do a research on why artistes prefer going abroad to shoot videos than staying back at home. Then look for ways to encourage local production and engage all parties in a brain storming session to come up with modalities for improvement and encouragement of local production which will stem the outflow of forex from the country. Since we all love local production of all our local consumption, we should tow the path of local facility development.

We all have been campaigning for “Made In Nigeria” consumption yet those who should be at the helm of this noble campaign are the lead defaulters. Some time ago, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari directed all public officers not to seek medical attention abroad and we all applauded him believing this will make our health sector more viable, become more effective and better equipped. You know the rest of the story as regards his own personal experience. I am still planning on raising funds to go pay him a visit as some governors in my country have dutifully done while leaving their duties in the hands of the Almighty and their state workers at the mercy of The Most High.

You cannot be more catholic than the pope, neither should anyone believe or have more faith in the country and its institutions than the president himself. When a sitting president does not trust the health institutions which he has been entrusted with to build and improve upon, I expect he should know what his true score card should look like. Even a former governor of south-south state who “uncommonly” spent billions of naira on a world class medical facility could not even trust his health in the hands of his own achievement. This is not a case for artistes but a case for collective efforts aimed at building, strengthening and improving our institutions and infrastructures.

The ban on foreign music video production should have been spread across board to include a ban “foreign tutored” public officials, “foreign treated” president and all foreign produced human resources as well as material resources.

In the spirit of the directives of the government of the day, I have started patronising only local brands and from local stores like Jumia and konga to mention but a few and I will encourage you to do same with me. Let us all plug all leakages in the economy and build a greater Nigeria with all laws being for all men as none is greater than any other.

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