If what the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, is anything to go by, then FG planning to unveil Nigeria’s own Netflix for Nigeria’s film industry commonly known as Nollywood.
Speaking at the Free Zone Enterprise in Calabar, Cross River State during the inauguration of an Ultra-Modern Surface Mount Technology plant, the Minister said the Federal Government would soon unveil a N100billion per annum free television distribution network for Nollywood.
“Today if you want to buy a Nollywood film, you either go to the Alaba market or you go and buy from the authorised shops, but with this network, it is now possible for millions of Nigerians to buy on demand. We call it video on demand. Which means you can buy online. Imagine if 20 million people order a film in day, it would grow the economy of Nollywood”
the Minister is quoted as saying. He said the service was intended to grow the economy of the movie industry in the country.
If it becomes a reality, the network would be very similar to that of Netflix, which has become the he world’s 10th-largest internet company by revenue, according to Wikipedia. With the arrangement, Nigerians will simply have to create an account, subscribe to a plan or just buy movies they can stream online for a fee. Given the pervasiveness of piracy however, it remains to be seen how much of a success this plan would be.
