By Ashimole Felix
 Published June
29th, 2008
One of the
greatest sources of influence is the television. This is
because the family has failed. We now have overambitious career mothers, who have no time to train
their children. The house girl and DSTV take over. Many
children know the names of all the cast in Barney,
CartonNetwork and Disney but cannot identify their
Uncles, or recite States and Capitals. Asking them to
say the Lord's prayer, recite the 66 books of the bible
or the heroic deeds of the Prophet in Medina , the
Nigerian national anthem, is a death sentence.
Of the DSTV channels, none is watched
more voraciously by Africans than African Magic. This
channel cater for African films. It was created solely
for African films because most African movies cannot
compete with movies shown on Hallmark, Movie Magic and
other movie channels. Another reason is because the
capitalist owner of DSTV, wants to retain the teeming TV
watching Africans and absence of an African movie
channel, will rob them of a market. And nowhere is this
market growing in limps and bounds than in Nigeria.
Nigerian film industry Nollywood, dominates Africa Movie
Magic. I have expressed my opinion about the poor
quality of Noollywood films in my article Oh
Nollywood! published by
LEADERSHIPWEEKEND’s ORACLE
of January 12th 2008.
My major concern
here, is the message content and the moral content of
the Nollywood actors and actresses. Since the TV has
taken over parenting and teaching (most play group
centres teach nothing but, Cartoon CD/DVD for the
toddlers to rock them to sleep), there is need for all
concerned to scrutinise what the younger generation of
Nigerian watches. The film censor board has disappointed
me. Check out the film they rate 13 and PG? The subtle
sexual content will make am imp blush. Another watershed
is the rewriting of African cultures by the producers of
these films. Africans are not violent people. The gun
culture Nollywood is trying to plant in the psychic of
our children, should be resisted. When you watch a
Nollywood production of a campus scene, you ask
yourself, is this not the same University you went to?
Another poor content is the use of American accent to
act a movie whose setting is 18th century
Africa . Another disturbing trend, is found in the
Yoruba film department of Nollywood. No Yoruba movie is
complete without magic/juju. Is this a true
representation of the Yorubas? A race that has the
highest number of Pentecostal pastors and pride herself
on the exploit of her returned slave Samuel Ajayi
Crowder. The canny Hausas, not wanting anything that
will abuse Sharia stayed away from Nollywood, started
Kannywood and Hausanized India , Arabian and
Chinese film. To their shame, one of the pervert sex
symbol of Nollywood (Omotola)
is now starring in their movies.
Calls I have
received from onyibo friends after watching a
Nollywood movie are embarrassing. I have been able to
address the issue of texture of the films. I blame it on
technology and that we are still growing. America has
started Mars exploration while in Africa we are yet to
find solution to garbage disposal. I point out to them
that Europe underdeveloped Africa and America and Asia
are furthering it via importation of inferior goods
which kill the indigenous industry.
When they hit me
with complaints about rituals, taboos in the
Nollywood movies, I am at sea without a rudder.
One actually asked me, “Do the Igbos still insist that a
widow drink the water used to wash her husband’s
corpse?” Instantly, I knew one nna men is finding
it difficult to convince this lady. I blame it squarely
on the fault of Nollywood. Nollywood should stop scaring
Nigerians and other members of the global village with
twisted half truth. Let us rebrand Nigeria .
Movies, Cinema,
TV, Music, just name any arm of entertainment, is a
powerful tool of influence. Before I had first hand
information from USA , I thought all the streets in
America are lit up like Christmas tree, that there is an
ambulance at the end of each street, that zooms into
crime scene before the smoke fades away from the pistol.
Most Nigerian ladies dream of elusive Mr. Right, who
will open the car door, kiss her good night without
going all the way, cook for her while she gist on the
phone as a result of Hollywood movies of ideal American
family. Forget it. Check your records, misogynists,
failed marriages abound in USA but movies depicting
these won’t be sold massively in Africa . This
onyibos are better than Africans mentality was
foisted by Hollywood and her counterparts in other
onyibo’s country. Even India ’s Bollywood,
has improved the world wide image of Indians, from the
Snake Girl and the over reincarnation (they always kill
themselves and reincarnate to take revenge without the
murderer getting old) to a Technological and scientific
India . Indian movies now showcase India as emerging IT
giant.
Having agreed
that movies are important agent of socialisation, I dare
ask, will you allow a prostitute to train your child or
a naked house girl serve your husband dinner? Pick a
copy of these glossy fashion/love magazines or any
national daily on Saturday or Sunday, the pictures of Nollywood actresses on the centre spread gives me the
feeling I am watching pornography, forget what happens to
my third leg. These papers not okay with page 3 girl,
splash colour on these half nude actresses and go the
extra mile of doing a pull out. Most Newspapers now sell
their weekend edition by highlighting these nude
actresses on the front page.
Some of them are
not contented with being confined to the pages of the
Newspaper. At every award, charity show and even
strictly children’s programme, they bare it all. At the
just concluded Nigeria Musical Award in Owerri, it was
breast baring galore. Different sizes gravitationally
pulled out of shape by age and rough squeeze, were
forced into undersized bra to give the impression of a
Honda prelude headlight were on display, showing a
cleavage that will make my grandmother look like a
virgin. It baffles me that a woman will pay so high to
have a dress that covers nothing to be designed for her.
We now have more lewdness in
Nigerian movies than the American films we wanted
to escape from.
The male
counterparts are not innocent. Their conducts in
nightclubs and recreation centres dotted around town is
a letdown. A good number are paedophiles, deflowering
teenagers, in need of role models or a role in a movie.
To crown their moral bankruptcy, their marriages are
collapsing like a pack of cards at a rate that will make
Elizabeth Taylor feel like a Nun.
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