A coalition of Kannywood Guilds and Associations under the leadership Motion Picture Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) and Arewa Filmmakers Association of Nigeria (AFMAN) have boycotted one of the nation’s biggest and most celebrated movie events Zuma International Film Festival 2022 (ZUFF) organised by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).
The event is currently taking place in Abuja.
Heads of the coalition, the national president of MOPPAN, Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Sarari and the national president of AFMAN, Alhaji Sani Sule Katsina, made their stance known in an open letter to the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
They alleged that the event was deliberately fixed on Sallah day, which, apart from being a festive day for all Muslims in the world, is also a public holiday meant to honour and celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The associations said the Eid celebration precludes all Muslims from participating and benefitting from the festival.
“So, we doubt if any government agency can organise such a national event on Christmas or New Year festive days. The coalition of the northern movie practitioners pray that the minister should intervene and address the matter accordingly,” the statement said.
The association said the MOPPAN chairman was also sidelined in organizing the event.
It said, “Sometimes on 16th February 2022, NFC appointed our National President of MOPPAN as chairman, Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Kano and Kaduna axis, with two other members for the objective of mobilising stakeholders from the northern part of the country to effectively participate in the festival.
“The letter of the appointment directed the committee to forward its detailed proposal on how to execute the task given.
“Without wasting much time, the committee under Dr. Sarari, humbly honoured the directive given by NFC, and forwarded all necessary information, including other parts of its assignment, but as at the time of sending the petition to the honourable minister, the committee is yet to get a formal response, or any form of correspondences from the organizers, despite series of publications the NFC made on national dailies, informing Nigerians that Kannywood is also part of the organizing team.
“Interestingly, the LOC axis of our brothers from the southern part of the country (Lagos), was carried along with full support.”
Similarly, the statement said, NFC sent a correspondence to one of the Kannywood’s highly respected elders, and legendary actors, Alhaji
Ibrahim Mandawari, informing him that he was one of those recipients of this year’s ‘LifeTime Achievement Award’ but shortly before the opening ceremony, Mandawari was shocked to be informed by the organisers that he is no longer a recipient.
The associations said he was removed from the list without any genuine reason.
“They simply informed him that he is no longer part of the previous plan. Others selected from other parts of the country were maintained.
“Kannywood is the Northern axis of the Nigerian movie/Music industry, which is based in Kano State. It has, over the years, contributed immensely to job creation, youth empowerment, mobilization and above all creating awareness in line with government activities, social responsibilities, culture reorientation, and entertainment,” the statement added.