Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV?
NaijaRock
Home | Anything | ( 3 ) | Subscribe
Posted by Felix Okoli on August 08, 2010 at 23:51:21:
There is a Hausa channel and also a Yoruba channel on the DSTV bouquet for West Africa but no Igbo channel depsite the fact that Igbo language is still a popular language in Nigeria together with Yoruba and Hausa. I have been following the events and responses of people and movie producers who felt slighted by Multichoice's decision not to allow an Igbo channel when 2 major Nigerian languages have already been given a channel. Some are crying marginalisation while others are saying that Igbo people should kick against it or boycott using DSTV altogether but really I see all their complaints as mere politics and just to draw emotions from Ndigbo in Nigeria. Multichoice Nigeria had said that the reason why there was no Igbo channel yet was because they was low inventory of Igbo movies or low quantity of Igbo movies being produced that would warrant having a channel and that it Igbo was given a channel, it may take only a few weeks for them to start replaying the same movies again - At least that's what I got from their response and really it is true.
Thoe Igbo people and so called campaigners of Igbo rights and producers need to take the bull by the horn and solve the problem rather than just complain about it. For instance, if I ask myself, how many Igbo movies have I watched? Well, only a few and I know there are quite a lot but not at much as Yoruba or Hausa movies which may not be as popular and profitable as English movies which are mostly produced and marketed by the same Igbo people actually.
Here are a couple of Igbo movies I've watched and that I can remember their names: Living in Bondage
Akaraka Adamma
Rattlesnake There are a lot more and I quite enjoyed them but there were not a lot available maybe because the producers were looking for more money and profitability. It is funny that it is Ndigbo that produce the highest number of Nigerian movies worldwide which have even received acclaim from people and institutions in most
places, still do not find time to drop in about1 or 2 Igbo movies out of every 10 movies they produce.
I think one of the reasons why most Igbo producers shyed away from producing Igbo movies was due the the fact that they found another more profitable venture in producing English movies with a Nigerian background. Maybe they saw and read about the huge income which producers make from blockburster movies once a year and decided to focus only on Nigerian English movies. The problem as I can see is not that they can't produce Igbo movies but that they were focusing on a larger market as well as the profit that it would bring. I mean think of it, movies now produced in Nigeria are accepted across the whole of English speaking Africa.
However, seeing the way things are turning around and indigenous language movies by Hausa and Yoruba movie producers are showing on DSTV, they would probably be turning back to produce more Igbo movies.
I think with the arrival of a premium cable tv service like DSTV, Hitv and others, Igbo movie producers would see more opportunity and turnover in producing Igbo movies in the near future if it is not already in the works. With the present vacuum of an Igbo channel of Nigeria's popular cable tv service - DSTV, I think the race is arleady on for producers jostling to produce 21st century Igbo movies and I wouldn't be surprised even if a Yoruba or Hausa produce ventures into Igbo movie production just to be the first person to hit the jackpot. People make millions from reality tv in countries like the USA even when they don't exactly know what they are doing.
Now imagine someone producing and creating about 1000 Igbo movies in a year and collecting royalty from just a company like DSTV? Such a person may not even need to work again for the rest of his life. If I had the resources, I would have ventured into Igbo movies production because Igbo speakers looking for jobs are eager to be recruited and a large Igbo audience the world over, not just Nigeria, is waiting to be served.
Nigerian movie producers may probably be blind if they do not now see the opportunity and profitability in producing Igbo movies even if they do not have to produce and market a single DVD. Producing such movies just for DSTV is in itself a huge opportunity just waiting for the first serious investor.
Comments:
There is a Hausa channel and also a Yoruba channel on the DSTV bouquet for West Africa but no Igbo channel depsite the fact that Igbo language is still a popular language in Nigeria together with Yoruba and Hausa. I have been following the events and responses of people and movie producers who felt slighted by Multichoice's decision not to allow an Igbo channel when 2 major Nigerian languages have already been given a channel. Some are crying marginalisation while others are saying that Igbo people should kick against it or boycott using DSTV altogether but really I see all their complaints as mere politics and just to draw emotions from Ndigbo in Nigeria. Multichoice Nigeria had said that the reason why there was no Igbo channel yet was because they was low inventory of Igbo movies or low quantity of Igbo movies being produced that would warrant having a channel and that it Igbo was given a channel, it may take only a few weeks for them to start replaying the same movies again - At least that's what I got from their response and really it is true.
Thoe Igbo people and so called campaigners of Igbo rights and producers need to take the bull by the horn and solve the problem rather than just complain about it. For instance, if I ask myself, how many Igbo movies have I watched? Well, only a few and I know there are quite a lot but not at much as Yoruba or Hausa movies which may not be as popular and profitable as English movies which are mostly produced and marketed by the same Igbo people actually.
Here are a couple of Igbo movies I've watched and that I can remember their names: Living in Bondage
Akaraka Adamma
Rattlesnake There are a lot more and I quite enjoyed them but there were not a lot available maybe because the producers were looking for more money and profitability. It is funny that it is Ndigbo that produce the highest number of Nigerian movies worldwide which have even received acclaim from people and institutions in most
places, still do not find time to drop in about1 or 2 Igbo movies out of every 10 movies they produce.
I think one of the reasons why most Igbo producers shyed away from producing Igbo movies was due the the fact that they found another more profitable venture in producing English movies with a Nigerian background. Maybe they saw and read about the huge income which producers make from blockburster movies once a year and decided to focus only on Nigerian English movies. The problem as I can see is not that they can't produce Igbo movies but that they were focusing on a larger market as well as the profit that it would bring. I mean think of it, movies now produced in Nigeria are accepted across the whole of English speaking Africa.
However, seeing the way things are turning around and indigenous language movies by Hausa and Yoruba movie producers are showing on DSTV, they would probably be turning back to produce more Igbo movies.
I think with the arrival of a premium cable tv service like DSTV, Hitv and others, Igbo movie producers would see more opportunity and turnover in producing Igbo movies in the near future if it is not already in the works. With the present vacuum of an Igbo channel of Nigeria's popular cable tv service - DSTV, I think the race is arleady on for producers jostling to produce 21st century Igbo movies and I wouldn't be surprised even if a Yoruba or Hausa produce ventures into Igbo movie production just to be the first person to hit the jackpot. People make millions from reality tv in countries like the USA even when they don't exactly know what they are doing.
Now imagine someone producing and creating about 1000 Igbo movies in a year and collecting royalty from just a company like DSTV? Such a person may not even need to work again for the rest of his life. If I had the resources, I would have ventured into Igbo movies production because Igbo speakers looking for jobs are eager to be recruited and a large Igbo audience the world over, not just Nigeria, is waiting to be served.
Nigerian movie producers may probably be blind if they do not now see the opportunity and profitability in producing Igbo movies even if they do not have to produce and market a single DVD. Producing such movies just for DSTV is in itself a huge opportunity just waiting for the first serious investor.
Comments:
-
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV?
Posted by Anayo
on August 12, 2010 at 02:29:19:
I think the problem lies with the producers themselves who prefer huge profits rather than promoting their language. They need to realize that the media is a very powerful means of promoting and sustaining one's culture. The movies producers in Nigeria like Amaka Igwe, Zeb Ejiro, Dickson Iroegbu, Kingsly Ogoro and others need to see that now they can still be making money by producing Igbo movies. There is a time for everything
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Ifeanyi on August 31, 2010 at 08:55:40: What this means for Ndigbo is that there are now more opportunities for Igbo movies with the increasing cash flow from entertainment. They don't need to sell or market Igbo movies again
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Ifeanyi on August 31, 2010 at 08:56:35: I think that Igbo should float their own cable tv from the USA and take over this DSTV monopoly that is killing our culture
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by George Uzoh on August 31, 2010 at 08:57:52: I think that in the near future if not now, producers would start producing more Igbo movies not just for marketing or profit but for fame and to promote their image as Igbo crusaders
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Nneka on August 31, 2010 at 09:02:06: Yeah I agree with you. It is not that Yoruba or Hausa movies which are being produced are that profitable, but some people just produce them in order to promote their culture and even get donations from prominent citizens. I think that it is not just Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa language that are becoming less fashionable due to western civilisation, but a time will come when our culture will fight a fight of survival and peopel will start learning Igbo again just like French. I have seen a Chinese person speaking french and it was exciting so we have no excuse not to produce Igbo movies which would also serve as educational materials that can last for more than 200 years or more. So Igbo producers should produce Igbo movies not jsut for profit but to give them a good record on Igbo history
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by John on August 31, 2010 at 08:52:15: No I don't think they will boycott it rather I see more encouragement from DSTV for Igbo producers to go back to our roots. Igbo forever and with more than 20 million in Nigeria, you can't just shy away from that opportunity
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Ebere Chijioke on August 31, 2010 at 08:53:05: I would like to watch a much clearer version of Living in bondage and Rattlesnake again
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Felix Okoli on September 01, 2010 at 06:39:15: Here is the Igbo movie called Rattlesnake which has been uploaded to Youtube:
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by hannatu sambo on September 13, 2010 at 08:00:15: i think it is because ndigbo make all their movies in english language. the igbos should flunt their culture by acting their movies in the igbo language.
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Adanma on April 09, 2011 at 05:11:51: There is a man who produces Igbo soap movies and it is called A GBARUSIA NGENE. There are still a lot of people who produce Igbo movies and the thing is that you may have to move to the Eastern region in order to find those videos there. Mnet may actually be biased on giving Igbo movie producers a level playing field
Re: Should Ndigbo boycott Multichoice's DSTV? Posted by Felix Okoli on January 08, 2012 at 05:15:19: Update:
You can now watch Igbo movies on Magic world. It seems multichoice is showing us a bit of some of the movies they have. It's quite interesting watching them. But it seems they still have a low inventory of such movies.
So go to Magic World and you'll be able to watch some of them on DSTV. If you've got any new Igbo movies you want to see on dstv, you could send them a list by email or phone.