Thursday, 28th March 2024
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No longer at ease at the NFC

A storm is brewing at the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). Staff of the corporation and students of the National Film Institute (NFI) have in the last couple of days been at loggerheads with the leadership of the NFC.
Students of NFI and some staff of NFC during the protest

Students of NFI and some staff of NFC during the protest

A storm is brewing at the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). Staff of the corporation and students of the National Film Institute (NFI) have in the last couple of days been at loggerheads with the leadership of the NFC. Yesterday, the staff and students of the NFI held a peaceful rally at the Corporation Headquarters in Jos, Plateau State where they called for the immediate removal of the Managing Director of the NFC Dr. Danjuma Wurim Dadu.

Both the staff and students had in a widely circulated petition accused the NFC boss of mismanagement and for lacking the capacity to run the corporation, which was established to create an enabling environment for the sustainable growth and development of the film industry in Nigeria. The petitioners alleged that Dadu, a building engineer, has failed to reposition the Corporation strategically and has failed to provide leadership and institutional support as well as brokerage for the industry and its practitioners since he succeeded the filmmaker Afolabi Adesanya as MD in 2012. They also alleged that Dadu has failed to drive the corporation and the film institute in the direction that would have eliminated the perceived invisibility and inactiveness of the NFC.

But in a swift reaction, the management of the NFC said they were in receipt of the petition by students of the NFI and they assured that management was already meeting with the staff and student to iron out the issues they have raised. The Corporation’s head of Public Affairs Mrs. Ngozi Udoh said in a telephone chat with The Guardian that management was already meeting with staff and students to resolve the issues that are in contention. ‘’As I speak with you, management is meeting with the representative of the students to resolve all contending issues and I will let you know the outcome of the meeting ’’ she said.

Also, Mrs. Udoh confirmed that the issue of staff promotion, which led to the staff protest, has been resolved. ‘’We have conducted the promotion interview’ she said even as she assured that the leadership of the NFC would continue to work with staff and students to give the corporation the status of the leading government agency and authority on motion picture in Nigeria and an agency that would promote cinematic culture as an industry at global level.

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