Controversy trails President Jonathan’s $200m facility for entertainment industry

Zik Zulu

Stakeholders in the Nigerian movie industry, on Friday, refuted claims by the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank that the organisation had disbursed N700 million in loans to the entertainment industry.
Zik Okafor, the President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), said in Lagos on Friday that none of its 1005 members obtained any loan from NEXIM bank.
“As far as I know, no AMP member was given any loan because the bank was not forthcoming,” he said.
The Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Roberts Orya, had on September 21, said that the bank had disbursed N700 million, out of the $200 million (about N32 billion) facility earmarked for the entertainment industry by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Isioma Williams, the Lagos State Chairman of Guild of Nigerian Dancers, said that the association did not get anything; adding that there might have been foul play involved.
“I don’t think that the fund was really to support the industry; I think it was made for some individuals,” he said. “We have been tossed around too often through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), asking for one thing or the other by the bank.
The government registered a lot of associations and guilds in the entertainment industry which were not known to us who are practitioners. The government seems not serious about helping the industry. If the government is really serious about what they claim, they know how to reach us in the entertainment industry.”
An actor, Tony Ogom, challenged NEXIM Bank to name the beneficiaries of the alleged disbursed loans.
“They should also tell us how much each person got and what the person is using the money for and what job that was lined up,” he said.
 DailyPost