By Segun Odejimi
The inauguration of the ministerial committee to be saddled with the job of reviewing the so-far controversial MOPICON draft bill which was scheduled for today, Friday, April 8 has been postponed indefinitely.
This, according to the office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is due to the ongoing emergency Federal Executive Council meeting conveyed by President Muhammadu Buhari in respect of the 2016 budget.
When TNS got in touch with Peace Anyiam-Osigwe and Mahmood Ali-Balogun, the co-ordinator and deputy co-ordinator of the proposed committee respectively, they corroborated this saying that they are hopeful a new date for the inauguration will be arrived at soon enough.
However, some Nollywood insiders who don’t want to be named told TNS that this could well be a signal that the outrage which greeted the leak of the 49-page MOPICON document has weakened the resolve of the minister to continue with the ‘whole plan.’ They believe Lai Mohammed is no longer sold on the bill following the reaction of many young filmmakers to the proposed bill.
Some others, though, expressed skepticism about the indefinite postponement saying that it may just be a ploy to take the whole process ‘underground’ until those in support of the document have worked it to a point where the opposition becomes inconsequential to the eventual outcome/passage of the bill into law.
This post first appeared on TNS.ng
