'Buhari govt has dismembered Nollywood, entire entertainment industry'
Buhari |
Foremost Nollywood filmmaker and on-air personality, Dickson Iroegbu,
told OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG recently
that his only aim right now is to see that the President Muhammadu Buhari
administration is voted out of office as it has destroyed virtually every
sector of the economy, entertainment included, and that he’s mobilizing his
celebrity colleagues to achieve it.
What’s the latest about you?
Well, I feel that nation building
should include all of us. If you get a level of mileage or attention, it should
also make you use your influence to better the society. Personally, sitting
back and playing the ostrich while Nigeria, you know, goes crashing is not
something conducive for me, and I said I should get involved and I have.
Good. Tell us about your political aspirations. What have you done and
achieved? What are your plans? Are you running for office next year?
My political aspiration is, first
of all, to help inspire leadership, because that’s been our own challenge. My
aspiration is to inspire leadership, and if I could use my own drive to inspire
other people to get involved in leadership, that’s first my aspiration, because
our own tsunami in Africa, in Nigeria, is bad leadership, so that’s my
aspiration, to see that in our environment we are witnessing good leadership.
But, outside that, the journey so far in politics, of course I was Executive
Assistant, Creative Entertainment and Tourism, under the past administration,
that is Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. I served, volunteered to serve,
because most of the time when people hear that you served in government, the
next thing is that you don hammer. But in my case, I went to serve, truly
serve. I volunteered, and for the three years that I served, there was no
salary to it. And I want to let anybody challenge it anywhere. That’s service,
that’s my interest. And going forward, 2019, of course I worked for Jonathan
and we campaigned also for his comeback, and we’ve seen that Nigerians made a
choice of this current administration and I’m sure Nigerians are regretting.
Most of those who called that Buhari should come have seen that there’s nothing
really that Buhari has to offer Nigeria. For me right now, the next political
ambition that I have, or desire that I have, is to see this government changed.
Changed and replaced with a competent leadership. A leadership that will
inspire hope, that will make Nigerians come back to take ownership of their
country again because everybody seems to have deserted Nigeria. The Igbos are
going, the Yorubas are going, the Hausas are going, the Fulanis, everybody’s
gone, so Nigeria seems to be abandoned. But this is a great nation. This is a
great brand that we shouldn’t just let go like that, and so, for me therefore,
it’s a collective responsibility for all citizens to wake up and reclaim the
nation, because the bloodletting is too much, the insecurity is too much, the
so-called fight against corruption ain’t working, and so this fraud has to be
called to a halt and that’s a focus, that’s a commitment personally.
Iroegbu |
Are people supporting you in this noble aspiration?
I think every Nigerian is
disillusioned, every Nigerian is confused about the state of the nation, every
Nigerian wants to see us wake up and see that this seems to be a nightmare,
that we should actually thank God that it’s a dream. But the truth is that it’s
not a dream. So everybody’s involved. Like I said to those who follow me, we
must identify with a leadership. Changing Buhari’s government is not about APC
or PDP anymore, it’s about the candidate. We need a leader, someone who’s
political bridge can bring all of us back together to realize that, yeah, we
may not have to agree with all of us, but first of all, putting Nigeria first
should count paramount, so I’ve identified with a candidate, and I’ve made
public my candidate, and my candidate is Atiku Abubakar, and that’s who I,
personally, I’m convinced if given the opportunity, will get Nigeria
reactivated again, will get Nigeria reengineered, because we don’t just need
job creation, we need someone who has the ability to create wealth, and I think
Atiku Abubakar will do a great job as President of Nigeria, especially now.
Your colleagues in Nollywood, they carry a lot of weight because all of
you are popular, all of you have the voice, what are you doing to convince them
to support you and Atiku?
We’re reaching out already. I’m
the convener of CEFAM, Celebrities for Atiku Movement, and lots of my
colleagues are already on board. It’s not that kind of politics we played in
2015. It’s the type now that has to do with patriotism. We’re saying no, enough
of the bloodletting, enough of the deceit, and even our own sector, the
entertainment sector is abandoned, because the last administration, why we
could really relate with the Goodluck Jonathan administration is because he
gave impetus to the entertainment industry. But this government came and
dismembered the existence of Nollywood and the entire entertainment industry.
So, for us, it’s an assignment to salvage, one, our profession, and then also
to show empathy to the state of our nation because we’re Nigerians first of all
before we are celebrities.
Talking candidly now, many people feel Atiku is corrupt. What are you
doing to clean his image so that he can be presentable to the general public,
because what we heard is that even Buhari, Tinubu and co had to clean his image
to present him to us.
No, no, no, first of all, there’s
no image to launder. All that has to do with corruption allegations against
Atiku is allegations. He has even challenged, including the current
administration, to bring out facts on the table, and if you don’t have, shut
up. He has said rather than talk about him being corrupt, bring your evidence
on the table. So there’s no image to launder. It is simply a case of choice.
First, it’s a constitutional right for me to make a choice. I’ve chosen a
candidate. I’m not just choosing this candidate, I’m also mobilizing, reaching
out, telling Nigerians the truth because a lot of conspiracy came out from the
Obasanjo government against Atiku because he stood against third term. And
because he stood against it and ensured that it didn’t work, Obasanjo as
President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief, his foot soldiers went to war against
Atiku, and the image is what he’s struggling everyday to rescue himself from.
But the truth is that it also gets to a stage in a people’s lives that you
choose your leader, so this is that moment when Nigerians should for once
choose their leader.
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