NTA’s failures, not Netflix, Amazon Prime or DSTV, is Nollywood’s biggest problem

The recent “pullback” from Nigerian TV and film content by streaming giants Amazon Prime and Netflix has led to a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing. Much of the finger-pointing has found some of the biggest names in the industry, accusing them of not delivering value that match the kind of funding the streamers are rumoured to have made available to them. While some of this may be true, I hold a totally different opinion regarding why Nollywood continues to not be able to extract maximum value from the value chain of its potentials.

The failure of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, in creating quality free-to-air programming that gives a platform for Nigerian creatives to express themselves and be adequately compensated for it is the biggest obstacle in the path of true growth for Nollywood. This is not a new view. I have expressed it privately to friends and associates, spoke about it in various media interviews and panels over the years, and I’ve written about it more than a few times. But as different debates are going on right now, over Africa Magic vs YouTube; over issues around Netflix and Amazon, and over the cost of living and affordability of Dstv, Showmax, Netflix, and Amazon Prime; and given I am now directing and producing on what is a significant film project of my own, right in the middle of all this, I feel the conversation is relevant, again.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, spends around $400million yearly to deliver its public service mandate in English and all official South African languages. The BBC spends around £1.5billion on original content yearly, working with almost 400 independent production companies to deliver content across regions on free-to-air platforms. In the US around 100 million homes rely solely on free-to-air content that cost them nothing for their audio-visual entertainment and education through ABC, NBC, CBS and others who spend billions of dollars yearly.

Between 2021 and 2024, Netflix spent around $220million in Africa, with a large chunk of that going to South Africa. In 8 years, Netflix spent around $23million in Nigeria. That’s a little less than $3million per year. This isn’t an insignificant amount of money, especially if you convert it to naira at the current rate of around $1=N1500. But it isn’t also a staggering amount of money.

Imagine a world where the NTA spends as little as $10million a year on original TV/Film content. The Kemi Adetibas, the Kunle Afolayans, the Bolanle Austen-Peters’, the Niyi Akinmolayans of this world would not have needed Netflix or Amazon to bring us King of Boys, Anikulapo, Bashorun Gaa and House of Secrets. The NTA would have been there to nurture and support their creativity from the outset of their careers such that some of those works would have ended up on NTA for millions of Nigerians to watch. This reality is not farfetched at all. This was what the NTA did just a few decades ago.

As a child growing up in 80’s Nigeria, the NTA served me quality programming on a daily basis. If you were to draw a list of classic Nigerian TV drama and comedies, almost all the classics on that list would have been produced by or with the NTA: Cockcrow at Dawn, The Village Headmaster, The New Masquerade, Mirror in the Sun, Checkmate, Koko Close, Adio Family…the list is endless.

Today, the NTA plays no part in my content consumption or creation as a filmmaker. Other free-to-air platforms like Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Silverbird Television have followed the NTA playbook and invest next to nothing in the creation of Nigerian TV/Film content. Instead, just like the NTA (against the broadcast code of conduct and its statutory responsibilities), they sit back and demand that independent producers purchase airtime from them in order to place their independently produced content on their channels.

Soldier come, soldier go but barrack remain is a popular Nigerian saying. It shouldn’t matter much what the streamers chose to do with Nigerian content. It shouldn’t be a matter for parliamentary discussion every time DSTV is forced to increase subscription fees along with economic realities. All of these issues become exaggerated because every time there’s even a mere hint at a change in strategy by any entity that engages our film industry, we fall back to basics and start pointing fingers at others. We are the others; the others are us.

The Nigerian Television Authority is the thing around Nollywood’s neck. There are no substitutes for investment in quality content on free-to-air platforms. This is the NTA’s statutory obligation and it has failed at it for decades. Netflix and Amazon Prime will be back tomorrow (if indeed they actually ever left) because you cannot seriously have a conversation about African cinema that excludes Nollywood. But this will still not solve the perennial problems created by NTA’s continued failure. Until our free-to-air problems are solved, Nollywood will not be in a position to extract maximum value from the massive value-chain of its potentials. And as a filmmaker with big dreams and great ambition, this worries me. Does it worry you too? Yes?

Now what are we going to do about it?!