Throwing the baby out with the b

Throwing the baby out with the bath water: The case of Kano film village

Abdullahi Dahiru

Much has been said regarding the proposed Kano film village. People are also aware that the project has been cancelled due to an outrage from section of Muslim clerics and some members of the public.

More than $10m had been budgeted to provide state-of-the-art facilities for the Hausa language film industry, known as Kannywood.

According to member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, in an interactive session with Kannywood filmmakers, the film village has cinematography centre, 400-capacity auditorium for training, hostel, sound stage, eatery block, three-star hotel, shopping mall, stadium, clinic, among others”.

According to Jibrin, the Federal Government would release 1billion Naira for the kick off of the 20-hectare film village, which would be modeled like a film center in China and India.

Now, this proposed film village attracted much criticism from some scholars who believed it would promote “immorality”. There were sermons denouncing the project. There were debates in social media with many people criticizing it.

Then suddenly, federal government announced the cancellation of the project after the opposition from clerics and social media.

It is usually common for people to express resentment towards introduction of anything new. There are things that were viewed negatively in the past, attracted much criticism, only to be embraced later.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia instituted modern reforms that led to the installation of television. Many Saudi clerics opposed the idea believing television would cause or exacerbate immorality. This provoked violent protests, one of which was led by his nephew, Prince Khaled, who during the course of an attack on a television station was shot dead by a policeman.

On 25 March 1975, King Faisal was shot point-blank and killed by his half-brother's son, Faisal bin Musaid, who had just come back from the United States, to avenge the killing of his brother, Prince Khaled .The murder occurred at a Majlis, an event where the king or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition the king.

King Faisal lost his life due to reforms that brought television to Saudi Arabia. But television is now being used in Saudi Arabia to broadcast prayers from the Grand mosque and the mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

We all know that western education itself faced strong opposition from Muslim clerics when it was first introduced by the colonialists due to the fear that it was a secret plot to convert Muslim children to Christianity. The opposition however reduced when people start seeing the benefit of western education and their children graduating from schools without conversion to Christianity. But still opposition to sending female children to Western schools in Northern Nigeria persisted until recently.

We all know how opposition to conventional banking, law and insurance have made the North very deficient in those sectors.

In the biography of Sheikh Abubakar Gumi titled “Where I stand”, Sheik Gumi narrated the story of his friend, Mallam Aminu Kano, who faced a strong opposition from section of Kano Muslim clerics, when he gave his party, NEPU a slogan called “SAWABA”. Some clerics were outraged that Aminu Kano used a Koranic word “SAWABA” as a slogan for a political party. Aminu Kano went to Kaduna to seek for the opinion of his friend, Sheikh Gumi. Gumi and Aminu had both taught at Teachers College, Maru. Sheikh Gumi said “SAWABA” was an Arabic word that mean “RELIEF” and he doesn’t see any harm using it as a slogan, more so, that Aminu Kano sought to bring relief to his people.

In essence, there are things that people may oppose, only to see their benefits later. I think, whatever resentment people may have regarding the film village could have been addressed when the village is made. There is a censorship board that regulates the act of making films in Kano. Nothing prevent Islamic scholars from approaching the censorship board with a suggestion on how to address the issue of “immorality” in the films produced by Kannywood. They can also offer suggestions to government on how to address those grievances rather than calling for outright cancellation of the film village project.

We all know that Kannywood film industry thrives because of patronage from people. People watch these films and listen to the songs being made by the artists in their homes and offices. Now, that the film village project has been cancelled, that would not stop production of Kannywood films or their viewing by people. In essence, what is the rationale of cancelling the project when one can watch these films from TV stations and cinema houses? What is the rationale for the cancellation when people can download pornographic videos from their smart phones and watch them from the comfort of their homes?

I do not watch Kannywood films myself. I cannot remember when last I watched those films-probably since the days of “SANGAYA” and “MUJADALA”. But I do not think outright cancellation of the proposed film village is right or circumspect. It is similar to “throwing the baby out with the bath water”.

Kano state has lost N3billion worth of investment. Sad!

DR Abdullahi Dahiru contributed this piece from Kano.