Emeka Ike Calls For Probe Into N3bn Nollywood Intervention Fund

The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN),
Emeka Ike, has called on the Federal Government to probe the utilization of
the N3 billion Nollywood Intervention Fund.

While interacting with the press on Saturday, October 8, in Yola, Ike
alleged that the money was “hijacked by a cabal” putting the film industry at a
disadvantage.

Ike disclosed that the few people who benefited from the
fund were buying houses in Abuja and Lagos state, forgetting to invest any of
it back into the industry.

He also claimed that majority of the 247 actors alleged to
have been trained at the cost of N899 million abroad from the fund, were
untraceable.

“What the cabal do is to bring faces for Mr President;
that’s what they did in the last administration, they are scavengers, and I am
begging us here today to expose them.”

Ike encouraged the government to relate directly with
associations within the film industry such as AGN, ANTP and Kannywood, instead
of individuals.

The AGN president who was in Adamawa to participate in a
program organized by the state Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, to encourage
youth on self-reliance, said that the film industry if well-funded, has the
potential to boost the Nation’s economy.

Ike assured that he would work hard during his tenure to
address the issue of sexual harassment as well as all forms of indiscipline and
exploitation in the film industry.