How Nigerian filmmakers mismanaged Netflix funds, splurged on luxury cars – Basketmouth

Nigerian comedian-cum-filmmaker Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, has sparked controversy by alleging that Nollywood producers mismanaged funds provided by global streaming platforms like Netflix.

Basketmouth’s remarks come on the heels of Netflix’s decision to halt the acquiring of movies and funding movies in the country effective November 2024 as revealed by Victor Ohai, president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria at the just concluded Zuma Film Festival in Abuja.

Netflix’s latest decision comes almost two years after its biggest rival in Nigeria, Amazon Prime Video, made a similar move.

Netflix has, however, debunked the reports, saying it remains committed to investing in Nigeria.

In a recent interview on Arise TV, the 46-year-old comedian made some damning allegations, which according to him, were some of the challenges the streaming giant contended within its dealings with Nigerian filmmakers in the past years.

Since it entered into Nigeria in 2020, Netflix has helped Nollywood gain further global recognition.

By 2022, Netflix, in its ‘Socio-Economic Impact in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria’ report, revealed it invested $23 million in Nigeria, funding over 250 titles and creating jobs.

However, this was much less than the $125 million it invested in South Africa due to better infrastructure and higher returns.
 

Diversion of funds

Basketmouth alleged that most Nigerian producers divert substantial portions of the budgets allocated for streaming platform-funded films to personal luxury.

The comedian-turned-filmmaker said, “When the streaming platforms came in, they provided significant funding to producers. But these producers would take the $1.5 million or whatever they’re given and use about 10 per cent to make the movie. The rest? Houses, cars, and personal expenses. I can’t call names, but they know themselves.”
 

Averted transparency

Basketmouth expressed frustration over producers undermining Netflix’s initiative to pay actors directly and criticised the ripple effects of such practices on the quality of Nigerian films.

The stand-up comedian said, “I’m not generalising, but most of them—70 per cent or more—misuse these funds. When the platforms noticed, they started paying actors directly to ensure transparency. But even then, these producers would go behind the scenes and demand that actors return half of their pay.

“When you do that and expect your movie to be 100 per cent, it can’t. That’s why some of our epic movies look like stage plays. The horses? They’re lean and coughing!

“If you’re given $1.5 million to make a movie, use it all for the production. That’s how you get quality, but cutting corners for luxury and lifestyle shows in the final film product.”

Despite its vibrant creativity, Nollywood faces systemic challenges such as piracy, limited infrastructure, economic challenges and inadequate internet access, making it difficult for streaming platforms to achieve high returns on investment.

In November, Basketmouth released his debut feature film, ‘A Ghetto Love Story,’ starring Akah Nnani, Beverly Osu, Patience Ozokwor, Efe Irele, and Chioma Chukwuka. FilmOne Entertainment revealed that the movie grossed ₦51 million in Nigeria and Ghana, with ₦22.3 million from its opening weekend.

By Nosakhale Akhimien, Premium Times

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Suspected bandits lay explosives on Nigerian road, causing damage

A gang of armed men planted explosives along the Dansadau-Gusau road in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, causing significant damage and casualties, a military spokesperson and witnesses said on Wednesday.

Armed gangs in northwest Nigeria, known by locals as bandits, have escalated their attacks, resorting to a dangerous new tactic of planting explosives on major highways to target civilians and security forces.

Witnesses Bello Dansadau and Abubakar Ismail told Reuters at least 12 travellers were killed and six others wounded after their vehicle ran over an explosive on the road.

Joint Task Force spokesperson Abubakar Abdullahi said in a statement that the military had deployed an explosive ordnance disposal team to the area to neutralize any remaining explosives. He did not say how many people had been killed.

Abdullahi said a JTF unit is working closely with local authorities to investigate the attack and apprehend the perpetrators.

"We urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities," he said.

Bandits in northwest Nigeria have frequently raided communities, killing and kidnapping residents, farmers, students and motorists for ransom. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Police officers’ disregard of anti‑torture law ruins lives in Nigeria

Despite passing a legislation that prohibits torture of crime suspects, Nigeria’s security agencies continue to maim individuals in their custody.

Nigeria’s anti-torture law enacted in 2017 criminalises physical torture of suspects such as “systematic beatings, head-bangings, punching, kicking, striking with rifle butts, and jumping on the stomach.”

But when Ndukwe Ekekwe was arrested barely a year later, the police officers punched him, hit him with rifle butts, and stabbed him in the head.
READ MORE Can the Nigeria Police Force truly be reformed?

“They wanted me to look like a criminal. The blood from my head drenched the cloth I was wearing,” Ekekwe, 37, tells The Africa Report.

Despite passing a legislation that prohibits torture of crime suspects, security agencies in Nigeria continue to batter and maim individuals in their custody.

Before the anti-torture bill was passed into law, Nigeria had ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture 16 years earlier. The country also has a national committee on the prevention of torture.

Despite the legal steps, no law enforcement official has been brought to justice under the anti-torture act.

“The level of awareness and, therefore, implementation of the act is still very low,” Okechukwu Nwanguma, executive director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), tells The Africa Report.

“There’s no demonstrable commitment by the authorities to end torture in Nigeria by ensuring effective implementation of the anti-torture act,” says Nwanguma.
 

Torturing victims

Ekekwe’s encounter with the police began in February 2018 when armed officers of the now defunct special anti-robbery squad (SARS) invaded his phone accessories shop in Lagos. They refused to tell him his offense and, instead, bundled him into their vehicle and drove off.

After assaulting and stabbing him, the police officers returned to the market with Ekekwe the next day and started disposing of goods from his shop.

After reportedly criticising the police action, he was found unconscious on the ground floor of the building. He was taken to different hospitals for treatment, but a spinal cord injury has confined him to a wheelchair ever since.

Last year, police officers arrested Thaddeus Ojokoh, a tailor in south-east Imo State. They accused the 53-year-old father of five of being a member of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He was detained for three months, amidst torture and starvation, Ojokoh’s cousin, Ikechukwu Amaechi, tells The Africa Report.

“If you saw the guy when he came out of that place, he was like a scarecrow. He could hardly walk because of the beatings and torture,” says Amaechi, who is also a journalist.

The torture and extra judicial killings by police officers climaxed during the nationwide #EndSARS protests in 2020, where young people, angered by the excesses of the law enforcement agencies, took to the streets.

The government responded by scrapping the notorious SARS and instituting investigative panels on police brutality.

Ekewe was at the panel in Lagos, where he testified about his torture and incapacitation. The panel awarded him N7.5m ($4,500) and recommended dismissal of the police officers.

“[But to] date] they have not dismissed the police officers,” Ekekwe’s lawyer at the panel, Olukoya Ogungbeje, tells The Africa Report. “It tells you that police authorities are complicit. There is no way they can sanction the police officers involved.”

Ekekwe says the police officers rendered him immobile and indigent, as the money from the panel was all spent on physiotherapy. In 2021, he relocated to Abia State, in Nigeria’s south-east region.
 

Lucrative business

In 2007, after visiting Nigeria, the UN special rapporteur on torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment issued a report, noting that torture and ill-treatment is widespread for those in police custody.

Activists say torture remains a lucrative business within Nigeria’s security circles, with law enforcement officials using it as the primary means of extracting confessions and extorting bribes.

After Ojokoh was arrested on 15 April 2023, he was paraded by the police to the media alongside eight others as members of the proscribed “IPOB terrorists”.
READ MORE Nigeria: At protests, thugs and police show supremacy over the law

Of the nine of them, only two are now living, says Amaechi, alleging that the police extra-judicially executed six of the suspects.

“After much torture and afraid that he was going to be killed, because I spoke to him, [the other suspect identified as Charles] Chilaka gave them N1.5m so he would be released,” says Amaechi.
 

Government response

Despite the Nigerian government’s attempts at implementation, torture remains widespread in crime detention centres.

In December 2023, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, Nigeria’s solicitor-general, urged judges to ensure full implementation of the anti-torture act and other relevant human rights instruments in the country.

One of the instruments, the administration of criminal justice act, requires judges and magistrates to regularly inspect detention facilities, including police stations, to ensure that suspects are treated fairly.

In 2022, a police commander allegedly harassed a magistrate who was conducting a routine inspection at a police command in Lagos. The police denied the claims and blamed the lawyers who accompanied the magistrate for taking pictures and video recordings.

Last week, Jedy-Agba said plans are ongoing to review the anti-torture act and improve mechanisms to discourage and eradicate torture in detention.

RULAAC’s Nwanguma says the government needs to demonstrate a genuine commitment to ending torture by ensuring the investigation and prosecution of offenders.

By Ben Ezeamalu, The Africa Report

Video - Nigeria struggling to manage mounting electronic waste

Global e-waste is growing five times faster than recycling, with Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, being a major contributor. Experts say Nigeria's government needs to put measures in place to encourage proper disposal of e-waste and more recycling.

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Video - Port Harcourt and Dangote refineries expected to help meet local consumption needs

Nigeria's state-owned Port Harcourt refinery is finally back up and running. It is hoped that, along with recent launch of the privately-owned Dangote refinery, Nigeria will soon be able to supply the petrol products needed domestically while positioning Nigeria as a petroleum product exporter.

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