By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
President Goodluck Jonathan has stressed the need for the institutionalisation of hall of shame to document names of criminals and their crimes.
Speaking when he hosted the legends of Nollyhood led by Paul Obaziele, who had visited conferred on him the honour of Grand Patron of the body, Jonathan said the proposed hall of shame would serve as a deterrent to young Nigerians who may want to take to crime.
“I heard you saying that you are planning a Hall of Fame; I think we start thinking of having a hall of shame where the names of criminals would be written. This will serve as a deterrent to those who may want to indulge in criminal activities as they would not want to soil their family names,” he said.
The president acknowledged the contributions of actors and actresses in the film industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, and commended Nigerian thespians for projecting the country’s culture positively within and outside the country.
He called on the actors and actresses to help project agriculture positively in their movies so that youngsters could develop interest in going into the business, and assured them of government support for the production of such movies.
In his remarks, Paul Obaziele requested for more support from the government in terms of welfare and comprehensive health insurance as well as pension schemes for actors and actresses.
He also called for the establishment of a Film Fund to be managed by government agencies and the creation of a Hall of Fame for his members who have made names for themselves in the profession.
