Ismail Na Abba Afakallah is the executive director of Kano state Films and Censorship Board; before his appointment he was the chairman, Arewa Film Makers, a first class producer who also featured in films.
In this interview with ALIYU ASKIRA, he speaks on his challenges, among others .
When Ganduje became Governor in 2015 he approached Kannywood Stakeholder to nominate one of them to be appointed as Executive Director Films and Censorship Board, the wisdom behind this according to the Governor is that if an insider is appointment to handle issues of film making in Kano he will do all his best to check problems confronting their members and Ismail Na Abba Afakallah was nominated and appointed but since then he has been facing series of challenges from the industry, Weekend Blueprint spoke with him last week in Kano and below are the full excerpts of the interview.
You have been in office for more than two years now, what would say are your achievements and constraints so far? It is easy to destroy than to build, when I was appointed I came here with a blueprint that will enable me change the face of Kannywood, but I later discovered that even those who celebrated my appointment were not happy with my appointment in real sense.
God is the one that gives and takes; I was nominated and appointed to head this very important parastatal by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and I am expected to perform my duties according to expectations of the governor.
I try to carry all Kannywood members along, but along the line some of them try to test my will.
I can tell you that we arrested some and charged them to court.
Well, we have as a matter of policy that any member, no matter how highly placed, that violates the rules governing the Kannywood Industry will be dealt with decisively and I have never change my mind on that.
I faced a lot of challenges when I took over this office but I can assure you that I am making serious progress and God willing I will finish my tenure in peace and go back to film production but if our political leaders decide to retain me in the future, I will definitely continue to serve my state.
When you were appointed you promised, among other things, to check cases of piracy, how far have you succeeded in this regard? This is a very big office with huge responsibilities, but I can tell you we r e d u c e d piracy by 60 per c e n t n o w .
What we do is if a producer produces a film, he will bring it to us for clearance.
Then he would be given permission to premiere his film in cinema houses in the North, that is if it is an Hausa film.
Then, later he would release the film into the market or sell it to marketers, and under this a r r a n g e m e n t producers will make huge profit before releasing their films into the market.
So, whatever pirates do will not affect the producers directly.
I remember Rahma Sadau was expelled from Kannywood and you later issued a statement forgiving her and recalling her to the industry? This lady went on air to apologize to Kano State Governor and Emir of Kano, she also apologized to all those that her action o f f e n d e d .
She also We’ve reduced piracy by 60% –Kano Census Board boss …I can tell you we have reduced piracy by 60 per cent now.
What we do is if a producer produces a film, he will bring it to us for clearance.
Then he would be given permission to premiere his film in cinema houses in the North, that is if it is an Hausa film.
Ismail Na Abba Afakallah is the executive director of Kano state Films and Censorship Board; before his appointment he was the chairman, Arewa Film Makers, a first class producer who also featured in films.
In this interview with ALIYU ASKIRA, he speaks on his challenges, among others .
wrote a letter apologizing to members of MOPPAN in Kano and in the letter she promised never to do anything that will embarrass the industry again.
There are other members of the industry that in the past committed worst shameful act more than that of Rahma, so I discussed the issue with Kano state government and we decided to forgive her to continue her career.
Your office took popular singer, Sadiq Zazzabi, to court and also MOPPAN Secretary, Salisu, Muhammad Officer, some people see this as unnecessary witch hunting.
What is your take on this? Both Sadiq Zazzabi and Salisu Officer are my friends; our quarrel is based on their action of violating the rules of the industry.
They should k n o w that as a p o l i t i c a l appointee I am expected to do w h a t w o u l d p l e a s e t h e governor and not to do what will embarrass him.
When Governor Ganduje said we should remove Kwankwasiyya Red Cap we immediately complied because if we were supporters of Kwankwaso before we are now loyalist of Ganduje.
