Jubal Kanayo writes about the need for an insurance safety net for Nollywood practitioners.
In 2015, just as the ‘Happy New year’ wishes toned down and the year began to ease into business as usual, Nigerians got a rude shock. On January 15, it was announced that actor Munachi Obiekwe was dead. Many laughed it off, as the next day, a Facebook account purported to be his laughed off the rumours.
Alas, it was confirmed a few days after that he had died of a kidney disease. He was buried in February of the same year.
In January 2020, CEO of JennisFilms Production Ltd., Jennifer Omole died in Spain. She has long been buried in that country.
Toyosi Arigbabuwo, died on January 13, 2020, at his residence in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, after battling an undisclosed illness for six months.
In February 2020, another thespian Olukayode Odumosu died of complications resulting from a heart disease. In his case, he did get assistance in the form of N2million from a former governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, towards his medical treatment.
In March 2020, Frank Dallas dropped dead in his hotel room in Umuahia, Abia State. Many believe it was a heart condition.
Veteran Yoruba filmmaker and actor, Gbenga Ajumoko, died 22nd March 2020, after battling with diabetes and hypertension. For over 6 months, Ajumoko was in a hospital in Sagamu Remo.
Alkali Matt, popularly known as ‘Dareng’, died while filming on set on March 24, 2020. Matt passed on at around 7 pm, while filming on a set for an epic movie in a village near Keffi.
Nigerian actors are dropping dead like flies are there are no insurance policies both on-location and personal to take care of them.
The list is endless; Enebeli Elebuwa, Sam Loko Efe, Chris Erakpotobo…they all died waiting for promised funds or depending on public goodwill.
Chika Okpala is one of the few who has been able to get gigs going to keep body and soul together but that is just a drop in the ocean. The issue runs so deep that, even on location, there is no provision insurance or safety.
Nonchalance
According to Prince Shalom a production crew for one of the production companies in the east, no one ever talks about welfare and insurance on location.
“I have never heard talk about anything related to insurance. I have not even seen a first aid box. If you get injured, you go treat yourself. If you are lucky and you are close to the producer or executive producer, then he can bear the cost for you. If not, you are on your on.”
Shalom is just one of millions of Nollywood practitioners who bear their families on their back.If anything happens to them, just as it did to the families of hundreds of veterans before them, if there are no alternatives, their families come unstuck.
Lagos-based actress Osakwe Mildred thinks there is more emphasis on money than on the welfare of anyone involved in the movie.
“In most cases, when the plan is made, no one talks about the actor or actress. Emphasis is on getting the movie out there. Every other thing is secondary.
“Most times, I look at those who have gone before us, those who inspired us to take up this profession and how they ended up begging for goodwill on Social Media. Who wants to end up like that? So, what we do is find stuff we can do when we leave set or ensure that we get as much gigs as possible. This way, we get to keep our finances going.”
‘The Bigger Picture’
For the CEO of Uzee Concepts, Uzee Usman Adeyemi, the issue is far bigger than nonchalance. It is more systemic than individual.
“To be honest, no Nollywood production outfit has that arrangement. Recently, Iroko TV made it compulsory for all its producers (I am one of them) to get their production crew insurance covers which will stretch for a year and, then, be extended. That way, both sides are covered during production.
“For production crew, it is understandable. Some crew members stay with you for years, before they leave. For actors and actresses, it is more complicated. In most places where the industry is more organised, actors spend six, seven months on location and they have thousands of dollars budgeted for it. In that case, you can get everyone on set a one-year plan. Over here, the most we spend on site is two weeks. Where will you get the finance for that and what kind of insurance cover do you want to buy for two, three weeks? When the actor leaves your set in three weeks, he or she is onto another set. What happens to the plan? Financially, this is not workable, given the way Nollywood is presently, my brother.”
Uzee is not alone. The CEO of Fun-Code Media Consulting, Ugochukwu Favour-Mayor agrees with him but, for him, he goes the extra mile.
“Presently, there is no insurance plan for actors. The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) is not very proud seeing its members on Social Media soliciting for funds. Because of this, it instituted its own insurance arrangement for its members. But, how realistic is this? There are certain terms involved before one can get registered. The primary aim is for every actor to register and pay something into that plan, so that, when they get injured on location or are no more active, they can support themselves.”
Inspite of that, Mayor is of the opinion that all who are on set deserve to have some form of welfare cover.
“As a producer, you have to protect all those who work for you, whether they are the crew or cast. If you don’t and something happens to them, your work will suffer. On locations, I provide everything – including a short-term arrangement that covers for the period – except insurance. Sadly, it is not like that everywhere.”
An actress who would rather go by the name Dolly than have her name in print said: “Let us look at the bigger picture, as you call it. When I go on set, depending on what role I am playing, how much do I get? I need to find my way back to where I am coming from, feed myself, take care of dependents who think I went for something big and, then, survive until I get another role.
“We know insurance is important but how do we pay for it? How many Nigerians can pay for insurance or, even, a decent pensions’ plan? True, on screen, we live huge lives but, realistically, more than half of us do not earn enough to keep body and soul together.”
Solution
For Uzee, most actors earn enough to set something aside while some are not paid enough.
“They are independent people and they can set something aside to get them insured. Some who are not paid enough can save up, while those who are well paid can set it aside for themselves. The situation is a little tricky but we can all get by.”The president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, echoed Dolly’s position.
“We agree that some actors have died in situations that could have been helped but this did not happen because of wastefulness. No. It happened because they never earned enough, even though many do not manage their wealth, as it is.
“After we looked at the situation and decide that it can be avoided, in March 2018 the guild inaugurated its insurance scheme. Yes, we do have an insurance plan, but it depends on when the actors pay.”
Rollas argues that the presence of the scheme has not made it attractive to actors.
“We are not magicians. We need to convince them to understand that this is for their good. So, to do this, we have a task force that goes from location to location educating people and seeing about the enrolment. Even at that, many do not think it is something they should give a try or invest in.”
Given the painful way most thespians die, the guild does what it can to remember its fallen.
“In Abuja this year, during one of our gatherings, before COVID-19 froze everything, we gave a post-humous award to Sam Loco Efe and his son was on-hand to receive it. We also honoured Justus Esiri and J.T Tom West.”
Improved pay?
Will improved pay help the situation?
“Actually, we are trying to get by. You pay based on the budget made for a film and its proposed international or national appeal.So, there can never really be a structure. It all depends on the budget.
“Everywhere in the world, there is an amount actors of a particular cadre are paid. It is the same here, bro,” said Uzee.
Rollas thinks that more streams of income can do the magic.
“For example, it television stations and a number of other international satellite outfits – permit me not to call names – can pay royalties for the films they air so freely, these actors and actresses will have more streams of income, courtesy of the production houses which hired them at the time.
“Alas, this is not so. The solution remains the insurance or pension cover for actors. That is a great place to start and that is where we have started. We can only hope everyone who is involved sees what we are trying to do and comes aboard.”
