Nigerian Actors Pledge Support for FOI Campaign

Lagos, Thursday, April 27, 2006: A new script on the advocacy for the Freedom of Information Bill was written today when the members of the Lagos Chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGON) pledged to support all of the advocacy efforts that will ensure that the Bill becomes law.

The President of the Lagos Chapter of AGON, Mr. Remmy Ohiajinanya, said Nigerian actors were prepared to make sacrifices and contribute positively to the campaign for the passage of the Bill into law. 

Mr. Ohiajinanya spoke at a meeting held in Lagos and attended by over 200 actors and actresses.  The meeting was a follow-up to a workshop for professional associations, organizations and groups organized by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) to broaden the constituency for support for the Freedom of Information Bill.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Tive Denedo, MRA’s Director of Campaigns, noted that actors, like most professionals, require information for the production of epics, historical and other types of documentaries for their large audiences.

Mr. Denedo described the acting profession as a gold mine which remains untapped  because the government has failed to respond to the huge reserve of the human resource available in the Guild by making the funding of arts and culture to lack public participation, openness, transparency and accountability.

Members of the Guild expressed concern over the delay in processing the Bill at the National Assembly but pledged their commitment to work for its passage into law.

The members undertook to embark on a range of advocacy efforts, including contacting their representatives in the National Assembly by telephone and through SMS appeals; writing articles to explain and clarify the purposes of the proposed law and incorporating issues in the Bill into their movie or documentary productions.