Prof. AbdulRasheed Adeoye, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, says the he COVID-19 pandemic had created “window for creativity” for entertainment industry workers.
Adeoye spoke disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the fate of entertainment industry after COVID-19 in the university.
He urged humanity to prepare for new ways of doing things whenever the rampaging coronavirus crisis subsides.
The don said that the pandemic had affected everything without exception, adding that all the various sectors of the economy will witness new ways of operations to keep them going.
The professor of Performing Arts, however, noted that as perilous as the situation was , it also had its positive values on the arts and entertainment.
According to him, the lockdown must have given many artists and entertainers opportunity to explore their sense of imagination.
Adeoye said that many influential artistic producers across ages had their genesis in times like this.
He said that the period of confinement would always afford creative minds the opportunity to engage in intensive soul-searching, which often eventuated in fantastic productions with pervasive influence.
He noted that apart from agriculture, the entertainment industry was the highest employer of labour in the country with enormous revenue generation potentials.
Adeoye said that the nation was bound to reap a lot from the arts and culture sub-sector as time progresses.
He, however, debunked the notion that entertainment was one narrow industry that contributed little or nothing to the Nigerian economy.
”Apart from agriculture, the entertainment industry is the highest employer of labour where about 2.5 million people are annually employed. It is an industry we cannot joke with,” he said.
The don further said that the amount of money made out of the success of ”The Wedding Party”, a Nollywood movie, would take scientists years in the laboratory to actualise.
”When the society wants to deconstruct the artists, they look at them as unserious people who have nothing to offer the society.
“The Nollywood industry alone contributes 2.3 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria,” Adeoye said.
He added that if the industry contributed 2.3 per cent (about N239 billion), it was improper for any organisation to look at it as unserious people. (NAN)
