KANNYWOOD SPECIAL: New MOPPAN leadership grapples with challenges after acrimonious elections

The new Executive Council members of the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria, MOPPAN, are trying to come to terms with the daunting nature of the many challenges facing the association they were last week elected to lead for the next two years.

This is in spite of the fact that, even before the election that took place at Royal Tropicana Hotel, Kano, most of the problems bedevilling Kannywood as an industry were visible to almost all the stakeholders.

When the association zoned its presidency to Kaduna State, two popular producers, Yakubu Lere and Abdullahi Maikano Usman, immediately indicated interest. Mr. Maikano is the Chairman of Iman Ventures and Communications Nig. Ltd while Mr. Lere is Chairman of Lerawa Films Production.

They eventually slugged it out with Al-amim Ciroma, a popular Kaduna film director, actor and former editor of LEADERSHIP Hausa, for the position. Mr. Ciroma is now a director of the Abuja-based Hausa weekly newspaper.

Mr. Maikano emerged winner with 57 votes, ahead of Mr. Lere who polled 14 votes. Mr. Ciroma got 13 votes. The electorate was constituted by five representatives of each of the northern state chapters of MOPPAN. The association is comprised by the different guilds of Kannywood producers, directors, actors, editors and scriptwriters.

PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA learnt that, even as they celebrated their election, the new executive members were troubled by the monumental problems of MOPPAN.

As at the time of the election last weekend, its purse was virtually empty. A source told PREMIUM TIMES Hausa that the association had been evicted from its rented office along Zoo Road in Kano.

But even more worrisome is the disunity in the association, exacerbated by the suspicion of government interference in the election.

MOPPAN came into being as a counterpoise to the Arewa Film Makers Association championed by Hamisu Lamido Iyan Tama of Iyan Tama Multi Media Company, an A-Class producer and actor.

Abdulkarim Mohammed was the first, followed by Sani Mu’azu and Umar Faruq Jibrin, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, as well as Chairman of Kwality Film Production. Mr. Jibrin was also Commissioner of Information during the second tenure of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano.

A few hours before the elections last week in Kano, there was a rumour that the Kaduna State Government had sent a delegation to monitor the event. PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA confirmed the presence of some officials of the state at Royal Tropicana Hotel, venue of the elections about 20 hours before the exercise commenced.

It was not surprising therefore that both Messrs. Lere and Ciroma were bitter over their defeat in the presidential election. An associate of Mr. Ciroma railed to PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA that some voters were allegedly induced financially to change their minds a few hours before the election. But Mr. Ciroma gamely congratulated Mr. Maikano after the election and promised to work with him.

The two defeated presidential candidates may have been victims of political circumstances. Whereas Mr. Lere is an open antagonist of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Mr. Ciroma was at the forefront of a war of words with the Kano State government when a popular musician, Sadiq Zazzabi, was arrested for allegedly violating the state’s censor law.

Another factor that probably affected Mr. Ciroma was his vehement stance against the suspension of Rahma Sadau from Kannywood by the Kano chapter of MOPPAN. PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA learnt that some of the voters decided against voting for Mr. Ciroma because his presidency might influence the lifting of Ms. Sadau’s suspension.

Many participants were also not happy that Katsina State did not win a single position in the new exco. When PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA interviewed the newly sworn-in MOPPAN President, Mr. Maikano, he pointed out that it was an election and not selection. But he said he was not happy, as a person, that no contestant from Katsina sSate won any of the 12 positions.

“Let me tell you what happened when an official of Kaduna Youth Development called three of the contestants, including me. They told us that they wanted us to assure them that this election will not bring crisis in Kaduna. You know, there was a primary election in Kaduna before, which was later rejected.”

He believed that he won the election because of his immense contributions to the development of Hausa films in the north.

Mr. Maikano, however, promised to carry all Kannywood stakeholders along.

“I belong to everybody and I don’t have a single enemy. Let us come together and work for the benefit and for the purpose of taking Hausa film industry to a greater height.”

The new MOPPAN president is the producer of “Samira”, “Zumudi”, “Jinin Masoya”, “Dare Daya”, “Imani”, “Mutum Sai Allah” etc. He is also the scriptwriter of the series, Gatanan Ku and Rayuwa.

When PREMUIM TIMES HAUSA asked Mr. Maikano about the state of the purse of the association, he said the handover was not yet formulated. On the issue of the association’s headquarters, he said it was resolved immediately after their inauguration in Kano

The newly elected leadership of MOPPAN include: