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A front-line movie producer and distributor, Gabriel Okoye, popularly known as Igwe Gabosky,will live with the sad memory for a long time of his efforts to create an enabling environment for stakeholders in the Nigerian movie industry but ended up bruising himself in the process.
The bandana loving producer of Nollywood classics such as ‘Nneka, the Pretty Serpent’, ‘The Battle of Musanga’, ‘Beyond the Vow’, ‘Wedlock of Blood’ among others was one of the beneficiaries of the Bank of Industry intervention fund aimed at developing the creative industry some years back.
He was empowered by BoI with over NI billion to create the biggest media distribution company for intellectual property in Africa.
Gabosky recalled how he had set up a nationwide distribution platform better known as G-Media in 2013. But he never reaped the fruits of his sweat as movie pirates wrecked his project and left him bankrupt.
Narrating his ordeal in a recent chat with our reporter, Gabosky also blamed some industry stakeholders for his woes, claiming that they ganged up against him.
According to him, some cinema owners who initially agreed to work with him in terms of distribution and exhibition of the movies, suddenly turned against him while enjoying support from some staff of BoI.
He narrates: “I got my fingers burnt after my sad journey with Bank of Industry. I have been a businessman since 1987. I have never recorded any failure in my business dealings. I have never borrowed money in my life to run my business until I came in contact with the Bank of Industry in 2014. That was when I borrowed money for the first time from a bank. And that was the beginning of my woes.”
” I didn’t know that there was a gang up waiting for me, as we were running promos for the business, for my association, my collaboration and my cooperation with the Bank of Industry to better the industry.”
“BoI meant well for the industry as they were providing sponsorship in the area of distribution networks a situation that changed the equation in Nollywood. But immediately I unveiled my distribution platform, pirates increased their illegal acts, pirating almost all the films I released at that time. So, all my efforts amounted to nothing.”
Gabosky who last shot a movie in 2010 which is yet to be released?, added that following his ordeal he has resolved to venture into other businesses and forget about the entertainment industry for now.
He continued, ” I commissioned film makers to producer the best of Nigerian films as well as prevailed on BoI to sponsor digital video editing suites and studios which I got the likes of Kingsley Ogoro, Kunle Afolanya, Chike of Afrinolly and late Chris Ekejimbe to access funds from the bank to digitize their studios to the best of global practice.”
“And everybody appreciated my efforts. None of them got less than N50 million to digitize their studios. When we produced the first set of movies, some cinema owners went behind to frustrate the effort, refusing to distribute the films. They claimed they were the only operators that would act as exhibitors and distributors. As if that was not enough, they collaborated with an official of the Bank of Industry to frustrate my effort.”.
“That was how I decided to withdraw from the project as they ended up messing the industry because of greed. I had to close down all my distribution platforms nationwide because of the fact that I had no money to sustain the business any more. More so, BoI refused to release the last phase of the funds to me. Till date, the bank is still in custody of my property which I used as collateral. I have put everything behind me and moved on with my life. My plan is to venture into other business outlets and forget about the entertainment industry for now,” Gabosky lamented.
Gabosky was empowered by BOI with over NI billion to create the biggest media distribution company for intellectual property in Africa. The Nollywood film investor had set up a nationwide distribution platform better known as G-Media in 2013. The project which kicked off in 2014, involved establishing about 25 stores spread across the nation, 30 regional distributors as well as 4000 community distribution stores.
But after all these futile efforts, the popular producer is still counting his losses in a hard way. His foray into Nollywood dates back to 1992, after some filmmakers led by Okechukwu Oguejiafor asked him to sponsor the now remake classic, ‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent.’ The movie, which cost him N4.5 million, was an instant hit.
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