It’s
hysterical, how creative industry people are never on the same page to
fight against ills in the arts industry. The profiteering in our
creative arts industry is worth a national
vigil. When will we march, hold a vigil to campaign against this ailing
industry, like our forebears did for our rights to sovereignty.
There’s the issue
about royalties that plagues our industry. Monies owned the ghanaian
entertainer by music users, payola, sex per play and countless other
hurdles. It’s a canker that needs eradication, and the earlier this
generation puts their minds to the task the better. Since our
forerunners failed in that endeavor.
Growing up we
heard a lot about how rich some of our entertainment icons were. Daddy
Lumba is an artist we all have great admiration for, some of us were
fortunate to have had a working relationship
with. He recently was in the news about disappointing his fans at an
event in accra, by failing to deliver his usual sterling performance.
A
lot took to social media lambasting him, saying if he’s sick, he
shouldn’t have taken the gig. How is he expected to pay for medical
expenses if he doesn’t take gigs? Elsewhere in the world, entertainers
at DL’s level benefit from insurance and royalties, so hardly do they
depend on gigs for survival.
Our entertainment industry is set
up to fail and force the entertainer to retire broke after five years.
It’s only by divine intervention that some old folks are still
surviving.
Entertainment in Ghana belongs in a hall of shame.
What
happened to exceptional entertainers and industry players like Daasebre
Gyamenah, Ofori Amponsah, Kwadee, Lord Kenya, Papa Yankson, Jewel
Ackah, Mark Jordan Amartey, Agiecoat, Goodies, Big Ben Production, Iddi
Koko, Bob Okala and a lot more.
It’s sad and
shameful to be part of an industry that doesn’t work. An industry that
is built on lies, peacocks and show offs. How can we entertain our
nation for years, and cannot pay school fees, utility bills and afford
affordable homes? Most of us drive in borrowed cars and live with our
mothers, depending on women and scam to survive.
We get little or no remuneration for what we do as professionals
all because we haven’t take our craft seriously. Even ECG workers get
pay and pension for unproductiveness, but the entertainer doesn’t.
I respect what some of my colleagues are up to, but sincerely they have missed the point.
Some
say it’s an opposition ploy to unseat the incumbent. In the last
elections, the entertainer wasn’t clever about dipping it’s hands in the
politician’s pouch. They climbed stages, performed and campaigned in
the open which resulted in lost of some carriers, so this maybe a smart plan this time around.
If
so, I say kudos to the political strategist who conceived this dumb
idea, and to my colleagues who bought into the idea, I say its sad. It’s
a hypocritical approach to a dire national issue, but hey, what do I know! In politics morals don’t come to play.
We have failed to exhibit seriousness in our enterprise, and for a long time we have been taken for granted. Going on a #dumsor vigil won’t change that perception about us.
Are
we offering a solution to the power cuts by demonstrating? Or it’s a
political scheme? #dumsor didn’t start with this administration and
won’t stop at their feet.
The power rationing issue
is a genuine one plaguing the nation, and to play politics with it is
sad. As entertainers If we are rooting for the right things to be done,
we must first apply it in our illustrious circles. By mounting incessant
pressure on our arts ministry, even if we have one, to set up proper
and potent structures.
Yes indeed, constant flow of
power is imperative to run our diseased industry, but it’s a quarter of
our humongous problem. The critical issue we rather put on a back
burner.
Presently Shatta Wale and Sarkodie are traveling the
world, where will they be tomorrow. Socrates Sarfo had one of the best
movies on the market sometime back, what has become of his production
house? Bullhaus Entertainment manages one of the best artiste in the country now, where will we be in five years?
These are pertinent questions we should ask, bearing in mind our unpalatable industry.
It’s
sad enough we have to travel our neighboring african countries to earn
more. Nigeria has the worse energy crisis in the world. Can we compare
or arts industry to theirs?
We need power as a people to run a profitable economy, but its a our national duty and responsibility to preserve it.
God help our homeland Ghana… #sikanhyira #magicalyear
Lawrence Asiamah Hanson
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