By With airlines now operating, Nigerian cinema exhibitors, distributors and employees have sent an urgent save-our-soul (SOS) message to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to speedily open the theatrical sector of the economy, including the film industry, to prevent what it termed ‘their imminent collapse’.
The association said the theatrical sector of the economy had lost over $50m (N22.5billion) and more than 5,000 industry jobs since the Federal Government imposed the lockdown in March, as part of its efforts to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, CEAN, made the appeal at a meeting held recently at the Lagos State Safety Commission, LSSC, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
Although CEAN acknowledged government’s effort to re-open the economy, with emphasis on prioritising the safety of Nigerians, it observed that it was also “expedient to consider the huge economic disaster brought upon this very important sector by the continued suspension of cinema operations and other film-based businesses” in the country.
