Chris Ihidero Unedited: Of sound and fury, signifying little – Goodbye Zara Gretti

By Chris Ihidero

At one of those many conferences we like to have in Lagos, where much is said but little is ever done, I once listened to Obi Asika talk about how small the Nigerian music scene is in reality. Obi suggested that if someone came into the music industry with as little as $10 million, a takeover was all but done. I thought his summation was spot on. This is of course the music industry we like to claim is the biggest in Africa because the songs of our artistes are played in clubs from Cape Town to Cairo and everywhere else in between. Big? Don’t make me laugh, please. A truly big music industry would have at least one properly set up and functioning label. We have none.

The pop artiste Zara Gretti passed on last week after battling multiple sclerosis for a while. She needed N3.7m for her treatment but raised only N2.4m by the time she passed. Zara never became a top artiste, so never made major money. I am not one to bash artistes who have made money for not pitching in when a colleague needs help; you have the right to do whatever you desire with your money and I am not going to guilt-trip anyone.

But it says something when a young woman who was beginning to make a way in her career falls ill and could not even raise enough money for her treatment within her industry, either directly or through influence. How big is this industry that can’t, directly or through influence, do little things?  Oh yes, OJB raised enough money for his liver transplant and had enough leftover to upgrade his lifestyle. Perhaps Zara didn’t have good government links. Was there even any concerted effort to raise the money, beyond tweets and Instagram posts? If 2face, Wizkid, Omawumi and Olamide did one benefit concert, Zara’s story might have been different, perhaps.

The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) prides itself on being the biggest network in Africa, reaching over 30 million people per day in Nigeria alone. What it doesn’t say is that it is the most obsolete in programming. I do not know a single soul who still watches NTA News. This same network practically had you glued to your TV sets just a few decades ago, with drama productions that remain classics: ‘Cockcrow at Dawn’, ‘The Village Headmaster’, ‘New Masquerade’, ‘Mirror in the Sun’, ‘Ripples’ and many more.  Today the NTA is basically an eyesore and an embarrassment to many Nigerians. Who wants to admit that he/she watches anything on NTA? It once had a DG who was given around N11 billion by the government and he didn’t put a kobo in programming. Big for nothing is more like what it is.

Nollywood is globally recognised as a phenomenon, whether you respect it or not. Conferences, seminars and festivals are held to celebrate Nollywood all over the world all through the year. Those who rubbished it for many years now associate with it as it gives them a launching pad for international recognition. But look beyond all the shiny outfits at movie premieres and awards red carpets and what do you see? Not a lot. For too long we have celebrated the phenomenon without structuring the industry for true growth. Distribution is still comatose. We have never had as many lightweight actors masquerading as A-list stars in the history of Nollywood, as we currently have. We are producing fewer films than we did 20 years ago even as better technology has become more available and affordable. Where the NTA and video cassettes were your only means of getting your production to the audience 3 decades ago, a million channels are available now through the Internet. Yet one is forced to ask; where is the bloody content? Many more film school graduates today than at any point in our history, yet again, a lot less is being done.

I suppose it is preposterous to expect better from people from a country that is itself an epitome of massive sounds and furies, signifying little on a bewildering scale. This country is the sum total of our individual failures.

So, goodbye Zara Gretti. Rest well. When you are well rested, come back and fulfil your cosmic mission. Your soul still has songs to sing.

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