FG bans film on Nigerian poverty, places producer under security watch

The Nigerian government has banned the airing and distribution of the documentary, Fueling Poverty, a 30-minute film which documents the massive poverty in Nigeria and advocates against corruption and greed in the country.
The documentary, released late in 2012, was produced by young filmmaker, Ishaya Bako, in partnership with the Open Society for West Africa [OSIWA].
After the project was completed last year, Mr. Bako sent it in to the National Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB, a national agency which vets,  classifies, and approves films and videos meant for distribution and exhibition in Nigeria.
But in an April 8 letter to Mr. Bako, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, the agency prohibited the distribution and exhibition of the documentary in Nigeria, saying its contents "are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security."
The letter, signed by the NFVCB's Head of Legal Services, Effiong Inwang, warned the filmmaker against violating the order, saying "all relevant national security agencies are on the alert. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Director General, Department of State Services and the Inspector General of Police for their information."
The banning of the documentary, seen by critics as further evidence of Nigeria's creeping descent into dictatorship,  came on the same day that four journalists of Abuja-based Leadership newspaper were detained by the police for refusing to name their source for a story which alleged the presidency was plotting to sabotage the merger of the leading opposition parties in the country.
A review of Fueling Poverty
Fueling Poverty, which addresses the serious issue of corruption in governance, compresses the reality of Nigerians into a 30- minutes film that immediately evokes a lot of passion-mostly anger.
The documentary goes into life, sucks from it and forms art out of it. In this sense, there is a connection between art and community in a way that art operates, socially responsible to the society it belongs.
The producers of Fueling Poverty say the essential aim of the documentary is to re-enact the "process of change driven by Nigerians."
In the mind of the filmmaker, Bako, if Nigerians are properly educated, they can hold government responsible and accountable to its actions. So, in his 30 minutes production, he tries to document the reality of contemporary Nigerian abyss and chaos, but laces the the work with a pungent advocacy against corruption and greed.
Inspired by the huge scam around the fuel subsidy exposed last year, Fueling Poverty was originally designed to be a film "advocating for the full implementation of the report of the fuel subsidy probe," however, its final realization included intrigues by Nigerian leaders who mange the oil resource and the uncanny manner in which the report of a probe into the fuel subsidy scam was turned into a charade. The film ultimately evolved into one moving, though painful, narrative against corruption and materialism in Nigeria.
The film, Mr. Bako says, was "not just talking about scam but the culture and greed in Nigeria". He said it was a timely and interesting journey, because the film covers "real issues, on everyday life."
The documentary is announced with an attention grabbing sound track, by Femi Kuti. He was one of the prominent figures of the occupy movement with ordinary Nigerian instantaneously drawn to him because of the popularity of his songs and his savour for criticising Nigeria's government, something Femi Kuti learned from his father, Fela, whom Nigerians still revere.
The documentary starts with the strong presence of Nobel Laureate,  Wole Soyinka, and his commandeering voice which immediately seizes a viewer into listening. He characterizes the subsidy scheme "a seven billion scam perpetrated at the federal government level. …[as]  essentially a scam scheme." He goes on to relate it to the prevailing corruption in Nigeria's ruling class.