[Yomi]

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says Nigerian brands advertising during foreign matches must compulsorily advertise during Nigerian Premier Football League games or N100,000 each time such adverts are run.

Lai Mohammed made this known on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme on Monday, saying it will help the local league thrive.

Lai Mohammed noted that “Let’s assume you have brought in La Liga, and during the matches, Guinness is advertised, we will compel you, we will compel Guinness to also advertise when we are playing a local league. That is the only way we can grow this industry but as can be expected, we have had very few supporters.”

“If you do an advert in South Africa, you put it on CNN and we look at that advert and we see that the advert was not made in Nigeria but actually made in South Africa, or you see that five times a day, it is on CNN, you pay half a million to us. The half a million will go to the Content Development Fund.”

Lai Mohammed revealed that it is in line with the amended broadcasting codes that adverts of products that are meant for Nigerian audience must be aired in Nigeria.

“What is common today is to see products made in Nigeria but the advert for those products are actually probably done in South Africa or in the US. So, we amended the code to say that if a product you want to advertise in Nigeria territory is made in Nigeria, grown in Nigeria or processed in Nigeria, then you must make sure that the advert is also produced in Nigeria.

“We are not stopping you from making your production in America or South Africa but if you are going to advertise in Nigerian territory, you will pay a fine of N100,000.

“In other words, if Gulder makes an advert in South Africa and it is shown on NTA, if it shows it 10 times a day, it will pay N100,000 fine 10 times.”

“We went further to say that if a company should invest $1m in bringing EPL to Nigeria, that company must also be ready to spend 30 per cent of that $1m in producing a local content along the same line.

“In other words, if Maltina or Guinness decides to bring in EPL, which is English football, we have no problem with that. But they must also invest in covering our local league to the tune of 30 per cent of what he has paid,” the minister said.

Lai Mohammed bemoans the manipulative tendencies of foreign companies which said is responsible for the lack of growth in the Nigeria Broadcast industry.

“The NBC has issued about 30 pay-TV licences but only one is managing to survive. Why? Because of these anti-competitive and manipulative tendencies of these foreign companies,” he said.

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