What is the MOPICON Law, And Why Has It Made So Many Nigerians Mad?

A recent bill that seeks to regulate Nollywood has Nigerians up in arms on Social Media and we are trying to get to the root of the matter.

The bill, passed by the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria (MOPICON) has been in the offing for almost TEN YEARS now. The bill, according to DoubleEph (on Twitter) is supposed to 'sanitize' Nollywood- the Nigerian movie industry - by seeking to regulate every aspect of the industry.

The bill itself seeks to set up an administrative panel that will be funded on the mostly outrageous budgets similar to what is paid any administrative team in Nigeria's political terrain. Nigeria's budget- which runs into trillions of naira-can expect to get larger if this bill- which will come under the umbrella of the Nigerian minister of culture - is passed.

With great MOPICON, comes the need for registration. While the bill will ensure that more parasitic fangs latch on to the nipples of governance, membership into MOPICON will be broken into three categories: associate, full and fellow members.

Some of the 'laws' in the MOPICON bill are as follows:
1. You must be 18 years old.
2. Be of 'good character', without a criminal record and must be of 'sound mind.'
3. You will go to jail if you produce a film without the right paperwork if the bill is passed :)