In response to Peter Okoye, one half of singing sensation, P-Square’s outburst over the ban on making movies and shooting movie videos outside the cou
In response to Peter Okoye, one half of singing sensation, P-Square’s outburst over the ban on making movies and shooting movie videos outside the country, the youth wing of the ruling party, APC youth group, has called for his arrest of the Peter Okoye for comments alleged to be slanderous and defamation of character.
Quite a number of artists had condemned the Federal Government’s plan to ban the production of movie scenes and music videos outside the country as conveyed by the minister of information, Lai Mohammed.
Peter had said that he was sometimes ashamed to be called a Nigerian adding that it is usually members of the creative industry who are responsible for trying to change the narrative of the negative perceptions of the country, by virtue of their career which takes them round the world.
However, the national secretary of the APC youth group, Collins Edwin in a statement, referred to Peter Okoye as a ‘son of darkness’ and urged security agencies to arrest the musician for comments he considers slanderous and defamation of character.
“We read the scurrilous remarks credited to Mr Peter Okoye of the Psquare group against the Federal Government’s job-saving policy in the entertainment industry with great anger and vexation. Least of all persons to make scathing remarks against the government is the Psquare group which the local content policy of the Federal Government dusted-up from the valley of obscurity. Where was Peter Okoye or Psquare brand in 1999 when foreign music dominated our airwaves?
“If not for the government policy which mandated all broadcast stations in Nigeria to pay attention to Nigerian music by playing 95 per cent of Nigerian songs every day, would Peter Okoye or Psquare be known to anybody in Nigeria today? Or would they have competed with better American music which dominated our airwaves then? After the government have used its policy to brush them up from nothing to something, instead of giving opportunity to other people, they are taking Nigerian jobs to foreign countries through the shooting of music videos abroad.
“Now that government have intervened to raise great and better entertainers again, Peter Okoye has the gut to insult the entire Federal Government by calling our great leaders ‘Ndi Ala’ which means mad and stupid people. How dare you say that Psquare? We, therefore, urge the security agencies in the country to arrest Mr Peter Okoye for disrespecting our government and bringing it to disrepute. If you cannot produce in Nigeria and hire Nigerians, then leave the industry.
We must export Nigerian culture to the outside world through our music and videos.”
