Popular actor, Saidi Balogun has said that the House of Representatives’ failure to enact strong anti-piracy laws is killing the entertainment industry in Nigeria.
He said that this failure has made it impossible for actors and other creatives in the movie production value chain to earn decent wages.
According to him, the inability to earn decent wages has made actors unable to afford health insurance, which has led many to their early graves.
The actor said this in an interview with The Punch which was first published in 2017.
The Herald can report that there has been an upsurge in the number of actors seeking the Nigerian public’s assistance for financial assistance to cover medical expenses in the present day.
John Okafor, popularly known as Mr. Ibu, and Amaechi Muonagor are recent examples of actors who have directly or indirectly sought help from the public.
Saint Obi, Dejumo Lewis, Ojo Arowosafe, popularly known as Fadeyi Oloro, Femi Ogunrombi, aka Papa Ajasco, and Chief Adedeji Aderemi, popularly known as Olofa Ina, are veteran actors who have recently passed to the great beyond.
Saidi Balogun said, “People die but because we are in the public eye, death of actors resonates more. Two million people can die but nobody would write about them unlike when actors die.
“People die every day. It is not that we are not checking ourselves, it happens but I am begging all actors to work on their health. I was supposed to celebrate my birthday from May 24 to 26 but I postponed it in honour of our fallen colleagues.”
He added, “The reason why most actors solicit for funds when they are ill is because of lack of health insurance and we should talk to insurance companies about that. If we are making our money now, we should look at health insurance policy for future sake.
“I keep begging that the House of Representatives pass hard laws on piracy because if we are making good money, we would be able to subscribe to insurance policies.
“If I am making N500,000 and the school fees of my daughter is N600,000, where would I see money for insurance? It is the people that are not passing hard laws on piracy that are killing us.
“I have an insurance policy as the President of The Golden Movies Ambassadors of Nigeria. I have been on an insurance policy for over four years.”