KEY POINTS
- Dr. Ali Nuhu, MD of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), has called for the urgent restoration and archiving of the nation’s motion pictures to protect national memories.
- Speaking at a strategic workshop in Abuja, Nuhu highlighted the Archival Studies Master’s Programme as a critical tool for developing skilled manpower in film preservation.
- The initiative focuses on digitization, restoration, and policy frameworks to ensure historical creative works remain accessible to future generations.
- International partners, including the Swiss National Film Archive and German institutions, are collaborating to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure and equipment gap.
MAIN STORY
The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) is intensifying efforts to save the nation’s cinematic legacy from physical and digital decay. At a one-day strategic engagement titled “Empowering Nigerian Audiovisual Heritage Future” on Wednesday, NFC helmsman Dr. Ali Nuhu emphasized that preserving audiovisual materials is a matter of national security and cultural identity.
He noted that without professional intervention, decades of artistic expression and historical records are at risk of total extinction.
The workshop served as a six-year review of a unique Master’s degree programme designed to train specialists in film culture and archive management. Utilizing a hybrid study module, the programme brings together academic rigor and practical sessions in areas such as classification and reuse methods.
Executive Director of the NFVCB, Dr. Shaibu Husseini, pointed out that many films produced in previous decades are already inaccessible, necessitating an aggressive shift toward converting analog archives into modern, accessible digital formats.
THE ISSUE
The primary challenge facing the sector is a “Technical and Infrastructure Deficit.” While Nigeria boasts one of the world’s most prolific film industries, it lacks the specialized equipment and facilities required for high-level restoration and long-term storage. This has led to a “Knowledge Gap” where the creative output outpaces the archival capacity. To resolve this, the NFC is leveraging international partnerships with institutions like Goethe University and the Arsenal Institute to facilitate technology transfer and ensure that Nigerian graduates meet global standards for heritage management.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
- “There is an urgent need to restore and archive Nigerian motion pictures to protect national memories and historical records from extinction,” stated Dr. Ali Nuhu, MD of the NFC.
- “The programme is designed to provide in-depth knowledge for the management, preservation, and archiving of creative works,” Nuhu added regarding the specialized curriculum.
- “Nigeria has rich audiovisual collections… the aim is to build a network for knowledge and technology transfer,” noted Prof. Vinzenz Hediger of the Swiss National Film Archive.
- “There are films produced many years ago that are no longer accessible; we need to convert them into formats that can be accessed,” remarked Dr. Shaibu Husseini, ED of the NFVCB.
WHAT’S NEXT
- A robust, updated curriculum reflecting future trends in digital archiving will be finalized following the workshop’s outcomes.
- The NFC, in collaboration with the National Film, Video, and Sound Archive in Jos, will prioritize the conversion of high-priority historical films.
- A new network for sharing skills and personnel will be established among the CBAAC, Pan-Atlantic University, and the NFVCB.
- Graduates of the specialized Master’s programme will be strategically placed within national institutions to lead modern preservation efforts.
BOTTOM LINE
The Bottom Line is that Nigeria’s cinematic past is currently “fading to black” due to technical neglect. By empowering a new generation of professional archivists and digitizing old reels, Dr. Ali Nuhu and the NFC are ensuring that the story of Nigeria is not just told today, but preserved forever. For the film industry to truly have a future, it must first secure its history.
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