The President, Entertainment Database and a Nigerian Flutist, Omatshola Iseli, popularly known as “Tee Mac”, on Thursday called on the Federal Government to provide COVID-19 palliatives to Nigerian entertainers.
Tee Mac, who
made this call in an interview in Lagos, said Nigerian entertainers were worst
hit by the restrictions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iseli, also
the Chairman, Entertainment Foundation, said the fact that night clubs and
multipurpose halls had been shut down and ban on live shows, entertainers like
musicians, actors and comedians have been hugely affected.
According to
him, with this development, Nigerian Entertainers have no streams of income.
Tee Mac said
that palliatives must be extended to these groups of individuals just as
practiced in other climes like Europe and United States of America (USA).
He said
unfortunately, no Nigerian entertainers had received any palliative from the
governments since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tee Mac said
the Federal Government should revisit the issue of COVID-19 palliatives meant
for Nigerian Entertainers and ensured that they truly benefited from it.
“Nigerian
Entertainers are suffering, if the government bans live shows, night clubs and
multipurpose halls from operating, they should also cushion the effect on
entertainers who were not working by providing palliatives.
“In 2020, we
were told that some money was earmarked as COVID-19 palliative for Nigerian
Entertainers but up till now, no musician, comedian or actor has received any
dime as palliative.
“This is
disheartening and I plead with the government to wade into this issue promptly
because Nigerian entertainers are really suffering.
“In
Switzerland, every musician gets US$3,000 per month, in the United States of
America, they get US$1,500 per month while musicians in the United Kingdom get
1,500 pounds, this is because their wellbeing is prioritized.
“Nigeria
should not be an exemption, the wellbeing of musicians, comedians, visual
artists and actors must be placed on the front burner,” he said.
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