During the first two decades of the twentieth century, the development of the cinemas was encouraged by the government and the church. While the Christian missionaries used the cinemas for religious propaganda, the government used the cinemas for advertisement purposes and the raising of fund for war relief and for the Red Cross during the First World War.
During the early era of cinema in the country, movies showed where mostly documentaries and films were mainly newsreels.Cinemas established between 1930s and 1940s offered entertainment to the fast increasing lovers of cinemas. In the late 1950s mobile cinemas sprung up with traveling theater groups entertaining people with drama, dance, and other forms of entertainment. This concept was hugely appreciated by the Nigerian audience and the most popular once where the Agbegijo and Alarinjo groups.
The cinema culture was greatly impacted on by the Nigerian oil boom off 1973-1978. Foreign capital was pumped into the industry and investors came in to build cinema complexes in the cities. The economy was experiencing a boom so citizens could afford cinema entertainment.However, this era did not last long as there was a decline in the cinema theater attendance and viewership from the 1980s.
This decline in the cinema culture was attributed to some of these factors;- The introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) by the Ibrahim Babangida military administration in the 1980s. This wiped off the middle class as there was no extra money to spare for entertainment as citizens barely fed.- The devaluation of the Nigerian currency.- Cinema theaters were dilapidated, poorly ventilated, and were regarded as dens of petty criminals
The re-birth of the cinema culture and tradition has been a welcome development, Ben Murray Bruce’s establishment of the Silverbird Cinemas in 2004. This has now made going to the cinema fashionable, even among the video CD and television viewing generation. Other private sector entertainment outfits includes Genesis Deluxe Cinemas and Ozone cinemas.
The cost of seeing a movie now ranges from N500 –N1,500 for a regular movie while the 3D movie cost N2,500. These cinema houses are places for entertainment, social outing and networking for the present generation as compared to the past where it was mainly for information, education and cultural development of the masses.
Cuddled from: http://bikadvisory.com/wp/the-re-birth-of-cinema-culture-in-nigerian-the-past-present-and-future
