COVID-19 and the Entertainment Industries in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines not only on the socio-economic implication of the lockdown on practitioners in the entertainment industry namely the cinema halls, live performances, and the film industries among others, but also it explores the ways E-entertainment was being introduced especially in music and drama industry. With the lockdown orchestrated by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in Nigeria, show lovers were being entertained through E-concerts, drive in theatre performances, and television live shows like Owambe and Pepsi Dance Party that was being showed every weekend with the audience responding on face book, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms among others. The research method is qualitative and analytical. The study employed a survey method of data collection to gather relevant material from published and unpublished materials in hard and soft copies which included online materials. The material was analyzed through mixed-method, which involved description, explanation, translation, and interpretation. The result showed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted negatively the entertainment industry, bringing to a halt the performer/audience physical participation and interaction and a lot of reduction in the socio-economic progress of entertainers and the entertainment industry depends on their audience for finance. It also opened up the need for the entertainment industry to focus more on the acquisition of E-entertainment facilities to bridge the gap between the entertainers and the audiences on a larger scale to take care of pandemic incidents like COVID-19.

Transformación de los sistemas de producción audiovisual tras la pandemia. Estudio del caso de España en el contexto europeo

“…Se escoge esta fuente por ser una de las bases de datos de revistas revisadas por pares más completas y para proporcionar información académica y científica de calidad. El número de artículos resultante fue de 14, aunque tan solo cuatro están directamente relacionados con el sector audiovisual y la covid-19 ( Johnson, 2021;Mittal y Sinha, 2021;Eze et al, 2021). El resto de artículos tienen proximidad con la covid-19 y la cultura (Kolokytha y Rozgonyi, 2021;Pérez, 2021;Ptasznik, 2020;Medoff y Kaye, 2021); periodismo y redes sociales (Carrero y García, 2021;Rodríguez et al, 2020), y también con salud pública y cine (Hoang et al, 2021).…”

Digital audience engagement in Nigeria: a shift from live to online audience experience in Tosin Jobi-Tume’s Corona Palava

“…Similarly, Nigerian theatre makers had to look for ways to engage their audiences and sustain their interest and patronage amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19. Eze et al (2021) document a rise in e-entertainment following the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. They note that entertainments for show enthusiasts included electronic concerts, drive-in theatre productions and live television programmes like Owambe and Pepsi Dance Party, which were broadcast every weekend and received audience feedback on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp,amongst others (p. 1).…”

“…Similarly, Nigerian theatre makers had to look for ways to engage their audiences and sustain their interest and patronage amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19. Eze et al . (2021) document a rise in e-entertainment following the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.…”

“…To stay in business, many Nigerian artists, including Seyi Shay, Reekado Banks, Timi Dakolo, Simi, Falz, Burna Boy, Flavour, Phyno and others, explored the option of YouTube Live shows and streaming. There was feedback from fans who used Facebook to request specific types of performances and songs from entertainers, as well as express their feelings about the performances (as cited in Eze et al ., 2021, p. 5).…”

Artists, Covid-19 and Community Sensitization in Northern Nigeria: A Thematic Analysis of Zainab A. Baba’s Song ‘Korona Bairos’

“…In Nigeria, a number of scholars have also published important works on the roles of the visual and performing artists in both community sensitization about Covid-19 and for entertainment so as to reduce boredom during the lockdown period (Eze et al, 2021; Ayinla & Amenaghawon, 2021; Amenaghawon & Salawu, 2022). For instance, the torrent of artworks produced by cartoonists, many graffiti street artists, and muralists that have taken over the private and public spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic lock-down in Nigeria with the intention of expressing their skills for support and dissent about the disease are classic examples (Otonye and Eseagwu, 2021).…”