Award-winning filmmaker, Ishaya Bako’s documentary film, ‘Fuelling Poverty’ – a commentary on the culture of greed and corruption in modern Nigeria articulated through the Fuel Subsidy Scam – will be premiered at Silverbird Cinemas in Abuja on November 29 and later online, December 1. It is 2012, the country is Nigeria and between a very active militant group and an unpopular president, the most common word is an unlikely one: “SUBSIDY”. From three year olds in Warri to septuagenarians in Potiskum, lives have been affected and the word ‘subsidy’ has personified hardship, oppression and corruption at an exponential level. The oil subsidy placed on petroleum products by the Nigerian government was meant to provide a much-needed relief on the cost of living in one of the most complicated countries in the world. However after a probe by the House of Representatives, it was revealed that about seven billion dollars was stolen from the Nigerian people in one year from the same program that was meant to provide relief for them. It is quite possibly one of the most daring frauds in history. ‘Fuelling Poverty’ is a documentary that expresses and articulates this fraud. Its objectives are to: Educate Nigerians and the international community on the oil subsidy scam and the ensuing probe; Provide easy to understand information on the cost of the oil subsidy scam on Nigerians; Adequately ’embarrass’ to ensure that a process of house cleaning is started and an implementation of the subsidy report or policies that curb this level of corruption. The documentary, made by award winning director, Ishaya Bako[1] follows the fuel subsidy saga from the deliberations between government and civil society at the infamous “Lagos Townhall meeting” in 2011, through the unprecedented January 2012 protests (#OccupyNigeria) to the House of Representatives probe and the [Farouk Lawan vs Femi Otedola] scandal. It features commentary from renowned lawyer and activist, Femi Falana; musician and activist, Seun Kuti, social entrepreneur – Japheth Omojuwa, former minister to the FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and a host of others. Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, gives an introduction to the documentary, which undermines the decadence that led to the fuel subsidy scam to acknowledge the next generation of young patriotic Nigerians. With music from Femi Kuti and Asa, FUELLING POVERTY is another collaboration between the award-winning team of writer/ director, Ishaya Bako and producer, Oliver Aleogena; a joint production between The Allied Film Company and Amateur Heads Media. The film is funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).]]>