Alibaba’s ‘Piracy’ Appeal To President Jonathan Backfires

Alibaba’s appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to help rid the entertainment industry of pirates backfired as some entertainers did not take likely to his demand.

At an interactive session with the President recently, entertainers from the music and movie industries especially gathered to show their support for the President’s second term bid.

The session featured several live performances from singers including Waje, Oritsefemi, Sir Victor Uwaifo and many others.

However, Alibaba was more interested in issues plaguing the industry, piracy being the top item on the list.

During a question and answer session, Alibaba asked the President to help rid the entertainment market of pirates, rather than continue to give financial support as he had done throughout his first term in office.

“How are we going to deal with pirates so that we can put our products in the market and make money from it; Because if you give us $5 billion to bring a product out in the market, as soon as it is in the market, if a pirate gets one it’s over.”

The comedian told Entertainment News on Channels TV that some of his colleagues had asked “crappy questions that did not add value”, which indicated that they were concerned about getting money from the government.

However, some entertainers did not appreciate his question about piracy and had accused him of asking a question by the opposition, APC.

Alibaba has debunked this claim and has said he would ask President-elect Muhammadu Buhari the same question, if given the opportunity.

“It is not about money. It is about the enabling structure and platform for our businesses to thrive,” he said.

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