Piracy, greatest threat to publishing industry

Mr. Segun Ladipo is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Learn Africa Plc (formerly Longman Nigeria). In this interview with SIMON EJEMBI, he talks about the challenges and future of the publishing industry

In the face of a dying reading culture with bookshops disappearing, how strong is the publishing industry today?

The book publishing industry is faced with several serious constraints, just like many other industries in Nigeria. The peculiar thing is that we are in a business that supports the development of the nation’s human capital. It is an industry that can influence our agriculture, health care, transport, security and almost every aspect of our existence as a nation. It also has a role to play in the well-being of every household. Every family needs intellectual development and you can hardly achieve that without books – whether in hard copy or in digital formats.

Without any doubt, the poor reading culture in our country is a big challenge to the publishing industry. Books rank very low on the preference list of an average Nigerian and this has made it difficult to achieve turnover that is commensurate with our huge population. Some parents would rather spend money on electrical appliances, jewellery, clothes and frivolous ceremonies than buy recommended books for their children. It is so bad, but for the intervention of the government, even textbook purchase for core subjects like Mathematics, English Language and the Sciences, may suffer. It is easy to look at the level of poverty and say there is no purchasing power. The irony however is that education can provide opportunities that can lift people out of abject poverty and neglect. As a matter of fact, many of the successful professionals and public figures in the country today came from humble backgrounds. They were able to rise above the circumstances of their births through the acquisition of excellent education, perseverance, self-discipline and strong faith in God.

The country is facing serious challenges at the moment especially in the North. How has this affected your sales?

The activities of the insurgents in the North have had serious impacts on our promotional activities and revenue generation. Our reps have not been able to move freely in order to sell the benefits of our excellent products to the teachers and decision makers in the educational sector. The mobile sales teams can only operate in restricted areas and this is causing us a lot of concerns. As a matter of fact, some schools have been closed down and some bookshops have stopped operating due to security problems. Many of the teachers in those areas have also lost the opportunity to update their knowledge and upgrade their skills through attendance at capacity- building events like the seminars that we are currently organising across the country.

Moreover, many of the state governments that used to procure books for distribution among their public schools have stopped doing so and this represents loss of significant business. They are allocating more resources to fighting the criminal elements in order to guarantee security of lives and property.

There is also the issue of piracy, what do you make of efforts made to tackle it so far and how best can it be handled?

The greatest threat to the survival and prosperity of the publishing industry in our country is piracy. It is an assault on the intellectual rights of authors and discourages creativity. As a matter of fact, some of them pass off outdated books as new editions to unsuspecting buyers. It is also possible for pirates to use money that is derived from their criminal trade to finance other dangerous activities. It is painful that some crooks engage in unauthorised printing of fast- moving titles from established publishers and sell them at ridiculous prices. They can afford to do that because they have not invested time and resources in content development. Besides, they do not have employees that promote these publications among teachers and school administrators. They also do not organise trainings for teachers and support school libraries like we do periodically. Neither do they pay royalties to authors as rewards for intellectual creativity nor pay taxes to support the developmental programmes of governments. Estimates vary, there is a strong feeling that perhaps more than two-thirds of book industry revenue goes to pirates. The problem has affected the growth of the industry, hampered its ability to generate additional employment opportunities for our growing youth population and limited its contribution to national economy.

While one recognises the efforts that government has been making through the Nigerian Copyright Commission, it is obvious that there is room for improvement. We need to replicate the success recorded at the National Agency for Food Drug Administration & Control under the leadership of late Prof. Dora Akunyili. Government should increase budgetary allocation to NCC to enable it to engage more personnel and carry out more raids against the book pirates. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies, most especially the police and the customs, should engage in greater collaboration with the publishers and the NCC in order to curtail the nefarious activities of book pirates.

Just like it is in other sectors, companies in your industry have had to contend with the influx of foreign products. Do you think Nigerian publishers can become major exporters of books?

The Nigerian publishers have the capacity to become major exporters of books if the current constraints are addressed. I am aware that some companies are already exploiting sales opportunities in some neighbouring Anglophone countries although it still on a small scale. Creative writings such as plays, poetry and prose can easily become commercial successes in other countries if we promote them extensively and use appropriate distribution channels. To ensure widespread acceptance of textbooks, it is also important to co-opt some distinguished subject specialists in those countries as members of the authorial team or reviewers.

However, we must be able to run our operations efficiently and smoothly locally before we can embark on aggressive exportation of our products. Considering the critical importance of our sector to national development, government can offer us incentives like tax holidays, duty-free import of raw materials and many others.

Challenges of funding and what is described as a harsh operating environment have caused companies to close shop worsening the unemployment situation in the country. What has the experience been like in your industry?

The book industry is not immune to the challenges that other sectors face since we all operate within the same economy and are equally affected by government’s fiscal and monetary policies. Of course, the cost of funds is still very high and this is a serious headache for companies in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, some companies are unable to pay dividends to shareholders because the greater percentage of what they would have declared as profits is used to pay interest on credit facilities that they obtained from the commercial banks. Perhaps, the new Governor of the Central Bank will initiate policies that can address this concern and encourage the private sector to increase capacity utilisation and establish new factories that can reduce the current high level of unemployment.

Although the country is still grappling with poor broadband penetration, it is believed that digital publishing and such things as e-books are the future. Are you considering a shift in that direction?

I consider the introduction of digital publishing as a good development that will streamline the work flow in the industry, cut down lead times, reduce production and distribution costs while improving access of customers to relevant content. I strongly believe that my colleagues in the industry also see the digital revolution as an opportunity that we should embrace, not as a threat to the industry. Concerning preparedness, we need to look at this holistically and from the customers’ point of view. We also need to look at the cost, availability and reliability of Internet services. So, by and large, the digital revolution provides a new platform to market our products and we are favourably disposed to it.

Despite all the challenges the industry is facing, your company has been posting good results and even paying dividend. What is your strategy?

We have adopted several measures in order to mitigate the adverse consequences of our harsh operating environment on our business fortunes. In a short period after taking on a new brand, we have carried out a thorough revision of some of our publications to align them with the new curriculum requirements and sustain their market acceptance. These include Phonics Is Fun, I Can Read, My Language Books, and Science Is Fun.

Moreover, we came out with brand new titles like Civic Education for Senior Secondary Schools, New Computer Studies for Senior Secondary Schools, Uto Igbo (Junior Secondary Igbo Course), Okachamma Igbo (Primary Igbo Course) and Hasken Karatu (Primary Hausa Course).

In addition, we have originated 96 new titles and produced over 20 million copies of our various publications.

In terms of personnel, we now have a work force that has the requisite competencies to move this company forward and achieve our corporate objectives.

I hasten to add that we have been able to forge ahead as a result of the unflinching support of our shareholders, our solid capital base, the resourcefulness of our employees, the high quality management team, the visionary Board and the treasured assistance of other stakeholders. We are certain that the future is bright and that we would continue to out-pace our competitors in the book publishing industry while generating impressive returns on investment.

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