Rahama Sadau Breaks Silence on AIFF Creative Dispute, Reaffirms Commitment to Ethical Collaboration

In recent days, the Nigerian creative space particularly within the Northern arts and film community has been awash with conversations following a public statement by a spoken-word artist concerning a project linked to the Arewa International Film Festival (AIFF). The issue sparked widespread reactions across social media, raising questions around creative rights, attribution, and professional engagement.

In the interest of fairness, balance, and responsible journalism, Hausa360 sought and obtained an official response from Rahama Sadau, Founder of AIFF, to clarify the matter and present her perspective on the situation. Below is her full statement, published without distortion, in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

Official Statement by Rahama Sadau

I wish to formally address the concerns raised by a spoken-word artist regarding a creative project associated with the Arewa International Film Festival (AIFF). Given the importance of trust, fairness, and mutual respect within the creative community values that guide both my personal work and the founding vision of AIFF I believe it is necessary to clarify the facts and respond personally and responsibly.

First, it is important to state clearly that I did not have a direct contractual or operational relationship with the artist involved. The project in question was commissioned through an independent content producer who was solely responsible for talent engagement, negotiations, agreements, and production logistics.

That said, I acknowledge the distress and disappointment expressed by the artist. While her statement suggests a perception of direct personal engagement with me, I respectfully clarify that I did not engage her directly on this project, as all production processes were handled by the commissioned content producer. Nonetheless, neither I nor AIFF has ever intended to diminish, exploit, or disregard the contributions of any creative professional.

The creative ecosystem thrives on collaboration, transparency, and respect. As such, a thorough review was conducted, including examination of chats and agreements between the poet and the content producer. These records clearly indicate that an agreed professional fee was negotiated and fully paid by the content producer. The discussions also specified that the poet would model for one of the videos, while another model would feature in the second video. This was mutually agreed upon, including clarification on whether her contribution would be in English or Hausa. At no point was there exploitation, content theft, or misuse of her work.

The first content featuring the poet using her face, voice, and name was released on 1st September 2025 on both the official AIFF platforms and my personal social media pages. However, I acknowledge that her credit was unintentionally omitted in the initial public release of the second content on my personal page, although she was properly credited from the outset on AIFF’s official Instagram account. Once this oversight was brought to my attention, it was promptly corrected with a fresh post on my page clearly and solely crediting the poet.

I recognize that regardless of production structures, every creative contributor deserves full and proper acknowledgment. To the wider creative community of which I am an active member and advocate I sincerely apologize for the misconceptions arising from this situation and reaffirm my commitment to ethical collaboration and fair practice.

AIFF was founded to amplify voices, not silence them, and to create opportunities rooted in dignity, professionalism, and respect. In light of this, I have directed the AIFF team to conduct an internal review of the production and engagement processes used for this project, particularly in relation to talent sourcing, contributor agreements, and attribution standards.

Furthermore, AIFF will strengthen its collaboration guidelines to ensure clearer documentation of roles, credits, contracts, sub-contracts, and consent for all commissioned creative work. These measures are essential to prevent a recurrence of such issues and to reaffirm our responsibility to the creative community that AIFF was established to serve.

Thank you, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Rahama Sadau

The response from Rahama Sadau highlights the complexity of creative collaborations in an era where production processes often involve multiple intermediaries. While emotions have understandably run high, this development underscores the need for clearer documentation, transparent crediting, and direct communication across all levels of creative work.

As conversations around creative rights continue to evolve, this incident serves as a reminder to artists, producers, and institutions alike on the importance of structure, professionalism, and mutual respect. Hausa360 will continue to follow the story and encourage constructive dialogue that strengthens not divides the creative industry.