The National Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB, charged stakeholders in the Nollywood industry to ensure that films, and musical videos, among others, are free from depiction and glamorization of harmful substances like smoking tobacco, criminal acts, ritual killings, money rituals, among others.

The Executive Director of NFVCB, Dr. Shaibu Husseini gave the charge at the National Stakeholders’ Engagement on Smoke-Free Nollywood held in Enugu.

He commended the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) for putting up the event as part of its corporate social responsibility in Nigeria’s creative industry.

He stated that the film industry occupies a central position in the entertainment and creative sector, adding that “it is imperative that we continue to place the highest premium on the progress of the film industry.”

Husseini noted that “we are facing an industry emergency requiring bold and ambitious actions from all parents, guardians and stakeholders.”

He enjoined the stakeholders in the public and private sectors “to see the gathering as an important platform to forge strategic partnership in order to mobilise scarce funding and create innovative models to assist in educating/sensitizing mothers, youth and the general public to combat the hydra-headed menace in the form of unapproved and unclassified content.”

Earlier in a remark, the executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi had stressed the need for stakeholders to work towards a Smoke-Free Nollywood.

Oluwefemi stated that “we are at a point where we must stop the globalisation of smoking and instead promote a healthy lifestyle.

“There is a need to reverse the role movies and music videos play in painting smoking and tobacco use as a cool way of life.”

He disclosed that studies had shown that smoking remained prevalent in Nigerian movies in contravention of the NTC-Act and the Tobacco Control Regulations 2019, which explicitly prohibited tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships in movies and entertainment.

The CAPPA boss commended the Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Dr. Husseini, for taking the bold step to dialogue with stakeholders in the industry towards a Nigerian screen free of unhealthy promotion of smoking tobacco.