The National Firm and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has charged stakeholders in the Nollywood industry to ensure that films, musical videos and other entertainment productions are free from depicting and glamorising harmful substances like smoking tobacco, criminal acts, ritual killings and money rituals.
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 organising 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 the nation continues to place the highest premium on the progress of the film industry.
Husseini noted that the country is facing an industry emergency requiring bold and ambitious actions from all parents, guardians and stakeholders.
He enjoined 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 and sensitising mothers, youths and the general public to combat the hydra-headed menace in the form of unapproved and unclassified content.
Earlier, the executive director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi had stressed the need for stakeholders to work towards a smoke-free Nollywood adding that “we are at a point that we must stop the globalisation of smoking and instead promote healthy lifestyle.”