Shaibu Husseini, the Director General of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), clarified that the Nigerian government did not impose a ban on ritual and smoking scenes in Nollywood.
It was widely reported that the NFVCB had announced a ban on money rituals, smoking, and the portrayal of crimes in Nigerian movies.
Husseini stated, “The minister has given approval for the Prohibition of Money Ritual, Ritual Killing, Tobacco, Tobacco Products, Nicotine Product Promotion, and Glamorisation display in Movies, Musical Videos, and Skits Regulations 2024.”
In response to the ensuing controversies, Husseini reversed his initial decision. He said, “There was no time when we even used the word ban.”
Addressing the matter in an interview, Husseini said, “Nobody banned smoking, ritual scenes in movies. There was no time when we even used the word ban.
“We only said that every promotion of it or the graphical depiction of those things will be restricted by giving them a classification that will make sure that young people do not watch it.
“The new board regulation 2024 is to prohibit the glamorisation and the promotion of tobacco, ritual killing and money ritual in movies, skits and musical videos in Nigeria.
“The new act is the way to go because we have found out that some tobacco companies haven’t been banned from advertising on television and all kinds of media, and have now found films as a way to begin to promote tobacco.
“All we are asking for is some form of responsibility for the sake of our young people who would think that these contents are as real as they were portrayed.
“We know that acting is make belief. We know that filmmaking is the reflection of society. So it’s basically about us having a healthy screen.
“A screen that a father, a mother and the children can sit down and watch without skipping because of the harmful contents”, he stated.