August 05, (THEWILL) – Guilds in the Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, have urged the Federal Government to retain the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) as it implements the Oronsaye Report, which recommends reducing government agencies and parastatals. The NFVCB, an essential regulatory body for the Nigerian film industry, is at risk of being dissolved or subsumed into a larger ministry. George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), recently directed Hannatu Musawa, minister of arts, culture and creative economy, to begin the immediate dissolution of NFVCB. The directive aimed to subsume NFVCB as a ministry department but bypassed the legal process required to repeal the law establishing the Nollywood regulatory agency.
The development has sparked reactions from stakeholders across the country. The Nigerian Senate had also asked the Federal Government to halt the board’s winding down, citing a breach of the law. It said the process of winding down an agency of government that came into force through an Act of Parliament should commence with the Act’s repeal. Nollywood guilds, which work directly with NFVCB, have expressed displeasure over any policy that intends to merge, subsume, or scrap the regulatory agency. According to them, any alteration to the board’s current status will impede the progress the motion picture industry has made in the last three decades. Victor Okhai, national president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), said subsuming NFVCB into its supervising ministry would be counterproductive. Okhai, also the Federation of Nollywood Guilds and Associations Chairman, said President Bola Tinubu had already made a masterstroke when he created the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy. He warned that subsuming NFVCB into its supervising ministry would be counterproductive, potentially weakening the regulatory momentum required for Nigeria’s film industry. He said it is time for the government to support the industry.
“We are saying if they want to help us, they cannot just scrap the only regulatory agency we have for Nollywood. In those days, the industry was known for foreign movies, but right now, there is a whole industry with a value chain of over 250 jobs thriving in the 36 states at various degrees. If you now subsume it into the ministry, how many people have the strength to go to Abuja to have their films classified, but the censor board is in nearly all the states? There were about 18 Parastatals under the former Ministry of Information and Culture, and now that we have our ministry, why scrap the only regulatory body under it?” he asked. Okhai said subsuming the NFVCB into the ministry will only weaken the regulatory momentum required for Nigeria’s film industry. He said that with such a government agency, illicit films from outside and within would flood the Nigerian market and make the creative space healthy.
“As we practice, we are also mindful that there might be people involved in sharp practices, so we have an umbrella body for all practitioners. One thing our body has been able to help us do is that you cannot censor your movie unless you belong to an association, and these associations submit their names willingly.
“NFVCB is the government watchdog, so if we have issues with the government, we go to our regulator; if the government has issues with us, they go to the regulator. So, I think it is in the government’s best interest to let it be, and they have over 400 staff; how would they dissolve them just like that,” he added.
Blessing Ebigieson, national president of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), said having a stand-alone film classification agency aligned with global best practices for the motion picture industry. She said those considering scrapping or subsuming for the board were inadvertently working to impede the film industry from contributing more to the national economy.
“The censor board is doing a lot to protect the country and ensure that producers do not produce illicit movies that are detrimental to our children. Imagine if that board had not been allowed to stand on its own all these years to protect the industry and the sensibilities of Nigerians. What would have happened by now?
“We have a lot of people making movies that need classification, and then by the time you start merging it with other agencies or the ministry, that will bring politics into filmmaking. We as industry players are completely opposed to any move to scrap that board because it is securing the sanity of our industry.”
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
