The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has opened the fifth edition of the Peace Anyiam-Osigwe Nigeria Digital Content Regulation Conference (PAO-NDCRC), warning filmmakers, digital platforms and telecommunications companies to halt the growing practice of uploading and distributing unclassified films online.
The two-day conference began on Tuesday at the Muson Centre, Lagos.
Declaring the event open, NFVCB Executive Director Dr Shaibu Husseini said it was “a great pleasure” to welcome stakeholders to an edition themed “From Volume to Value: The Future of Nollywood in the Digital Age.”
He described the annual gathering—founded in 2021 and renamed in honour of filmmaker Peace Anyiam-Osigwe in 2023—as “a unifying platform for industry professionals, thought leaders, innovators, and operators.”
Shaibu reviewed his stewardship, noting that it had been “a year and eight months” of strengthening film classification processes, improving regulatory enforcement, widening media literacy efforts and pushing the NFVCB’s transition from censorship to classification, a reform currently before the National Assembly.
He also highlighted the 2024 regulation prohibiting glamorisation of tobacco use, money rituals and ritual killings in films, music videos and skits.
Issuing a firm warning to the industry, the NFVCB boss said, “Sections 2b & e and Sections 25, 28 and 33(1) of the NFVCB Act make it an offence to upload, distribute or stream films without recourse to the NFVCB. Regrettably, many practitioners—and even some telecommunications companies—continue to distribute unclassified content. This must stop.”
He thanked Minister of Information and Culture Hannatu Musawa, represented by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation Ali Nuhu, and acknowledged Olori Temitope Enitan-Ogunwusi for serving as the royal mother of the day.
Keynote speaker Bolanle Austen-Peters challenged Nollywood to move beyond mass production, saying, “If you look at Nollywood, it was built on volume. But can we have a voluminous industry that is also qualitative?”
She said poor funding often compromises quality: “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”
Austen-Peters added that Nigerian films play a major role in shaping cultural identity. “Our films are our biggest ambassadors worldwide,” she said, urging practitioners to raise their standards.
“We must sacrifice quick profit, demand cinematic excellence, and choose detail over speed,” she added.
The NFVCB also presented industry awards and special honours, with Funke Akindele’s Everybody Loves Jenifa and Kiekie, Bisola Aiyeola, Wumi Toriola and Bolaji Ogunmola’s Gingerrr among the winners.
Panel sessions featured Stephanie Linus, Busola Tejumola, Femi Odugbemi, Nobert Ajeagbu, Yemisi Falaye and Homeland Films CEO Mary Egbas. Moderators included Steve Ayorinde and Francis Onwuchei.
Day two of the conference will celebrate Nollywood legends turning 50 and 60 in 2025.
Attendees included Charles Novia, Saidi Balogun, Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe, George Anyiam-Osigwe, Kennedy Anyiam-Osigwe, Victor Okhai, Ijeoma Onah, James Omokwe and others.
