Executive director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Shaibu Husseini has explained why his administration introduced measures aimed at reducing the glamorisation of smoking and money rituals in Nigerian films.
Speaking in an interview with Frontline News Online publisher Kemi Yesufu, Husseini said the decision followed consultations with filmmakers and stakeholders across the country.
“It is quite difficult dealing with creatives. But when you engage them, they cooperate with you more. For example, my predecessor worked with Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) on the control of tobacco in the film industry. Unfortunately, they didn’t make much progress. However, when I came in, I told CAPPA, that we can push the control of tobacco in the industry, but we have to meet with stakeholders to see the need for a smoke-free and ritual-free Nollywood.
“We now worked on the regulation, we sent it to our Minister, and we also sent it to the Federal Ministry of Justice. We got their approvals, and after the approvals, we organised a meeting with the major guilds in Enugu.
“We spoke to them, that we don’t want to completely ban rituals or smoking in our films, because how many societies in the country are not involved in smoking or rituals? We explained to them that the idea is to control the depiction and glamorisation of rituals and smoking in films.
“I took the engagement to the South-South, to the north, the North-Central and at that forum, some people said that if they knew what smoking does to the body, they would find props to use in place of smoking. Now, you are expected to use a proper disclaimer at the beginning of the film to indicate that you are not promoting smoking.”
Husseini also spoke about challenges facing the NFVCB, including funding, staffing and regulating films released through digital platforms.
“As you mentioned, funding is a major challenge. We are in an era where we have gone digital in film production. We are no longer in the analogue era. Now, the industry is so wide that people can upload their film online without approaching the censors board, and this is wrong. The law says that if you produce a film to be exhibited or distributed here, you must pass it through the board for classification,” he said.
He added that the agency currently operates with outdated laws and inadequate equipment.
“Above all, our Act is very old. It was last amended in 2006. As of 2006, what we heard about was mobile technology; we didn’t envisage this digital explosion, so some of the provisions in our Act need updating. Some of our fines are as low as N500 and N5,000.”
According to him, the amended law before President Bola Tinubu for assent would remove the word “censorship” from the agency’s name and strengthen its powers over digital and streaming platforms.
“One of the things that the new Act will bring is a name-change for the board. You will no longer hear censorship in our name. This is because, firstly, our job is the classification of films, not that we will not censor a film if need be, but our first role is the classification of films.”
Husseini was appointed executive director and chief executive officer of the NFVCB by President Bola Tinubu in January 2024 and officially assumed office in March 2024.
Before his appointment, he was known as a film and culture journalist with The Guardian and also served as head of strategic communications at the National Troupe of Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos with a focus on Nollywood film studies.
Under his leadership, the NFVCB introduced regulations aimed at discouraging the glamorisation of smoking, ritual killings and criminal activities in films while also pushing for stronger classification guidelines and engagement with filmmakers nationwide.
