Censors board, stakeholders move to ban smoking in Nigerian movies

The board insists that smoking in movies is a part way to smoking for young people.

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has decided to partner with practitioners and stakeholders in the movie industry, as they hope to banish smoking in Nigerian movies.

During a communique presentation at the entertainment industry stakeholders’ roundtable which held on Saturday in Lagos, the Executive Director of NFVCB, Adedayo Thomas stated this intent.

The meeting focused on the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Regulations 2019, in relation to the Nigerian entertainment industry.

According to Thomas, this step will be taken to ensure that practitioners in the movie industry adhere to the no-smoking law in Nigerian movies.

“Stakeholders observed that smoking in movies and the entertainment sector is a pathway to young people embracing smoking,” Thomas said.

“The tobacco industry uses sophisticated marketing mix to promote smoking on set and in the entertainment sector.”

“Entertainment stakeholders are deliberately targeted by the tobacco industry either through financial inducement, misinformation, and other subtle approaches to further the glamorisation of smoking in the movies and entertainment sector.”

“Awareness on the dangers of smoking in movies and the entertainment sector in the digital media space is still low,” he said.

Thomas stated that existing national legislation does not capture the use of alternative products of tobacco sufficiently like E-cigarettes, Shisha, among others.

He has also urged National Assembly, Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities to work hand in hand with movie industry players to ensure that they are on the same page in the implementation of the set regulations.