Popular Nollywood film producer, Lancelot Imasuen, has appealed that National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to allow filmmakers and producers to regulate their work.
Imasuen who spoke weekend at a training workshop on media literacy, capacity building on film classification, censorship and youth development, advised the board to restrict its operation to classification of movies only.
He spoke on the theme; “The essence of Film Classification, Editing, and context Development for Youth,” at the training organized by Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, in partnership with NFVCB.
“The business of classification should be for the Board. So, nobody should gag us,” Imasuen said.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of NFVCB, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, lamented the inability of the Board to regulate all films and movies due to the activities of “unscrupulous elements who collude with fifth columnists to undermine the censorship board.”
Adedayo who was represented by the South-South Zonal Coordinator of the Board, Mr. Onwumere Ogbonna, disclosed that all unapproved films found in the market are usually discovered by the agency during enforcement.
On his part, the Executive Director, Institute of Strategic and Development Communication, Nasarawa State University, Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, emphasized the need for enforcement of code to preserve the nation’s cultural values, minimize abuses and cross-cutting in accordance with global practice.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, in his goodwill message, expressed hope that training will produce opportunity for participants to acquire skills of expression of better understanding of what goes on in the film industry.
