Kanayo O Kanayo Attacks FG Over Plans to Ban Rituals Scenes, Others in Movies

Veteran Nollywood actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo, aka Nnayi Sacrifice, is displeased over the government’s new laws to scrap rituals and other likely portrayals from films, music videos, and skit content.

The Executive Director/CEO of National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Shaibu Husseini, stated days ago that the Federal Government has approved the prohibition of money rituals and glamourising of vices in Nigerian films.

Husseini disclosed this while speaking at a National Stakeholders Engagement on Smoke-Free Nollywood in Enugu on Wednesday, May 22. The NFVCB boss said in part:

“When my predecessor approached the former Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, about the need to make a subsidiary legislation to curtail the display of smoking in Nigerian movies, he saw the need to include money rituals. Others included in the regulation are ritual killings and glamourising other crimes to further sanitise the film industry.” 

According to Husseini, in addition to the health concerns, glamorising smoking in films has a negative impact on teens and young adults, who make up the majority of Nigeria’s moviegoers. He stated that the board planned to implement extensive enlightenment campaigns in secondary schools, tertiary institutions, local communities, faith organisations, and other institutions.

Kanayo criticised the policy and classified it as “arrant nonsense”. He questioned Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa’s justification for imposing such restrictions on filmmakers and mocked his tenure.