Film  

Censors board chief pays homage to film marketers, veterans, others

By Editor

25 April 2017   |   4:09 am

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As part of his familiarisation agenda with stakeholders in the film industry, newly appointed Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Mr. Adedayo Thomas...

Thomas. PHOTO: YOUTUBE

As part of his familiarisation agenda with stakeholders in the film industry, newly appointed Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Mr. Adedayo Thomas, has embarked on a tour of the Southwest, particularly Lagos, the entertainment hub of Nigeria, where he held personal meetings with veterans such as, Chief Eddie Ugboma, Igwe Gabriel Okoye, aka Gabosky, and Mr. Mahmood Ali-Balogun.

Thomas also met with the leadership of associations such as Film and Video Producers & Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN), Yoruba Video Film Producers/Marketers Association of Nigeria (YVFPMAN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) and Mr. Bond Emeruwa, Chairman of Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS).

“The E.D of Censor Board is in Abuja, I have come to you as Adedayo Thomas, and I’m glad to be back to my first constituency,” the NFVCB chief said to his hosts.

He assured that his years of entrepreneurial practice and tutoring would be brought to bear, on the ‘ailing’ and N317million-indebted Censors Board he met on ground. “But I cannot do it alone. I lay no claim to total knowledge of the solutions to this aspect of film business. That is why I have come to you.”

Thomas said government is not meant to kill creativity and businesses with its policies, but to give them the right grounds to fester. “Your successes as entrepreneurs are our success. When you make it big, all we need from you as government agency is ‘little change’ to survive,” he noted.

The NFVCB chief sued for cooperation of the film marketers and distributors with the Censors Board, decrying the present norm where by about 70 percent of films in circulation were not taken to the agency for censorship and classification.
He however expressed optimism in turning the fortunes of the Board around, with the cooperation of all stakeholders, saying, “I want to celebrate 90 days in office with stories of new successes, rather than the traditional 100 days in office that others celebrate.”

The NFVCB helmsman who assumed duty at the Board’s Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, April 7, made his first appearance at the Lagos office last Tuesday, during which he urged staff members to think out new ways of generating revenue for the agency, harping on effective revenue drive that would not pose a burden on the stakeholders.

At the Ilogbo-Eremi, Badagry home of Chief Ugboma, he told journalists that paying homage to whom it is due, is a first step to success.

“This is my first week in office, and I think that, based on what I met on ground which need serious and urgent attention, is meeting with stakeholders. Without the stakeholders, there is nothing like the National Film and Video Censors Board.”