From Morgan Nsisong, Abuja
The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), at the weekend, said the creative industry could contribute over 5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) thereby creating jobs in the country.
NFVCB Executive Director, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, who stated this in Abuja, said the agency needed proper funding to drive the process.
He called on the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance to increase the board’s budget, stressing that the 2017 allocation for the agency was too poor to engender any significant results.
“By the time we have more stakeholders and by the time the national film and video censors board is well funded we should be going forward to five to seven percent contribution in (GDP) which would multiply to the financial strength of even the society.
“The creative industry creates huge employment; direct and indirect employment, and if we do more we would create more employment,” he stated.
He disclosed that the agency had set up a national task force on the eradication of unwholesome movies, noting that the commitment so far displayed by the task force would yield positive results.
He said work was on-going to reduce the time it took to get approvals for movies submitted for censorship and classification in line with the Federal Government’s policy on ease of doing business in the country.
Thomas lamented that he inherited staff with low morale, poor relationship with industry practitioners as well as poor regulatory framework.