Nollywood actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo and musician, Mike Okri, have faulted Federal Government’s call to stakeholders in the movie industry to jettison smoking and ritual scenes among others in films, describing the directive as a joke.

At a summit on Wednesday in Enugu State, stakeholders were informed by the Chief Executive Officer, National Film and Video Censors Board, Shaibu Husseini, that the federal government had approved a ban on money rituals, smoking and crime scenes glamourising vices in Nollywood movies.

He said that the government approved the prohibition of money ritual, ritual killing, tobacco, tobacco products, nicotine product promotion and their display in movies, musical videos and skits.

According to Vanguard, Kanayo O. Kanayo labelled stated that the move was “sensible nonsense,” criticising the Minister of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, for approving what he termed a stifling measure against film-makers.

Similarly, Okri termed the action of the federal government as a joke, suggesting it was an attempt to silence the movie industry. “Whoever is behind this from the FG is joking. It’s a way to silence the movie industry. They should focus on the real challenges facing the country,” Okri said.