…Warns Against Unwholesome Contents,
The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) trained and empowered 300 youths in Kano State, advising them not to use social media to spread hate speech and incitement.
From November 1 to 3, youths from the Shanono/Bagwai Federal Constituency attended a capacity-building program at the Federal Secretariat in Kano.
The youths will serve as NFVCB’s ‘Community Ambassadors’ against unclassified films and harmful video content, having been trained by relevant professionals, board officials, and seasoned entrepreneurs.
Over 300 people were trained in basic entrepreneurial skills and the know-how they needed to be successful artisans, according to a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Special Assistant on Media to NFVCB’s Executive Director/CEO Joshua Olomu. They were also given startup packs with soft grants to help them get started.
Under the board’s “Strategic Empowerment Programme” for Shanono/Bagwai Federal Constituency, 150 other youths received either an agricultural water pump or a power generating set.
The power generating set, according to the organizers, was for the young creative entrepreneurs to run their local film viewing centers as NFVCB Ambassadors.
The training was designed to complement the NFVCB’s capacity building program for youths in the creative industry across the six geopolitical zones, according to Alh. Adedayo Thomas, Executive Director/CEO.
The programme, he said, was the final phase of the board’s Media Literacy and Capacity Building modules for the state’s Shanono/Bagwai Federal Constituency.
He said the program was facilitated by Hon.Yusuf Badau, a member of the National Assembly’s House of Representatives in Abuja who represents the constituency.
“This is part of the concluding phase of the series of the NFVCB’s capacity building packages for this constituency.
“This capacity building initiative is in line with President Muhamadu Buhari’s empowerment plan to ensure that young Nigerians are self-reliant.
“When youths are gainfully engaged it will curb crimes and other vices threaten the peace unity of our nation, because their role is very crucial in national economic development.
“We do not only train them but we are also assisting to these selected youths with empowerment kits, including grants as part of our support for stakeholders in the industry, especially the young ones.
“This is to enable them startsomething and become self reliant and creators of jobs as well,” he said.
Thomas added that as Nigerian grapples with a lot of security challenges, it was crucial to advise young Nigerians against the moral and social implications of sharing of unwholesome visual contents.
He noted that many crisis in some parts of the country were escalated as a result of fake news, hate speeches and videos spread on social media.
He therefore commended Hon.Badau for embracing the collaboration with the board towards youth empowerment for the region.
“This training is born out of the need for NFVCB, both as an industry regulator, and a decision maker to build the capacity of youths who mostly watch films and video contents.
“It is difficult for us to have offices in every local government and community, and that is why these empowered youths are now our ambassadors.
“At every point, they must be able to condemn a bad film when they see one, and report to any of our offices or officials,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Badau commended the NFVCB for the collaboration which his constituency has so much benefited from as part of his Zonal Intervention Programmes.
He therefore urged beneficiaries to make productive use of the startup packs for them to become economically self-reliant, and advised them against selling the items they received.
A participate, Umar Shanono, expressed delight that the empowerment was clear a indication that the Federal Government has not forgotten them in the rural areas.
“I am very lucky to be selected for this capacity building programme this time around, because these people have been coming to empower our women and youths for some time now,” he said
