The National Film and Video Censors Board(NFVCB) has concluded its 2024 SPY Training programme for selected staff and stakeholders in Lafia, Nassarawa State. The training programme titled: “Empowering Staff for Effective Monitoring and Enforcement” was declared open by the Executive Director of the Board,Dr Husseini Shaibu on behalf of the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Hannatu Musa Musawa. The Minister through the Executive Director underscored the importance of the training exercise, noting that “it is aimed at keeping our Spy officers alert and enhance their capacity to monitor and carry out Enforcement activities of the Board”. Husseini stated the Board is doing so much to realising its mandate which he noted include providing enabling environment for the growth of the film industry and enhancing community understanding, confidence and usage in relation to the classification systems and outcomes. He also stated that one of the agenda of the Honourable Minister was to support agencies under her ministry to continually empower and upskill the staff of the Board, to meet its objectives by providing requisite internal capacity in the area of training, logistical support, information, financial resources and leadership.

He challenged the 40 Spy officers drawn from the North Central Zone of Benue and Plateau States and the Abuja Headquarters of the Board to key into the direction the Board is heading towards, which is to achieve its vision of becoming a world class classification and regulatory agency. Hussieni, who is also the chief executive officer of the Board, noted that the era of Spy officers staying idle will soon be over at the board. Without giving out much details, he declared, “the Board is on the heels of ratifying a distribution protocol with platform owners which will have a significant impact on the Nigerian film industry.”
Speaking at the event,the Director of the Service Innovation Department of the Board, Mrs Bola Athar, was full of commendation for the Honourable Minister and Executive Director for buying into the proposal to rotate the Spy training to locations where it has not held previously.
The Zonal Coordinator of the North Central Zone,Mrs. Margarita Oluwole challenged her colleagues to see the training programme as a wake-up call to do more.
The Executive Director took the opportunity to inspect the Lafia Center Office of the Board. He set out targets of what he wants the centres to achieve in October and report to the headquarters through their Zonal Coordinator.