Revered actresses, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Dakore Egbuson-Akande, have joined the call to have smoking scenes stopped in Nigerian movies following a statistics by World Health Organisation (WHO) show a significant number of children using tobacco.
The data revealed that 37% of the young children that smoke are influenced by Nollywood movies. “370,000 children in Nigeria smoke cigarettes and use tobacco products daily. 17,500 Nigerians die from tobacco use yearly. 37 percent of these smokers started smoking as children due to the influence of movies that are created,” the statement read.
370,000 Nigerian children use tobacco products. 37% of these smokers were influenced by movies. Nollywood celebrities have pledged to remove smoking scenes from PG-rated films in our new tobacco control PSA.@fctcofficial @TobaccoFreeKids #CommitToQuit #SmokeFreeNollywood pic.twitter.com/GbIcIalBfx
— Gatefield (@Gatefieldco) May 31, 2021
Other celebrities involved in the campaign are Osas Ighodaro, Anto Lecky, Meg Otanwa, Michelle Dede, Kayode Kasum, Daniel Effiong, Linda Ejiofor, Kiki Omeili, and Imoh Emmanuel Chimezie.
The #SmokeFreeNollywood initiative, backed by Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in collaboration with Gatefield, a public strategy firm, is to commemorate the 2021 edition of World No Tobacco Day on May 31.