Official 2005 Correspondence Records NFVCB’s Support for an Early Effort to Document Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry
ABUJA, NIGERIA — 5 October 2005 — The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) formally endorsed the Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry, a documentation project being undertaken by Nigerian publisher Frank Ikegwuonu, describing the initiative as a project capable of contributing significantly to the advancement of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
A formal letter dated 5 October 2005, issued on the letterhead of the National Film and Video Censors Board, was addressed to:
Mr. Frank Ikegwuonu
Publisher
Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry
The correspondence was signed by Mr. Emeka Mba, Director General, National Film and Video Censors Board.
NFVCB Expressed Its Willingness to Participate
Responding to the project, the National Film and Video Censors Board stated that it had received Ikegwuonu’s correspondence concerning Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry.
The Board stated that it “will be delighted to participate in the Who’s project,” thereby indicating its willingness to participate in the publication initiative.
This provides a contemporary institutional record of the project and of Frank Ikegwuonu’s role as its publisher.
Formal Endorsement of the Project
The most significant portion of the 5 October 2005 correspondence is the Board’s explicit endorsement.
The Director General wrote that the Board:
“totally endorse the project and affirm our commitment to its success”
The letter further explained that the Board considered the project capable of making a meaningful contribution to the Nigerian entertainment sector, stating that it believed the initiative would:
“contribute greatly to the upliftment of the industry.”
The statement represents a direct expression of institutional support from Nigeria’s national film regulatory authority during a formative period in the development of the Nigerian film and home-video industry.
Documenting a Rapidly Developing Industry
The mid-2000s were an important period in the development of Nigeria’s film and entertainment industries.
The Nigerian home-video sector was expanding rapidly, while Nigerian films and entertainment personalities were receiving increasing national and international attention.
Against that background, projects aimed at identifying, documenting and preserving information about the people working within the entertainment industry represented an effort to create a historical record of an industry undergoing significant transformation.
The NFVCB’s 2005 response demonstrates that the project attracted the attention and support of an important national institution directly involved in Nigeria’s film and video sector.
Institutional Recognition Before the Industry’s International Expansion
The 5 October 2005 correspondence is also significant chronologically.
It places official institutional recognition of Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry at a time when the Nigerian film industry was still experiencing the rapid development that would subsequently strengthen the global identity of Nollywood.
The document therefore forms part of the historical record of efforts undertaken during this period to document the individuals and organisations contributing to Nigeria’s emerging entertainment ecosystem.
Part of Frank Ikegwuonu’s Historical Publishing Record
The NFVCB correspondence forms part of a collection of historical institutional documents associated with Frank Ikegwuonu’s publishing and entertainment-industry activities in the 2000s.
Together with other contemporary correspondence from Nigerian public and media institutions, these records provide documentary evidence of institutional engagement with his work documenting Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
The collection is particularly relevant to the history of Who’s Who in Nigeria Entertainment Industry and the broader development of entertainment-industry documentation in Nigeria.
Original Correspondence Preserved
The original signed correspondence dated 5 October 2005, issued by the National Film and Video Censors Board and signed by its then Director General, Mr. Emeka Mba, is preserved in the historical records of Frank Ikegwuonu / The Nelas Academy.
The original document is not being reproduced publicly with this article. However, the document may be made available for legitimate academic, journalistic, institutional, historical or documentary verification upon appropriate request.
