Safeguarding Creativity on Digital Platforms at the UVA Freedom Vibes Summit

Unchained Vibes Africa (UVA) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Media and Creativity Committee, in collaboration with Elixir Trust Foundation are thrilled to announce the next edition of the highly-interactive programme– Freedom Vibes Summit. Kicking off by 9:30am on Thursday May 30^th, 2024, venue is at the Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island.

The one-day hybrid summit is themed “Safeguarding Creativity on Digital Platforms” and will serve as platform to thoroughly discuss and bring to the front burners trendy developments and other pivotal issues bordering creativity, censorship, and policy reforms within the Nigerian creative ecosystem.

Featuring an array of guest speakers from the different government agencies, civil society organizations, lawyers, skit-makers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists and key stakeholders in the creative industry, some pertinent questions that form basis for the summit are: (a) Do artists have the right to use police, armed forces, and other security agencies’ uniforms as costumes in their productions? (b) Do they really need permission before they can portray them in their productions? (c)What does the law say? (d)Are there exceptions for artists? (e)And in which areas do we need reforms?

“In recent times, there has been a ban on using uniforms of law enforcement and security agencies in movies and skits”, revealed UVA’s Executive Producer, Ayodele Ganiu. He continued: “According to the Police, it is illegal under Section 251 of the Nigerian Criminal Code and Section 133 of the Penal Code to use police uniforms in movies and skits without permission. The police also say that wrong portrayal of the police institution undermines the integrity of the force and dampens the morale of its personnel. Therefore, permission is required before the portrayal, failure of which leads to arrest and prosecution. These threats have created fear in the minds of many artists who want to use their works for correcting the ills in our society.”

Ganiu spoke further acknowledging that while government has a responsibility to enforce law and order, such action must meet national, regional, and international human rights standards. 

“Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to freedom of expression provided that, ‘‘every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impact ideas and information without interference.’’ Section 110 of the Criminal Code cited by the Police also exempts artistes from criminal liability in wearing uniforms of these security and law enforcement agencies when the purpose is for artistic performance or public entertainment. Practitioners are concerned about arbitrary enforcement of policies and regulation of content as reforms of this nature, in a democracy, require proper engagements with all stakeholders”, Ganiu added.

It is against this backdrop that UVA and NBA Media and Creativity Committee in collaboration with Elixir Trust Foundation are bringing all stakeholders together through a summit involving skit-makers, filmmakers, musicians, theatre practitioners, comedians, poets, cultural policy experts and other practitioners in the Nigerian creative sector and civil society organizations to facilitate meaningful dialogue with government officials on the need for policy reforms that will address the issues and concerns around recent government actions and policies that may undermine creativity and threaten artistic freedom.

Expected Speakers at the 2024 Freedom Vibes Summit include– Pro-democracy campaigner and founder Sahara Reporters Omoyele Sowore, film producer and president, Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN) Dr. Victor Okhai, motivational speaker, and President, FOM Foundation Eugene C. Onyibo and Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Justice Reform and ICT/Digital and Innovative Technology Fernandez Marcus-Obiene.

Other speakers expected to headline the event are: Veteran Nollywood Actors, Norbert Young and Francis Onwochei, founder, Elixir Trust Foundation (ETF) Emmanuel Ikule, the Director-General National Film and Video Censors Board Shaibu Husseini represented by its Lagos Representative and President, Screen Writers Guild of Nigeria (SWGN) Yinka Ogun, Nigerian Hip-hop Icon Eedris Abdulkareem, Musician and Chief Executive Officer of the Lakreem Entertainment, Myke Pam,  Content Creators and Comedians, Agun Oluwaseun (a.k.a Ogbeni Adan), Josh Alfred (a.k.a Josh2Funny), and Ruth Mahogany, a conscious creative writer, musician, and spoken word artist, amongst numerous others.

The Purpose of the Summit is to bring together skit-makers, filmmakers, musicians, theatre practitioners, comedians, poets, cultural policy experts and other practitioners in the Nigerian creative sector and civil society organizations to facilitate meaningful dialogue with government officials on the need for policy reforms that will address the issues and concerns around recent government actions and policies that may undermine creativity and threaten artistic freedom. It is also to provide a platform for government officials from media regulation and security agencies to give their perspectives and engage practitioners on the importance of policies they consider necessary for national security, peaceful coexistence, and public morality through moral suasion and policy dialogue rather than censorship, which practitioners and UVA consider arbitrary and undemocratic.