The Zambian government has voiced serious concerns about the widespread depiction of rituals, occult practices, and superstition in Nollywood movies, cautioning that these themes are distorting young Africans’ views on success, morality, and identity.
The issue surfaced during a courtesy visit to Nigeria’s National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abuja by Zambia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs. Jenipher Mutembo, who led a delegation from the Zambian High Commission.
While commending Nigeria’s grassroots-driven communication strategy and the NOA’s nationwide reach, Mutembo described the agency’s National Values Charter and the recently approved National Identity Project as models worthy of emulation across the continent.
She hailed Nollywood as Nigeria’s greatest cultural export and Nigeria as “Africa’s cultural giant,” but stressed that the industry’s heavy reliance on occult and ritualistic storylines is causing alarm in Zambia.
“Our youth are consuming these films daily. They are absorbing ideas — sometimes dangerous and misguided —about wealth, power, and morality,” Mutembo stated. “What we project on screen directly shapes national values and Africa’s global image. We have a collective responsibility to ensure our content promotes unity, dignity, innovation, and authentic African pride.”
In response, NOA Director General Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu welcomed the feedback and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to value-based storytelling and civic reorientation. He emphasized that true leadership in Africa extends beyond politics to include traditional rulers, civic groups, and moral influencers who safeguard societal ethics.
The dialogue highlighted Nigeria’s growing soft-power dominance in Africa while underscoring the shared duty of African nations to protect cultural integrity and moral standards without stifling creative expression.
