By: Zsana Hoskins

News has been circulating around social media about Nigeria banning white models from their advertisements and voice-overs. This has been confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture via Twitter. However, the ban is for all foreign models, not just white models.

According to The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, the ban will be effective October 1st of this year (2022).
Segen Arinze, who is president of the Association of Voice-Over Artists, shared his thoughts on why he agrees with Nigeria’s decisions. According to an interview with CNN’s Lynda Kinkade on August 31, Arinze believes that homegrown talent is important, especially considering that there is a huge entertainment industry. (Nollywood, Nigeria’s Hollywood, is the second-largest movie industry in the world.)  “I don’t think it’s a white ban. I think it’s more about encouraging the local talent here.”, Arinze stated. He also pointed out that other countries have made similar decisions to protect certain industries. “I don’t think that Nigeria is doing the wrong thing. We need to protect our talent and provide opportunities for these young ones that are coming up. While some disagree with the ban on foreign models, many like Arinze believe that representation matters.