A short film exposing the pressure on young people to take to crime and drug abuse has premiered in Abuja.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the film, ‘Vices’, was directed by acclaimed director, Favour Akubo and feature several young actors including Samuel Kazim who played the lead.
‘Vices’, endorsed by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), involve a young man, Ikechukwu Obiora who is in the centre of peer pressure to commit crime and is struggling to break from his drug abuse habit.
The premiere, which was attended by stakeholders in the youth development sector, also featured a panel session where the topic, ‘Saving the Nigerian youths from social vices was discussed’.
Discussing the topic, Lifestyle blogger, Princess Audu, celebrity chef, Taylor Odeje and Ife Olatunji-David, Programme Director, Life Builders Initiative noted that young people needed safe space where they can express themselves.
Odeje said that as a person with a lot of young people looking up to him on social media, he make sure of posting contents that they can emulate because he realise that young people are easily influenced by social media.
Also, Audu stated that young people needed their guardians and loved ones to understand them and acknowledge their feelings so they can open up when being faced with peer pressure.
On her part, Olatunji-David, whose humanitarian work focus on building capacity for young people, urged parents to pay attention to the emotional needs of their children.
NAN reports that the film’s Executive Producer, Ejike Manny acknowledged the importance of using arts to raise awareness on the struggle of young people.
“Vices is a project for young people by young people. Noone is taling about their struggles and they have a lot of struggles.
“It is our hope that this film and the others to come will help everyone have the much needed conversation on how to assist the young ones in their growth process,” he said.
