The Federal Capital Territory chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has commenced a membership verification and revalidation exercise aimed at strengthening the credibility of the guild’s database and eliminating fake members.
The exercise, which held over the weekend at the guild’s national secretariat in Abuja, attracted actors and filmmakers from across the FCT and surrounding areas.
Organisers said the verification process required physical attendance by members and was designed to sanitise the association’s records while migrating members’ details to the AGN Super App, the guild’s digital database platform.
Speaking on the sidelines of the exercise, Chairman of the Screening Committee, Agility Onwurah, said the initiative was in line with directives from the national leadership of the guild.
According to him, the revalidation exercise is compulsory for all members and intended to standardise membership records across various state chapters of the association.
He warned that members who fail to complete the exercise risk losing their status in the guild’s official register.
“As a guild, this periodic verification is part of our operations, especially when we have a new leadership in place.
“We use the process to gather information about old and new members both within and outside the country.
”It also helps us update records and make necessary changes to identification cards when required,” he said.
Onwurah also urged actors to subscribe to the guild’s health insurance programme to enable them access affordable and timely healthcare services.
“To avoid imminent breakdown of health, we are encouraging members to enrol in our HMO schemes for regular medical checks.
“We have HMOs spread across the country, and we are appealing to members who have not joined the scheme to come on board,” he added.
Also speaking, the FCT Mayor of AGN, Salma Aminu, described the exercise as a necessary step towards ensuring transparency and accuracy within the guild’s membership structure.
Aminu, who hosted the event, commended members who participated, saying their turnout reflected commitment to the growth and progress of the association.
“There are many people who claim to be members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria even though they are not officially registered.
“We needed to properly identify our genuine members, and those who failed to appear for the verification have automatically ceased to be members of the guild,” she said.
Some actors who participated in the exercise also praised the initiative, describing it as timely and beneficial to the industry.
Veteran actor and producer Jerry Amilo said the exercise would help distinguish authentic members from impostors.
“Sometimes you meet people who claim to belong to the Actors Guild of Nigeria and you begin to wonder. This exercise will help us truly know ourselves,” he said.
Another actor, Benedict Johnson, also applauded the move and encouraged members to take the process seriously to ensure a seamless update of the guild’s database.
