Claim : Nigeria becomes the first country to ban white and British models in all advertisements.
Conclusion : The claim is misleading. The policy dates back to 2022 and was issued by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), which bans foreign models and voice-over artists in all advertisements. However, this applies to all foreign nationals, regardless of race, and not only to white or British models as suggested in the claim.
Rating : Misleading 
Several social media users have shared a claim about Nigeria becoming the first country to ban white and British models in the advertising industry. Verified X user ‘FightStorage’ shared such a claim with the caption : ‘Nigeria becomes the first country to ban white & British models in all advertising. “We have 200M beautiful people here.. we will use our own”’It includes an image of a group of Nigerian models holding the national flag. This post gained more than 1.2 million views and can be seen below –
Nigeria becomes the first country to ban white & British models in all advertising.
“We have 200M beautiful people here.. we will use our own” pic.twitter.com/LlKr4DJkoM
— Wild Videos (@FightStorage) February 24, 2026
Other users have shared similar claims that can be seen here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be misleading. The regulation was introduced in 2022 by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and prohibits the use of foreign models and voice over artists in advertisements. It applies broadly to all non Nigerian nationals, irrespective of race, and is not limited to white or British individuals as the claim suggests.
We first conducted a web search with the phrase “Nigeria bans all white and British models” to learn more. The search took us to a report by Al Jazeera published on August 30, 2022 that stated how Nigeria “seeks to foster more local involvement in the industry and elsewhere.” The report notes the statement of Steve Babaeko, the president of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria who said this would evoke a “new sense of pride” for the country. View a section from the report below – 
Another report published by OkayAfrica also confirms Nigeria’s move to ban foreign models in advertisements. The report notes that “the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) announced the plan, stating that it was in line with government policies aimed at growing the Nigerian advertising industry as a whole.” However, there is no evidence of a racial angle or that the ban was targeted specifically at white or British foreign nationals.
Following this, we searched for the official notice by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). Issued on August 22, 2022, under the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022, it “bans the use of foreign models and voice-over artists on any advertisement targeted or exposed on the Nigerian advertising space with effect from 1st October 2022.” The directive further states that “All advertisements… are to make use of only Nigerian model and voice-over artist.” Ongoing campaigns are permitted to run out their terms, however, subsequent applications for revalidation for continued exposure of such materials will not be granted…” View the directive below –
We did not find any evidence that this policy was targeted specifically at white or British people. According to the notice, it applies to all foreign nationals and bans the use of foreign models and voice over artists worldwide. There is no racial angle to the policy, and no updated ban was announced in 2026 against white or British models as mentioned in the claim.
Thus, the claim is misleading.
