He has been regarded as a rebel in different
quarters for his supposed anti-progressive
stand on the Actors' Guild of Nigeria, but in
this interview, the Imo state born actor talks
extensively about Nollywood, why he feels
misunderstood by colleagues, and his plans
for the guild.
Let's start with your chieftaincy title. Why do
you think you were made Ezekwesili in
Anambra state, far from your home state of
Imo?
I don't know exactly what it is but perhaps it is in
recognition of my efforts to make things better. It
was not until I took the title home that I discovered
I'm from a royal family too, although I didn't get
the title from my place. My father is the Opara-di-
Opara (the man that gets to have the first anything
in that community) of my village in Imo state.
What are the effects having this title has had
on you?
Nothing has changed. I have just become more
socially responsible and responsive to the society,
humanity. It also gave me a leadership frame and
helped me see myself as someone with a class of
respect.
What is your take on traditional rulers in
Nigeria?
I don't have anything against traditional authority
in any way. Whatever promotes humanity and
redefines life are the things I want to be part of and
support. If being a king will add value to humanity,
I think it is my passion.
Away from that, why are you yet to return to
the movies?
I'm not the only one who is missing in action. A lot
of us are but perhaps I get noticed more because
maybe I am most loved. We all parade ourselves as
stars but we know stars have levels. Away from
that, I am not the only one involved. Have you
bothered to ask when last you heard of Oba Iweka
road or of Idumota or Pound road in Aba? That was
the last time we stopped being paid.
How do you mean?
As you can see, the investors in the movie industry
(Bayowa Films, Remmy Jes, Kas Vid) have been run
over by the TV houses, no thanks to some of my
colleagues. Nollywood has been taken over and it is
evident.
Did some players in the movie industry know
about this alleged takeover?
Of course they did. They sold out to the TV houses
and that has become the Nollywood we now talk
about. Nollywood now exists only on Africa Magic,
owned by South Africans. Meanwhile, while we
were struggling to put the industry together, they
(South African investors) were not around, but now
they show our Nollywood movies and play their
country's soundtrack.
They go as far as try to bring up their new faces
and play him up with a stupid star and try to create
a somebody out of him. That way they are building
their stars, Jacob's Cross, Tinsel and so on.
What efforts were made to preserve
Nollywood's integrity?
At a time, Charles Novia came boldly to say that
very soon all the stars would be gone. This was
because he knew what they had done. They had
mortgaged the future of the industry making
cheap benefits. There was a time we attended a
conference in South Africa and these people (South
Africans) were inquisitive, probing and wanting to
know about how we make our movies. While I was
speaking like a patriotic Nigerian, arguing against
letting our strategies out, some of my colleagues
quietly sold out, exchanging cards and numbers
with them.
Unknown to them, they were selling out. When I
said then that Africa Magic was ripping actors and
producers off, people said I was crazy, some of my
colleagues were paid to put up words against my
claim. Now, plenty of them have been forced out of
the job, because people who pay and invest in the
movies are no longer in business.
Were the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Association
of Movie Producers and Directors Guild of
Nigeria not aware of these developments?
It got to a point all efforts to salvage the situation
became impossible because there was so much
politicking going on. First, their content provider,
Emeka Mba was lobbied to becoming the DG of the
Censorship board, not forgetting he was one of
those who brought them into Nigeria. Mba's
position paved the way for them and made their
business smooth.
They needed to close down Nollywood to make TV
more viable than it was, and that was when Emeka
came up with the idea of every producer paying a
sum of five million naira before their movies could
get to the market. That was how it started and
gradually some started falling off and a lot more
were arrested for defaulting.
Till tomorrow, I will keep calling Emeka Mba a
criminal and I'll never forgive [him] because he
destroyed the interest of the industry for personal
reasons. He was one of those who owned HITV, but
shame on him.
Apart from job loss, what other impact has
this alleged invasion caused Nollywood?
A lot, and most are negative. Now there is no more
Infinity Merchandise, P. Collins, O.C Affassons and
other big names we knew in those days. Places
where Nollywood movies were readily available,
like Idumota, Oba Iweka road, and Pound road, Aba
have been shut down, leaving only Alaba in
existence. Alaba; a place we all, as an industry,
tried to close down. The invasion has been on for a
long time, it has put the industry in a state of
coma, and has finally killed it.
Nollywood is dead and this is so because we are
never going to have a big producer roll out money
anymore or visioneers bring out money to invest.
What we are going to keep having are scallywags
and cheap production assistants running around to
see how to put ten faces together and see if they
can make at least fifteen thousand jacket sales.
But some of your colleagues seem to be
enjoying the industry despite the challenges
you have mentioned. Where does this place
you?
They are not asking the right questions. I stood as
Emeka Ike and made over a million jacket sales,
only me, without putting twenty actors on one
jacket. The cheap illiterates amongst my
colleagues antagonize me, and I don't blame them;
I blame myself for mingling with them. I look at
most of them (colleagues) and I begin to imagine
the content in most of them.
Most of them wear dark shades and parade
themselves like they are more than they are. What
are they worth when they don't even know their
rights in the industry, but go about posing on red
carpets with dark shades and speak [with] some
accent that was never properly learnt? All those are
cheap ways of life.
These guys don't ask questions about what we are
doing as a guild or an industry, and the few that do
are labelled troublemakers. That is the mentality in
Nigeria. Gani Fawehinmi was seen as a trouble
maker till he died, same as Fela. These are the
people who bring about change in their
communities.
You vied to become president of AGN, but
lost. If you had won, what would have been
your focal point?
I am still the president of AGN, the legal president,
but because of my stand, it is difficult to let men
like me survive it, because if we do, we will destroy
these evil men who run the system. The same
thing is applicable in the wider world; responsible
men are running away from politics, which is why a
lot of riff-raffs are making headway in it.
We need to redefine what value is to us. It's not the
dark shades and the glittering dresses but what
adds to humanity, and we should be able to draw
the line between what is value and what is not.
What is your take on Ibinabo Fiberisima as
president of the guild?
Her swearing in was illegal. How can she be
president? Please tell me. There is a court case yet
to be settled involving myself and Segun Arinze.
How then can he conduct an election? Again,
Ibinabo has not been cleared with the police.
I don't know what is happening. Are these things
supposed to be? The president ordered that all
recipients of national honours that have criminal
records should be stri*ped of them, and that is how
it should be. We should run things right, at least
for the sake of our children and ones yet unborn.
What would you say the guild is lacking?
Leadership. We have everything right now, and the
few idiots that discovered this have quickly gone to
register the guild as their personal companies. Do
you even know that the AGN was originally
registered as a company for individuals with just
five board of trustee members? Most people don't
know this fact, including my colleagues. These are
the things we are fighting against.
While fighting to remove these guys, they
appointed Segun (Arinze) as their president. I
challenged this and took them to court but they
broke the court's injunction and conducted another
election. You see the gimmicking of old politicians?
That is what we are fighting, not Segun Arinze. He
is my friend, so is Ibinabo, but we have to do right
thing in this country; that is the only way a future
can be built.
When did these problems begin for
Nollywood?
It [has been] from the beginning. I'm sure not
many know that the first president of AGN, Remmy
Jes, was flogged out of office by the board of
trustees. They used cultism and all other means.
This is painful for me because I am one of those
that fought for the name.
When you say Nollywood, you can't leave Emeka
Ike out of it. I can't keep quiet, although a lot of
people may because they are scared for their
careers, but I am a leader and will be their
spokesman. People like me, who have the goodwill
of the country at heart should not be afraid of
coming out.
On a final note, Nollywood will be 21 this
year. What do you think about its' direction?
Nollywood is not going in the right direction,
People saying that are people who are just happy
that they have benefited from it. How can you say
an industry that has its structure destroyed is in
the right direction? We already made an
impression on the world.
All that was left was the technical know-how and
government empowering us. We couldn't get that,
but rather got big foreigners who hijacked the gold
from us.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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