Pop of Nigeria
Seems like gold gadgets is the new cool and must have for every Nigerian celeb these days. D Prince showed off his gold plated iPad a few weeks ago and now Tonto has decided to show us her expensively customised gadget which she received as a present from Malivelihood.
Here’s an article written by Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli and published in today’s Daily Independent. Read the article below; I am Omoni Oboli and I represent Naija!Our country is littered with success stories that have shaped us into who we are. We have icons that have, through their consistency, paved the way for many of us to walk right through. Many have done it unwittingly by just focusing on achieving their personal goals and in their resolve to break through the stereotypes, disenfranchisements and stigmas they have shown the rest of us the endless possibilities in their chosen fields. Others have done it with a plan to leave a trail for others to follow.I will continue to celebrate these icons that I consider to be the true role models for our youth to emulate in our nation. One such icon is our very own Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde. The original Omosexy who has been tagged the African Magic.
Omotola waltzed into the movie industry before it was nicknamed Nollywood and took her place at the top of the industry as a leading lady like she actually owned the place. She fits into it easily like one who knew that she was born to do this. Her consistency at the top is evidence of her prowess at delivering every role consistently from when she stole our hearts in the movie Mortal Inheritance.
The ever-growing fans of Nollywood have been held spellbound by her believability in all her varied roles. At such a young age when many didn’t know their left from right she understood the responsibility that came with being the leading lady. We saw her cry, laugh, rejoice, explore and display other emotions and adventures that Nollywood has been consistently propelling us actors through in the last 21 years of its existence so that we have come to believe that we know her personally.With her own style and wits, Omotola has somehow shown us her life and yet kept the personal bit intact, even though she got into marriage at an age many consider to be too young. She has stayed in the marriage when many casualties of failed marriages litter our nation and our industry. She simply defied the odds! Even though pilots are reputed to be philanderers, she has been successfully married to one for many years. Actors have a global reputation of divorces, citing the flimsiest excuses for their actions, but she has been steadfast in her marriage.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting down actors for their divorces because many other industries surpass them in divorce rates. I’m just showing that these are perceived notions the world over. Many of them, especially the actresses, have had to endure strenuous relationships due to their celebrity status in the hands of their spouses,. Through it all, our Omosexy remains a pillar of virtue as an example to many that it is possible to stay focused, achieve success in any field of endeavour and still maintain a good family.
She continues to break grounds globally, being celebrated for what we already knew she is, one of the most influential figures of our time! This is due to the impact of our film industry, Nollywood. This industry that many do not yet see its direct and indirect impact on our society, but has broken grounds the world over. This Nollywood that gave the opportunity to many of us to find our voice globally. Where we would have been big fishes in our small pond, we find that the world hangs on our every word and action. This is such a huge responsibility for us to bear, and Omotola has held her place there such that she has been commended for it consistently.
I don’t need to talk about all the awards she has acquired over the years, and I don’t know if she can count how many awards she has received till date, but we know that she has not failed to deliver on most of her performances. The Bible says that a man’s gifts makes room for him and brings him before great men, kings or captains of industries, and it certainly has in her case. She has been honoured for her performance on screen and for her activities off screen. She has lent her voice to many worthwhile causes and championed many of her own.
She is the mother of four children and has managed to stay in shape, not only for the screen, but for her husband. She is truly an icon in the movie industry and in Nigeria as a whole. She has shown that with hard work, consistency, diligence, focus and a desire to achieve, there is nothing that can stop your rise to the top of your game.
I try to celebrate the icons in our nation that are worthy of emulating so that our youth and our people can begin to heal from the damage of inconsistent, morally decadent and corrupt role models that we have followed in the past and start chatting a new course for ourselves by looking to people whose lives have paved a walkway to greatness.
Remember to go out there and start or continue buying and watching our movies, like Anchor Baby, Last Flight to Abuja, Doctor Bello and many other titles out there that are good quality products. My movie, Render to Caesar, will be in the cinemas sometime in November. It promises to be a must watch for everyone. I’m starring alongside Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire, Lottery Ticket), Wale Ojo (Phone Swap, Johnny English), Lucky Ejim (The Tenant), Kalu Ikeagwu, Dede Mabiaku, Bimbo Manuel and many others.
Our future depends on your consistency in supporting us so that we can keep smiling.
#Top10Most
The question “Who Is The Richest Artist/Musician” is being asked often times in this part of the world. Channel O in collaboration with Forbes Africa are coming up with a decent answer to this question as they both come together to give us Forbes #Top10Most Bankable African Artist.
The list will premiere on the urban music channel tomorrow, September 2013, 8pm Nigerian time, 7pm Ghana and 9pm CAT.
Who is making bank and who is talking smack? Who do you think will make the Top10?
Watch Out for the list on 36NG tomorrow 9pm
In an exclusive interview with Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, the rather popular BBA house-mate has publicly refuted claims that ‘she had sex with Angelo in the house”, though she waxed lyrical about their ‘love’ affair.
“I had so many options to choose from in the house but I wasn’t attracted to any of them. But for some reasons I still do not understand, I fell in love with Angelo. I got attracted to him from the first day I saw him. For now, I will see where the relationship will take us.”
When the controversial topic of her having sex with Angelo was brought up, she was quick to dispel the rumors.
“Angelo and I never had sex.I didn’t have sex in the house. I never had sex in the house. We didn’t have sex. It was not an option for us. I don’t know where the people outside got the story from. I was shocked when I came out of the house and learnt that we had sex. I cannot take my bath with a swimming suit. We all take our bath naked. I shouldn’t be singled out because I went for a reality show. I am not different”
Though the camera did not exactly nab both of them having sex, it caught both of them sharing some intimacy a couple of times and when Nonye Ben- Nwankwo asked how she felt knowing the whole of Africa was watching, she quickly pointed out that she had no regrets whatsoever.
“Whatever I was doing with Angelo, I didn’t even think I was on TV. It was just the two of us. We didn’t plan anything, we were just happy. No matter how people will look at it, I don’t regret anything I did with Angelo. I didn’t bring out the video and said everybody should look at me. Big Brother brought out the video.”
Finally when she was asked whether or not she felt she embarrassed Nigeria, she gave a rather feisty response.
“I was in the house to represent Nigeria. Of all the people that went for the audition, I was chosen. If anybody feels he can do better, he should go and get BBA form next year and apply and get in the house. I know I represented Nigeria very well”
*Quotes were gotten from punchng.com.
Just a little over a week since the popular Ese Walter confession of her sexual involvement with Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly hit the internet and gave rise to several chastisements, praises and criticisms. Read Her Story HERE. She has decided not to cry over spilled milk anymore and move on to see what the future holds for her. Here’s what she shared on her blog;
“The past week has ‘killed’ me. It has stripped me of whatever ‘self-importance’ I nursed in the corners of my mind. It has broken me and opened me up to my real self. It has brought me to a deeper level of self-awareness, one I am most grateful for.
When I sat with my MacBook to type my last blog, I never imagined it would generate the kind of attention it did and continues to. I have one last thing to say on this issue before I lay it to rest and move on. (I also hope others can move on too, we have too much going on in this Country to continue to peddle one for longer than necessary.)
A very big thank you to everyone that has felt it necessary to talk about this issue and spread it throughout Nigeria and the foreign scene. I read every email sent to me with awe that people would take the time out to reach a total stranger like me. Some were cursing, calling me a witch from the pit of hell sent to destroy the church as though one individual/church is bigger than the body of Christ. As though God is mere man and would cringe in heaven saying, “Ese don did it this time.” Or as if the good Book didn’t state clearly that ALL things work out for good for those that love God.
Do you love God? If yes, trust that it will ALL turn around for good.
Some people say, ‘I support you, you are brave and courageous’ and I wonder if those terms really define me. I do not think I am brave or courageous. I do know, however that after decades of sleepwalking through life, I am now becoming aware not just of myself but also of my environment, my world, and the universe.
Some say, put out the evidence and we will believe you. Hmmm, the morning I sat to write that post, I really didn’t expect anyone to believe me. Well, apart from those involved. And my motive was simple, let one more woman be spared. Let one more minister of the gospel be mindful and let the church rise up to its responsibilities as God’s legal representatives here in the earth realm.
A copy of the ‘evidence’ is with a respected minister of the gospel should the christian body decide to deal with this issue now and that becomes needful. I am not looking to have a ‘me against them’ case where I need to prove I’m right and someone is wrong. I am far from right, but I have used the only means available to me to free myself of the bondage I put myself in.
Lastly, to all the media people seeking interviews and whatever else mailing me, I have nothing more to say on this issue. I cannot reply every email as reading them is beginning to seem like a new job.
I remember asking a friend once while reading the book of Acts, “Why do we no longer operate in the power the disciples did in Jesus day?” What has changed? How do we ‘unchange’ it?
God is not mocked, if we serve Him, let’s serve Him. We cannot continue to grow as a Nation by oppressing, delaying justice, hating, having the ME ME ME mentality. As Martin Luther King Jr said, ‘no one is free until we are all free.’
Things have got to change and it begins with us. It begins with each and every one of us borrowing courage to stand for what we believe in. Fela Durotoye once said, ‘that thing that annoys you most in society is a sign that you carry its solution.’ (I’m
paraphrasing)
Nothing has called out to me more than people, especially women, suffering in some way and hiding the pain. Whatever we cover doesn’t go away. It grows and it finds different outlets to rear its ugly head until we deal with it.
I am not perfect, I will never be, but I am enough to try what I feel might work. I don’t know what the entire bible says but I am learning and applying the little I find out
daily. And I think everyone owes it to himself or herself to figure it out for
themselves.
At the end of the day, we agree that ‘men of God’ are firstly men, right? This means it’s needless expecting them to help you in your growth with God. I fell into that trap of thinking a ‘man of God’ is equated to God and it is not new to find people fall in that hole.
How do you begin to learn to serve a God you have never seen? It takes another level of faith to do that but we live in a generation/Country where people don’t want to study for themselves. They don’t want to read the Scriptures. Well, they don’t want to read, period. They want to pursue things instead and have somebody do the praying and studying for them. If you fall in that category, you need to repent.
I learnt that when the veil was torn, we all were given equal access to the Father. No matter how long you may have been in church, if you don’t know what that means you better ask somebody. And seek a real relationship with the God you claim to serve.
That is what I am spending most of my time doing these days. Praying, studying, seeking, knocking. The peace I have felt despite all the hate mails and tantrums shows that God is not angry with me and I did what I needed to do to the best of my understanding.
My apologies to everyone this has affected in one way or another.
Firstly, my family: I don’t know how you guys aren’t sick of me yet
Secondly, ‘the body of Christ,’ my intention was never to cause trouble but to stop a rot I felt might spread and become worse if nobody spoke up about it.
Lastly, to those who said I shouldn’t blog again, I respect and understand your concerns but the truth is, writing is not just my gift, it is also my ‘curse’. I cannot ‘NOT’ write but I PROMISE, this is the last I will say on this issue except the christian body needs to see me.
God is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No sin is too big to wreck anyone’s faith. If it does, then it means it’s working out a greater good for you. You will definitely come out stronger and better in the end. Like my best friend says “in the end, it will be all right and if it ain’t alright, it’s notthe end.”
“…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul.
Cheers to the weekend people 
The battle is no longer who is or who is not the “king of the south”. Yung6ix has taken a famous but controversial step by declaring that he is the best rapper in Nigeria. WOW. From a rapper without an album?
Check out the rapper’s tweet;
I am the Best Rapper in Nigeria , if you have an opposing Opinion , now is the Best time to keep it to yourself #Controlstateofmind
— BLANK CHEQUE 6IX (@yung6ix) August 31, 2013
Do you agree with him? I bet not. Who is your best Nigerian rapper?
9ice’s ex-wife, Toni Payne took some time to enjoy a good vacation with herself and her handsome son in Dubai. She decided to share the photos from their lovely time out there and it looks they had incredible fun. Check out more photos below.
African China is back in our faces and he presents us with this lovely video to his Ghen Ghen single.
African China became a household name for lovers of Nigerian songs after he released his hit track Mr President. Since, then he has remained unstoppable as he followed it up with several other hit tracks.
Today, 45 Entertainment presents his latest video Ghen Ghen. Directed by UJ Pro Films. African China knows how to keep his fans begging for more. Watch out for some new dance steps and the video quality is off the hook.
NED is a young talented versatile artiste but majors in the genre ‘R&B’. NED was born on the 10th of August and started music professionally in 2007; NED released his first single ‘Star’ featuring award-winning rapper ‘Vector’ supported by a video in 2012
Now NED is premiering the audio for his new video titled ‘We Run The Show’. NED is signed onto Morgan Entertainment and the song was produced by Bolji
Sarkodie is gearing up for the release of his second album, Sarkology. The Ghanaian rapper was in the UK recently where he stepped into Tim Westwood’s studio and dropped a “legendary” freestyle.
Prrr Watch and make sure you rap along
Rapper, Eva was at 96.9FM Cool FM’s Morning Drive earlier yesterday. Toke Makinwa is the host of the morning talkshow and Eva was the celebrity guest. The 25 year old rapper turned up in purple weave while Toke the host appeared in her usual gold hair.
Who do you think rocked it better?
Tonto Dikeh’s been trying out different hairstyles in the last few weeks… From blonde, to weaves, to braids and now she is back to the blonde look. I think the blonde weave suit her best among all. What do you think?
By the way, if you are fair, and you do not have a blonde weave, you are on a long thing
Popular hollywood actor/comedian Kevin Hart while on UK’s Choice FM radio show decided to give us a little show during the break. He rocked to Fuse ODG’s Azonto song. Funny video if you ask me. Press play and enjoy this one.
Yinka Adesanya also known as Yeanach, is a hiphop musician and songwriter. He began his career while studying political science at the University of Ibadan. Later on, he gained prominence as an underground rapper in Bordeaux, France and driven by his need to contribute to the african hiphop scene he moved to South Africa where he worked with different artistes and producers before relocating back to Nigeria.
Now signed under Cee Money Entertainment where he is also a director of the company, he presents two fresh singles “Ghetto Made” and “Ajibole”. Listen and check them out!
DOWNLOAD GHETTO MADE
Just when we thought we had seen all our celebs go blonde, Rukky Sanda decides to join in on the league of celebs who have rocked the blonde look. We love her short and pretty hair, what do you think?
In a world where every other celeb is going blonde Chika Ike decided to stay distinct by doing her own thing. She recently rocked this red hair to an interview and we think she looks gracefully gorgeous. What do you think?
The Ekeinde family have been on vacation in northeastern Italy, Venice to be precise in the last couple of days. Omotola decided to share a collage of their lovely time out there in Venice. It seemed the parents enjoyed their trip more as she tweeted that “Goodbye #venice … Hello #Gardaland… Adult time over now kids take over. #bored with ancient history lol.”
Here’s what Dotun of Cool FM rocked to the Cool Club Hop with Star Music event which held at Vlub Vegas last nite 28th August, 2013. Yay or Nay?
Trybe records artist, Aramide has been going around promoting her music and career a lot more recently. She stopped at HipTV for a quickie and spoke about her musical journey so far. She also spoke about her meeting up with her label boss, Eldee and also her hot new single ”It’s Over”. Press play and enjoy this interview.
Yvonne Jegede who took a break from the screens is back and this time she is much better than she used to be. She has been away in Cyprus for school and now she is back to take her position in the Nollywood scene. She also shared some hot looking photos of herself, what do you think?
Emma Nyra is getting set for her online series, Who Is Emma Nyra. She is also set to release the video to her previously released single, Sere Kere. While we await those projects, here are photos to wet our appetite.
Tonto Dikeh shared this lovely looking photo of herself without make-up to show that she’s still got that pretty in her. What do you think of her no make-up look?
Angelo, the lover of Nigerian BBA housemate, Beverly took to his twitter page to share what he felt about Beverly and also implore Nigerians to take it easy on her. He further stressed that she is an amazing person and she also taught him to read the bible. Find his tweets below.
According to news reaching us, our very own talented footballer, Austin JJ Okocha is set to delve into Nollywood as he has set to produce a new movie based on music icon, Majek Fashek’s story. The movie’s screen play is reportedly written by Charles Novia, and features Francis Duru as Majek
Fasek, Sam Dede, Stella Damascus and other top Nollywood actors.
Word out at the moment has it that our dear Nigerian football legend Austin JJ Okocha is currently producing a movie about reggae star Majek Fashek.
The movie’s screen play is reportedly written by Charles Novia, and features Francis Duru as Majek
Fasek, Sam Dede, Stella Damascus and other top Nollywood actors.
And Here’s what Francis said about Majek Fashek:
Whatever his travails and the public perception of him, Majek still remain a world class material, who has promoted so much interest world wide with his type of genre of music, So a movie of his life and career has to meet a world class,”
Samklef is gearing up fast to conclude his album which should be out any moment. Here’s is another single off the album titled Dancing Machine featuring Kay Switch. Download and enjoy
Reports on the internet this morning suggest Nigerian representative, Beverly Osu was hospitalized for 5 hours on her return from South Africa.
The 21 year old is said to have injured her ankle during the grand finale of the show. She was reportedly hospitalized at FaithCity Hospital, Oju Olobun Close, off Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Azonto craze is far from over at least not for American comedian, Kevin Hart. Watch him dance on Choice Breakfast show
Jamal Zamani
Ice Prince recently delivered his latest machine, the Bentley, reported to be worth the region of N37million. It looks like Ice Prince’s son, Jamal is also celebrating with his BET winner father.
Ice Prince is gearing up for his performance in Philli alongside Meek Mill
“Omosexy’: The biggest film star you’ve never heard of”
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, aka ‘Omosexy’, is the queen of Nollywood. She’s appeared in more than 300 films, pulls in 150 million viewers for her reality-television show and has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world.She scores a zero on the Hollywood Richter scale. She has never starred in a major motion picture. Her most recent film, Last Flight to Abuja, means nothing to devotees of Netflix and LoveFilm.
When she sat next to Steven Spielberg at a Time magazine dinner earlier this year he didn’t know her name. Yet Omotola Jalade Ekeinde was attending that dinner because, like him, she had been honoured in Time’s 2013 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Alongside Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. The star of more than 300 films, Omotola – or “Omosexy”, as she is known to her legions of fans – is bigger across the African diaspora than Halle Berry.
Her reality-television show, Omotola: The Real Me, pulls in more viewers than Oprah’s and Tyra’s at their peak, combined, and she is the first African celebrity ever to amass more than one million Facebook “likes”.
When I meet her for the interview in a photographic studio in south-east London she is still recovering from getting mobbed by her Afro-Caribbean fan base in a nearby Tesco. “They practically had to shut down the store when people recognised me,” she says. “I actually got scared.”
Omotola is one of the biggest stars in Nollywood, the low-budget, high-output Nigerian film industry that churns out more English-language films than Hollywood or Bollywood (1,000-2,000 a year). Some have cinematic releases, but most are for the straight-to-video market.
When I watch her Stella photo-shoot from the sidelines it is immediately apparent that everything about her is BIG. Big body, big hair, big personality, big laugh: she comes across like Oprah’s sister.
She is here with her own film crew, who are recording for a future episode of her television show. Which means there is also a big, superstar delay – three hours – before our interview can start.
Many of her fans think her real name is “Omosexy”, she tells me, laughing, when we finally get to speak, but it was a nickname given to her by her husband, an airline pilot.
“He bought me a car back in 2009, and that was the plate number,” she recalls, speaking with kinetic, girlish excitement, rattling off sentences in fast, extended flurries.
“All my cars have special plate numbers, like Omotola 1.” When I ask how many cars she has, she laughs again, with embarrassment. “A few.” When she first saw her personalised licence plate she was horrified. “I thought, ‘Oh no!’ It sounded cocky.
As if I was telling everybody, ‘I’m sexy!’ Y’know-wha-I-mean?” She punctuates her sentences with this phrase, which she reels off as a single word.
The 35-year-old star has been acting since she was 16. Most recently she starred as Suzie, a passenger freshly spurned by her adulterous lover, in an aeroplane disaster movie, Last Flight to Abuja, which was the highest grossing film at the African box office last year.
Her breakthrough role came in 1995, in the Nollywood classic Mortal Inheritance, in which she played a sickle-cell patient fighting for her life. Since then she has established a staggering average of 16 films a year.
I put it to her that she must be the most prolific actress in the world. She laughs and shakes her head. “I am sure there are people who have beaten that record in Nigeria. Trust me.
It is easy to turn around with straight-to-video movies. It is the fashion to shoot until you drop, night and day. You have to remember that we are on very low budgets, so there is no time to wait.”
Nollywood began fewer than 20 years ago on the bustling streets of Lagos. Its pioneers were traders and bootleggers who started out selling copies of Hollywood films before graduating into producing their own titles as an inexpensive way to procure more content for a burgeoning market.
The traders finance the films (the average budget is £15,000-£30,000), then sell copies in bulk to local operators, who distribute them in markets, shops and street-corners for as little as £2 each.
The financial equation is problematic, with endemic piracy, issues over copyright and a lack of legally binding contracts.
Even so, what started as a ramshackle business is today worth an estimated £320 million a year, and rising. All this in a country that still lacks a reliable electricity supply.What is the secret of Omotola’s appeal? “I don’t know,” she says, shrugging. “I wish someone would tell me! People can relate to me, I suppose. They feel as if they know me. A lot of my audience has grown up with me.”
At the same time, in a country that is heavily defined by religion and tradition, it helps that she is seen as a stable role model – a God-fearing woman who has been married to the same man for 17 years, and balances her work-life with bringing up four children.
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde was born into a middle-class family of strict Methodists in Lagos. Her father was the manager of the Lagos Country Club, while her mother worked for a local supermarket chain.
She has two younger brothers and was a tomboy, fiercely independent. “I used to scare boys from a very young age. They found me too much, because I knew what I wanted and I’d boss them around. In those days my mother would joke that I would never find a husband.”
As a child she was closest to her father. “He was a different kind of African man,” she recalls.
“He was very enlightened. He always asked me what I wanted, and encouraged me to speak up. He treated me like a boy.” He died in a car accident when Omotola was 12, while she was away at boarding-school.
“I didn’t grieve,” she says. “When I got home people were telling me that my mother had been crying for days, and that, as the eldest, I had to be strong for her and my brothers. I didn’t know what to do, so I just bottled everything up.
It affected me for many years afterwards. I was always very angry.”Omotola would later play out her repressed grief on camera, using it as an emotional trigger to make herself cry whenever scripts called for it. But this soon created other problems.
“The director would shout, ‘Cut!’ and I’d still be crying,” she recalls. “I could bring the tears, but I could not control them. In the end I had to stop using that technique.”
At the age of 16 Omotola met her future husband, Matthew Ekeinde, then 26, in church. He was so keen on her that the day after their first meeting he showed up at her house unannounced.
“He soon became a friend of the family. He was almost like a father figure,” she says. “He’d drop my brothers at school and stuff.”
Ekeinde proposed when Omotola was 18. Initially, Omotola’s mother thought her daughter too young to marry, and asked Matthew to wait, but he refused. “She was really shocked,” says Omotola.
“She said, ‘If you want something badly enough you wait for it,’ but he said, ‘If I want something I take it.’ He was very, very bold. It was one of the things I found fascinating about him.”
They had two wedding ceremonies, the second of which took place on a flight from Lagos to Benin. “He’s amazing. If I weren’t married to him I couldn’t see myself with anybody else. I’m a handful.”
Ekeinde has become a reluctant poster boy for a new kind of African man.
“A lot of men come up to him and say, ‘You’re a real man – I can’t believe how you deal with it all.’ He also gets a lot of invitations from various bodies to speak about how he copes as a modern Nigerian man in a relationship with a powerful working woman.”
Omotola’s ascent to the Nollywood elite began the same year she met Ekeinde. She was modelling at the time. One afternoon she tagged along with a model friend who was attending a film audition.
“She didn’t get the part, and she came out and was very sad,” says Omotola. “Then she said, ‘Why don’t you go in and have a go?’
I said ‘OK,’ and went in and got the part. My friend wasn’t happy. That was the end of our friendship.”Omotola has somehow also found the time to release three albums. And then there is her charitable work. “First and foremost I actually consider myself a humanitarian,” she says proudly.
She started in 2005, working with the United Nations as a World Food Programme ambassador. She now has her own foundation, the Omotola Youth Empowerment Programme.
“I have a lot of young people writing to me, feeling disillusioned. There’s so much injustice in Africa, and people’s lives being trampled on. The foundation was designed to give voice to these people.”
Her own voice has been greatly enhanced by the success of her reality-television show. It is the first show of its kind in Africa, watched by 150 million people across the continent. “
A lot of women say to me that I am their role model and example. They say, ‘If Omotola can do it, I can do it.’ I also get a lot of fan letters from men that say, ‘You are the reason I allow my wife to work, or pursue a career,’ because they see that I am married and that I am doing both.”
Omotola is now one of the most powerful people in what’s being called the “new Nollywood”, a fresh chapter for the industry, characterised by better scripts, improved production values and cinema rather than DVD-only releases.
But there are obstacles for the new Nollywood, not least the fact that Nigeria only has seven major cinemas, and that ticket prices are way beyond the reach of most citizens.
Nollywood’s biggest problem by far, however, is that its films – including Omotola’s – are still not very good. Theirs is a fuzzy, low-budget aesthetic in which histrionic acting combines with often ludicrous plot lines.
The films drown in melodrama, and many scenes are unintentionally comic. Production values and the rigours of plot and character development are dispensed with in the mad rush to complete and distribute.
It’s akin to half-cooking food to feed impatient mouths, and the results feel like first drafts. Nevertheless, African audiences don’t seem to care, as long as the films are cheap enough for a downtrodden public desperate for escapism, and they feature their own home-grown stars on screen.
So, what does the future hold for Omotola?
She recently made her American debut, in a television drama, Hit the Floor, opposite the R&B star Akon. Does she see her future as Nollywood or Hollywood?
“I’ll just go with the flow. We [in Nollywood] want to collaborate, we don’t want to leave. We are hoping to be the first film industry that will pull Hollywood in, instead of them pulling us out.”This may not be such a crazy idea, as Hollywood sees the amounts invested in Nollywood, plus a potential audience of over one billion Africans (155 million in Nigeria alone).
Would she like to work with Spielberg? “Oh, please, let it be!” she says, clasping her hands together hopefully.
“Please! Everything happens for a reason.” I ask her if she took Spielberg’s number at that Time dinner. “Hello? I wouldn’t be African if I didn’t, now would I?”
Wizkid is up and working hard on his second album which was pushed back few weeks ago. The Starboy leader and EME artiste promises to bless with an album which i regard as the best of both worlds with Legends such as King Sunny Ade, Femi Kuti and now Daddy Showkey already on the album.
Wiz promised September for the album release but we guess it will be released towards the festive period. Expect few cuts from the album as soon as it drops.
Here are some photos from Wizkid and Daddy Showkey in the studio: Peek
Beautiful Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson is a year older today and in celebration of her birth date, she send out a heartful and warm message to her fans to lend out a helping hand to the children on the streets.
Here’s what she had to say;
Today, I thought of many things I would love to have as birthday gifts and the many dreams I am still pursuing. In all of this I’m not losing sight of the fact that if not for God I might have ended up on the street like the many kids and young adults begging for food and some prostituting to make ends meet.
If we know the circumstances that force some of these people on the street, we would spare a thought for them. I am where I am today purely by the grace of God and the grace of people who believed in me from the word go.
Recently, I was at the Boys Reform Home, Oregun, Lagos, the discussion I had with the principal Mr. Kotun and much later with the Special Adviser in charge of al lremand homes in Lagos set me thinking about the boys and girls on the street. They have dreams too.
Can they fulfill those dreams on the street? The answer will likely be no; because I won’t be where I am today if I ended up on the street
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For this reason, Mercy Johnson Foundation will be doing a lot to get kids off the street. We are not asking people for money or donation, I will do all I can with the resources God has given me, and with the support of my husband to help get these kids off the street and set them on the path where they can begin to pursue their dreams.I want to plead with people, fans, friends and colleagues to spare a thought for the children on the street. We can begin by educating people around us, parents, the children and people in charge of children (Oga-house help relationship, teacher-student relationship, and others) on the need to treat every child like the future of Nigeria depends on it.
And truth be told, our future will not be all that enjoyable if we let the scourge of ‘street-children’ fester. By then, the rich will begin to cry. I learnt Lagos State Government has 11 homes where most children picked from the streets are kept, reformed and reunited with their families after counseling.
That is an initiative Mercy Johnson Foundation will be supporting and beyond that we will be going to different states to help spread the message-Get kids off the street, save the future. From tomorrow, I will begin to replay some of the lessons I learnt at the boys’ reform home and we all can contribute to getting the kids off the street.
I am grateful to everyone that has sent in a birthday message, tweet and gifts. Thank you and God bless you.
Mercy Johnson Okojie
The scoreline between Paul Okoye and Nigerian bloggers is currently 1 vs 0 with the music star leading. The 1/2 of P Square posted a picture of a man balling in the strip club in Canada last night with stacks of dollars in hand. (Click HERE to see the half photo)
Peter Okoye had noticed Nigerian bloggers have no chill regards news so he decided to post a half faced photo supposed to be himself. Peter has now posted the full picture of the man @ the strip club and it happens he is not the one.
He left a message for the bloggers though
Lesson of the day: Do not judge wen u r not sure… #Caseclosed
See full photo;
Peter 1-0 Nigerian Bloggers
