My regrets about my marriage, Ngozi Nwosu speaks

By Chioma Gabriel, Vanguard

She is one actress who has traversed Nigeria’s movie industry and is still standing tall to be counted. She has acted in movies shot in Yoruba, Igbo and English languages. In Yoruba movies, she has accolades to tell her story. In Living in Bondage shot in Igbo language, she gave Nollywood its first real wet kiss on the set .

In this encounter, Ngozi Nwosu, the Arochukwu-born screen actress talks about her career, her failed marriage and her new found faith.

You’ve been in Nollywood for quite sometime. But now you seem to be digressing. What’s going on?

I have not left Nollywood. But I had to chill out for sometime because I have other things that I’m doing. But at the same time, I’m still with them because I still have time to do some movies.

Have you done up to 50 movies?

I can’t count the number of movies I have done. The last time I needed to include some of them in my CV, they were more than that. The person I gave my CV to was like, ‘wao!’ What’s going on! So, I can’t count my movies. They are more than 50.

So, what are you into now?

You know that the movie industry at the moment is going through some stress. We are trying to rectify that but that doesn’t mean that people are not shooting movies. But if you take a look at the way movies are being churned out, it’s being regularised. It’s not like before. It’s not even selling like before anymore. Before a marketer churns out a movie, he has to consider all these.

Which movie gave you your highest pay?

I cannot say exactly which movie because, really, I didn’t go into the movies because of the money I hope to earn.

Acting is a passion. It’s not money that drives me. It’s the inspiration that I get from a script. If I’m motivated by a script, I accept it. But like I said, things have changed and I accept increments here and there.

What’s your most challenging role?

To me, every role is challenging but it depends on how you play it. If you ask my most interesting role, I will tell you. We kicked off Nollywood with Living in Bondage. Before I acted that movie, there was nothing like kissing and all that.

What used to obtain in those days were the Yoruba movies and kissing was not existing then in the movies. But Living in Bondage signified the birth of Nollywood and I acted a kissing role. When we were on that set, I had a kissing scene with the lead character played by Kenneth Okonkwo.

Everybody, the entire crew, was wondering if I was really going to kiss him or not but it was a script and before they knew it, I kissed him and everybody started cheering and clapping.

If kissing him was such a big deal then, what about now that romancing and heavy petting are common in the movies?

That was then. Go and check movies then, even TV. People found it difficult to kiss then. When I did it, they were surprised.

So, does that make you the first woman to kiss on a set?

Movies? Yes. Before then, if they wanted to express endearments in a movie, they would just come together and hug or touch themselves, and it was okay then. When I kissed Andy (Kenneth Okonkwo), they could not believe it because then, we had not gotten the boldness we have now. So, kissing someone on set at the initial stage demanded a lot of boldness.

From that point to the present time, how would you say the movie industry has fared?

I will say the movie industry has improved tremendously but at the same time, it has crumbled because so many things are going wrong. The scripts are no longer strong. It’s copy here, copy there. Before you see two scenes in a movie, you have already known where the story will end.

People are no longer creative and sometimes, people play too many roles at the same time and they shift a character from one movie into another. At times, you see two different movies with the same faces playing similar characters and you cannot differentiate one movie from the other. You see an actor, because of the load of work he has, he will carry his character from one movie into another.

And then, you see Indian movies translated into Nigeria . Movies shot by the British or Americans are Nigerianised. We are lacking in originality. It also happens in Yoruba movies.

But I believe it will be rectified when writers start going on retreat to research for stories and organising script writers’ workshops or retreats. We need to write original scripts, strong water-tight scripts, scripts that will challenge an actor/actress to bring out his/her best. As a writer, it’s necessary to go on retreat, not to copy Indian or American story and change a few things. I believe God will help us.

How did you get into acting?

I started acting from school because I was in the dramatic society and before I got into Living in Bondage which metaphorsed into what we have today as home-video, I was in the Yoruba movies, the 36mm celluloid.

I had even made a name in Yoruba movies before Living in Bondage. I was on TV. I was popularly known as Madam V-Boot in Ripples. But before then, I was doing movies. That is celluloid, which you watch in cinemas.

It’s not like home video you buy to watch at home. So, I’m not today’s chick-o!

You acted inYoruba movies but you are Igbo. Do you have any link biologically with the Yoruba?

No, I was brought up in Lagos. If you look around, you will see my awards in Yoruba movies: Best Actress in Yoruba, Best Upcoming Actress in Yoruba. I also have awards in English movies. I grew up here.

But there are people who are even born in Lagos who don’t understand Yoruba…

It’s because they don’t have the flair to learn the language. Growing up in a place is different from having the flair to learn the language of the people. Some have been here all their lives but they don’t speak Yoruba because they don’t want to learn.

Maybe, your family made Lagos home and maybe stopped visiting Igboland.

To me, anywhere I find comfort and happiness is home. But I’m from Arochukwu in Abia State. My mum is from Umunoha.

She’s not Yoruba?

No, I’m a typical Igbo lady but I imbibed the culture and language of the Yorubas because I find peace here. I speak Igbo very well and acted in Igbo films too. Anywhere you find peace is your home. Anywhere you find love is your home.

It’s an advantage and I can tell you, I’m good in Yoruba. I’m good in English and I’m good in Igbo.

How did your parents react when you started acting?

My parents were never against it. Anyway, it was my mum and her children. May her soul rest in peace. She was a comedian too. People who knew her know where I got my character. When she was alive, she could make you laugh and laugh.

So, you’re like your mother?
Yes.

Was she also very fair like you?

She was chocolate. Not very dark but not fair. My father was fair. My mother had four kids. Two have her complexion. Two are fair like my dad.

So, where’s your father?

He’s also late.

Were you daddy’s girl or mummy’s girl?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be daddy’s girl because I didn’t grow to know him very well. He died during the civil war. We became drawn to our mother after our father died.

Did your father die in the battle field?

Yes. He was fighting on the Biafran side but he didn’t return after the war. All his brothers returned.

So, you were not even sure he is dead? What if he is alive somewhere?

He was killed in the battle field. Somebody who knew us saw him die. He later took us to the very spot where he was killed. He was shot and killed in the battle field fighting for Biafra.

What about your brothers? Is any of them in the entertainment industry?

My mother had only girls. Four girls.

In Igboland, it’s an issue to have only girls. You hear about the male child syndrome. Is it affecting you and your sisters?

You know, when our mother died and we went for her burial, people didn’t believe she had no male child. We took care of everything. We are not interested in property or getting our own share of things. We were all girls and would get married. So, we left everything. They even invited us to come but we were not interested.

If our father had a male child, we would have gone for his inheritance but he didn’t. They asked us to come and take our father’s land but we didn’t go.

Perhaps, you ran away from being killed over property belonging to your father…

Not really. Why fight for land in the village when we are aspiring to build our own houses in the city? So, what are you struggling for land for when as a woman, you should be in your husband’s house and then you can buy land anywhere and build on.

And moreover, gone were the days when if a man had only girls, one is asked to stay behind and bear children that will answer the father’s name.

But they still do it in some parts of Igboland…

Yes. But not us.

Maybe, one of your sisters should stay?

Impossible. They have moved ahead with their lives. Two of us are married, remaining two. My younger sister and I.

You got married sometime…

Yes I did. It didn’t work out and so I quit.

What happened?

I would rather not talk about it.

You married a Yoruba. Maybe you should try Igbo this time…

I found love and peace here and so, I remain here. We need to cross-marry as Nigerians and it goes a long way to keep this country united. And if you say marry Igbo, who told you that because you are Igbo, the Igbo man will be better? Let me tell you, they could be worse.

Even if you marry your town’s man, a bad husband is a bad husband anywhere. It doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to marry your own husband from God. You see, life is how God wants it to be. Whatever happens to one in relationship, one should take it in peace because God has a different plan and purpose for you.

So, what happened? Were you desperate and then made a mistake?

No, I was not desperate, even though I didn’t marry early as I would have loved. But they say it is better late than never. So, I wasn’t desperate even though I was not expecting to get married at the time I did. The only thing is that I just thank God because that marriage was an eye opener for me.

I was like a child who felt this was the way it was being done. But I was wrong. If I knew then what I know now, maybe, I would have been able to forgive and patch it up because then, I believed that if it was not for me, it was not for me.

You speak in parables. What happened?

I didn’t handle things maturely because I didn’t know a lot of things. I didn’t seek advice because you don’t know who will give you a good one or a wrong one. I acted on impulse but all the same I didn’t regret it. The only thing I regret is not knowing what I know now.

If I had known that that’s what men do, that a lot women cover up their own, I would have forgiven and stayed.

I could infer from what you are saying that perhaps your husband had other women and it didn’t go down well with you…

I am the type who believe that my husband should be my husband. I was in love and it was so blind.

And perhaps deaf and dumb as well?

Thank you. You got it. But I was wrong. Even when people were telling me, Ngozi, see what was going on under your nose, I didn’t believe. I was the last to know the truth that was happening right under my nose. I believed so much in my husband and this Mr and Mrs thing until I saw! That’s when I went hay wire.

A cheating husband is not much of an issue these days…

Did I know that? I thought my husband must remain mine. If I had known what I know now, I would have known what to do. But then, my head was hot. I was boasting about him and then this happened and I was so shattered. I didn’t believe it could happen to me.

You were already a celebrity at the time you got married. Perhaps, he had complex? He didn’t know how to handle it.

Limelight and marriage are two different things. I don’t want to talk about it. It really shocked me. Let’s not talk about it.

But he spoke about it.

Yes, he alleged all kinds of things in the newspapers but I’m not saying a word. I left it to God. and God has judged. You know, sometimes, human beings do things and they don’t reckon with God. That is a mistake. So,

I said, let God be the judge and He judged. He has already judged and vindicated me.

What happened?

It’s my personal life.

One of your biggest roles was playing Peace in Fuji House of Commotion. You were Chief Fuji’s third wife. What was really the role of Peace?

I’m no longer in that comedy. But Peace is a woman who knows her onions. She loves her husband very much but she knows the kind of man he is and tries to tolerate his excesses but the ones she could not stomach, she would refuse vehemently. She knows how to get around things unlike the other wives who bow down before their husband.

The man’s wish is their command . For Peace also, the man’s wish is equally her command but when she sees that there is another thing, she stands her ground and says no, your wish cannot be my command now.

My own wish will be your command and that is why whenever there is a problem in the house, it is Peace that they run to because they know that Chief will listen to Peace, they know that Chief loves Peace very much and they know that when Peace says no, this will not work, other wives will join, the children will join and it will not work.

It’s just that people don’t understand her but she is just an Igbo woman who understands her husband and knows how to tame his excesses and that explains why other wives lean on her for support.

Fuji House of Commotion is a polygamous setting and Peace is an Igbo woman married to a Yoruba . You, Ngozi Nwosu in real life is an

Igbo woman married to a Yoruba. Why didn’t you tap from your screen experience?

My dear, I didn’t go into marriage with polygamy in my head. I went into the marriage out of love and in love I stayed. But when I saw the fire coming towards me, I had to move. It’s very difficult to live in a polygamous setting.

Even before I married my husband, I had a lot of offers from other men but because some of these men were already married, I said to myself that I would never marry a married man. I wanted my own man.

But if I had known I was going to see fire, I wouldn’t have bothered my life. This is the seventh year. We have not obtained divorce officially. What we have is a court separation for three years to see if we could still come back together.

And none of you has made any attempt?

My husband has made an attempt for me to come back but to me, it can’t work. After what I passed through, I don’t think it can ever work. I really passed through a lot.

I have even said I will never remarry but after people talked to me, I’m asking God for grace to settle down again and maybe, now that I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and personal Saviour, I will see things differently.

You must have passed through the valley of shadow of death…

It’s unbelievable but I will not say more than that. My husband wants us to get back together but I don’t think it will work.

But you can’t marry another person without a proper divorce…

Of course, I can marry again because he too has remarried and so, if I remarry, that makes the two of us. The only thing is, I don’t want to rush into anything. Now, I just believe in God to do His will concerning me.

You said you left Fuji House of Commotion. Why?

I left a long time, about two years. I’m already into other things: Films, TV series, other things.

Usually, asking for more money causes such problems?

And what is wrong with that? Things have changed, even the cost of living and we all know it. So, I have left the TV comedy series. I have shot some home-videos. I’m a radio producer and I’m in many TV series. I shot home videos recently. Some are out, some are not

In one interview, you were quoted to have said roles are no more coming as much as they used to.

I never said that. What I said was that they should not because they have discovered new faces, forget the old ones. But the truth is that I have been working.

Have you produced any video?

I used to say one thing-acting is my thing and I’m good. That you are a good actor does not mean you must produce or direct. You can specialise in any of these fields.

So, should we say you are still searching for love?

I am not searching but I know I will find love again. Just take a good look at me. I will find love again. Everything is in God’s hand. I won’t bother myself again and I’m not rushing into anything.

In the movie world, politics has crept in. Between KOK and Segun Arinze, who is right?

I don’t want to talk about that because there is politics everywhere, even in the church.

Centenary: Coal City up in frenzy as logo is unveiled, torch lit

By Chidi Nnadi, Daily Sun

At few minutes past 2:00 p.m. the veil for the Enugu Centenary celebration fell, giving way for a smouldering smoke that enveloped the conference hall of the prestigious Nike Resort Hotels venue for the unveiling of the centenary logo and lighting of the centenary torch.

The event scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. had the spacious hall filled to the brim at noon with people from across the nine states that made up the former South eastern Nigeria.
Before unveiling the logo, Governor Sullivan Chime went into history to reveal the Enugu of today.
“In the year 1909, Enugu came into existence following the discovery of coal by a team of British geologists led by Messrs Albert Kitson and Hayes. Since then Enugu has metamorphosed into the big city it is today.

“Within those 100 years, the city better known as the Coal City has not only served as political capital to several governments – Southern Nigeria, Eastern Nigeria, East Central State, old Anambra State, old Enugu State and the present Enugu State,” Chime said.
He, therefore, said they are celebrating a city with great significance, an enduring and rugged nature, which has stood tall in good and bad times.
He also said they are celebrating a city that means different things to different people, but which means also one thing to most of them, a home.
“So, today, we celebrate the city that held us all together, a city where I, like many others here today was born,” he said.

Chime recalled that when he came into office in May 2007, they met a lot of challenges ranging from infrastructural collapse, poor city sanitation, insecurity, incapacitated transportation system, among others, which they battled headlong.
“We discovered though sadly that if drastic actions were not taken we were at the brink of losing our dear city hence our aggressive approach to urban renewal and our effort to make Enugu a modern city.

“I am glad that today our efforts to renew, reclaim, recreate and restore Enugu are yielding fruits and that millions of people who turned their back to our beloved city are now returning home,” the governor said.
Indeed, the celebration of 100 years of Enugu, the Coal City, revealed how much Governor Chime has endeared himself to the hearts of many in the region in the two years of his administration as representatives of other states in the region present at the occasion praised him to the high heavens.
The praises started pouring soon after former Information Minister and Chairman of the Enugu Centenary Committee, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, reeled out the wonderful package his committee has put together for the celebration.

First to appreciate the Centenary celebration was the Special Assistant to Imo State Governor on Political Affairs, Dr Jasper Ndubuaku, who disclosed that Governor Ikedi Ohakim had sent him to ask where his government and the good people of Imo could come in, in the centenary celebration.
Besides, he said the Imo people had asked him to find out from Chime his success secret, saying that even when Enugu does not benefit from oil allocations, Chime has been able to turn the state around in a very short period.

Ndubuaku praised the ambitious programmes put together for the centenary celebration, particularly those that would aid in the preservation of archival materials that would be of immense benefit to posterity.
Equally excited was the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Chigozie Ogbu, who proclaimed Chime as a miracle governor.
Ogbu who represented Governor Martin Elechi said that what Chime had done in the last two years have elevated Enugu as the capital of Igbo land and the entire Southern Nigerian.
He saw the centenary celebration as one event that would not only be beneficial to Enugu and Igbo nation, but also to the entire people of the region who at one time or the other had their root traced to the Coal City.

He gave this as the major reason why all hands must be on deck to make sure the goals of the centenary are realized.
Ogbu advised Governor Chime to consider a situation where past Igbo leaders are encouraged to have residences in Enugu as a way of promoting the oneness the city enjoyed in the past.
Also the Ohaneze Ndigbo President, Chief Ralph Uwuche, who addressed the gathering in the Igbo Language, said the Enugu Centenary celebration is the dream of Ndigbo come true.
According to him, the centenary would afford the Igbo who, he said, are over 50 million to henceforth see Enugu as their gathering point.

The Ohaneze Ndigbo leader said what the Enugu Centenary has set to achieve would encourage posterity after the centenary to have access to information about their past leaders and how they lived.
Speaking, Chairman of the occasion and Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, said after he had listened to Nwodo reeled out what the centenary would achieve he had no doubt in his mind that a revolution would occur after the celebration.

The deputy senate president pointed out that Enugu had attained 25, 50 and 75 years, all landmark years, without anyone remembering to celebrate the city that has great past, saying that the 100 years would as well have passed unnoticed if not for Chime.

He noted that Enugu had served as a rallying point for the Southern Nigeria even at a point as the capital of the defunct Republic of Biafra, saying that the city is ancestral home to many in the region.
In his address, the Centenary Committee chairman, Nwodo disclosed that the centenary celebration encompasses the nine states of the old Southeastern region and would indeed at the end of the day unveil new opportunities in the city.

He gave out the activities lined up for the celebration to include school competitions, football competitions, as well as beauty pageant that is to give out N2 million as prize money to the winner. Already, Suzuki has donated a car for the Enugu Centenary queen who will not only pass as a beautiful lady, but most have other natural ingredients that make a young woman pass as one.
Another highlight of the celebration would be a cultural fiesta that would last for five days where two states of the nine states of the region would take a day to showcase their rich cultural heritage with the last day set aside for Enugu State to do the same.

During the period, he said, they have built in a musical carnival where Nigerian music and musicians would be on parade to entertain and motivate young ones, as well as arts exhibition.
On the Christmas Day, he said that a discourse on Enugu to be chaired by renowned Catholic priest, Monsignor Obiora Ike, would be flagged off.

Nwodo also disclosed that in the weeks ahead Governor Chime would be hosting corporate Nigeria to a breakfast where he is expected to enjoin them to come and partner with the state in the celebration which would very much expose their businesses to the world.
Besides, Nwodo said that his committee would leave things that would linger in the memories of the people as it has plans to renovate and set new monuments.
Already, he said they would turn the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly building into a legislative archive. This project is expected to gulp N61.9 million.
Also the old Premier’s Lodge where the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe lived as premier would be turned into Zik’s Museum at N37.5 million.

According to him, this would become a tourist centre like the Arewa House in the North and would have in it all things that Zik used when he was alive.
Nwodo said that they are already in touch with Zik’s widow, Prof Uche, who has promised to give them the shoes of Zik and the bed he slept in as premier.
He thanked Governor Chime for re-purchasing the hitherto monetized lodge and relocating the motor park that was there.

Also they have plans to turn the New Haven road median into car parking lots at the cost of N19 million to help decongest the traffic caused by lack of parking space in the area. This would also help in generating revenue for the state as people would be asked to pay parking fees.
Also the state Ministry of Land has begun the survey of a place between Awkunanaw and Ozalla for the building of Nollywood village, a move Nwodo said would confirm Enugu as the Nollywood city of Nigeria.

He also said that the old Ministry of Works building in the secretariat would be renovated and made an architectural piece of history.
He said they would also keep alive the Onyema and Okpara mines just as they would build a tower to commemorate the centenary celebration with a sculpture of a coal miner onto of the tower, among other projects.
The state thanked immensely constructing outfit, Master Holdings Nigeria Limited for sponsoring the logo unveiling which gulped about N5 million.

Living in Bondage: How I was cheated out of a project I created –Okechukwu Ogunjiofor aka Paulo

Introduction

My name is Okechukwu Ogunjiofor. I am from Amaebo Ebenato, Osu local government area of Imo state. I am married with four children. I am a film maker, the pioneer producer of Nigerian Nollywood. I schooled in Jos, Plateau state.

The making of Living in Bondage

Before the making of the Living in Bondage, I had left Jos in 1987. I worked with Power Mike Promotions as a general manager in Mike Independent Television. But when Power Mike retired and relocated to Neni, Anambra state, where he comes from, his outfit closed down.

So, I was thrown out of job. It became difficult to find work and I desired to work on films. So, for almost four years, I was on the streets looking for how to actualize my dream.

At that time, if you go to the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, there were so many theatre artists, who also were graduates but nobody could practice what we learnt in school. There was no avenue to make films. The only thing our colleagues could do then at the theatre was to go on stage production.

So, I said to myself there must be a way out of this. One day, I remembered that one of the courses we read was News Gathering. And if you want to gather news with an electronic news gathering camera (ENG), then one can actually use that to tell a story.

I then decided to turn that around and use it to tell a story. So, I began to look for sponsors to do that. As it wasn't coming, I began to lose faith in my ability to do what I wanted to do. Then I decided to do any menial job that I can do to raise money, if I can't get a sponsor. So, from 1989 to 1992, I was on the streets of Lagos, hawking.

Then, I was going to the National Theatre to keep myself abreast with what was happening in the industry. One day, I saw Ruth Osu, I made some corrections on their scripts and she discovered that I was good.

After listening to my story, she decided to assist me. I believed I could take the film to the people, instead of taking the people to the theatre since an average Igbo man then didn't have a cinema culture. And since an average Igbo man had a VCR, these were theatres waiting to be explored. If I could just take these movies to these home theatres, then as many people as can buy my film, I would be making money.

How did the idea of film making come to you?

I can't say this is what I was thinking. Film making then was like an elitist cult, where you have big budget, and technical know-how. There were so many laws guiding film making that if I had to wait for when I could make a film on the big page that we were trained for, it would be so impossible.

So, I started thinking "how can we evolve a new form of film-making that can still tell the story, even if the quality is not the same thing as what is accepted globally. Then I remembered that ENG cameras are used to gather stories. VHS cameras can also be used to record weddings and document stories.

If the same camera can capture images and sound, then we can apply the rules of cinema into it and turn out a near perfect picture, which may not be hip, according to the rule of thumb in film making. I was determined. I was desperate. It was actually survival that triggered the idea of trying to make a film with an ordinary VHS camera. And that's what we did in Living in Bondage.

How did you come about the story line?

When I was with Power Mike Promotions, the first external job I did was to record a cultural group. Their PRO, one Emeka, told me that the group was to perform at the National Stadium. When we got to that place on the appointed date, we saw who-is-who in this country - every car that you could imagine, men and women, both old and young arrayed in black, white, yellow and red colours from their torso down.

Then dance started. It wasn't a dance per se but one of those nuances that you find in esoteric gatherings. From their discussions, I gathered that they were about to honour a young lady, who was so powerful that she brought down a reverend gentleman and initiated him.

As the lady emerged from one end of the stadium striding towards the gathering, all her arms and ankles were adorned with elephant tusks, big and heavy. She was in white. As she was coming, they were hailing her. After the event, Emeka came to me and said "Have you seen where I belong?

He said in their group, they love each other and help each other; that if I belong there with him, it was a matter of time; I would become rich and influential. And moreover, I would become untouchable by law enforcement agencies.

Here was a young man (referring to himself), who just came out of school and wanted to be successful. So, I was so fascinated. Then I asked him the name of the cultural group. He said "Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, I was shocked. He said there was nothing wrong with it. Just the same way I was talking to Andy (in the film) because that was the same picture that he presented to me.

So, you could understand it wasn't a coincidence that the story came up. So, when I met Kenneth Nnebue, he said I should develop the story, that is, in line with how young boys then crave for quick money while he traveled to Japan to buy a JVC camera.

He gave me N150, 000 to produce the film with an agreement to share the profit 50-50. With a target of only hundred thousand homes and at N300 per copy of the film, I was sure we won't lose money.

After about three weeks of release, we sold N20 million worth of goods. But Kenneth reneged on our agreement because at the time I didn't have courage to ask him to put everything in writing.

By then, it was impossible for me to go anywhere because the fans were becoming too many. They didn't understand it was just an act. People thought it was actually that somebody took a camera to where we were holding meeting and exposed us.

So, anywhere I went, I found people wanting to stone me. And here I was living in a high density area of Ajegunle, where these people saw me last three or four months as a hawker on the street of Lagos and this week, my name was every where across the nation.

After sometime, I took ill. But for a N1, 500 I.O.U.and another N1, 500 he gave while I was working on the project that was all I got from that film till today as a producer, a director and an actor.

He published the story of Living in Bondage in a book and avoided even putting my own picture and my own story as a key member of that film. Every other person who played on that film had a chapter, had a story to tell on that book.

What happened in Part 2 of Living in Bondage? Did you still play any key role?

When I finished writing Part 2 and I saw that he wasn't ready to pay me anything, I went to the locker he gave me in his office, locked my file and left for home. I told him that if he didn't pay me, I would not come back to produce Part 2, not thinking that he would have spare key to the safe.

He just simply went to that locker, took all the files, called all the artists and told them I was blackmailing him. You know, it was a new thing and the euphoria was so much that nobody bothered to cross check. All of them did the job. It was only Kanayo O. Kanayo and Ngozi Nwosu that left with me in anger.

They turned around; in order to make sure that Paulo was still part of it, kept a pillow somewhere and said Andy went to squeeze it to kill Paulo. They enlarged one of the pictures I snapped on set with them and put in my room on the film and said Paulo was that pillow. That was what happened. I didn't do the Part 2.

How did you assemble the cast?

These were the same people I used to watch each time I went to the theatre. That was where I saw Frank Vaughan, Wale Macauley, Bob Manuel Udokwu, Nnenna Nwabueze and a host of others like Ruth Osu on set.

The moment Kenneth told me that we could work together, I went back to the National Theatre and assembled them. Then Andy (Kenneth Okonkwo) was working with Osiquip at Apapa. By recommendation, they all came. Most of them couldn't even speak Igbo very well. I was the only person who could build everybody's dialogue. We needed to get their idioms, vocabularies and mannerisms right. And we rehearsed it for so many months and we blended well.

When you started, did you expect the industry (Nollywood) would be this huge?

No, I wasn't doing it for the industry because there was no industry then. All, I wanted was to survive, to do something with what I learnt in school that was new. I knew that people would copy but I didn't know it was going to be this globally visible.

I didn't also know that it was going to become a voice that would speak for Africa and place Nigeria as a third film making nations of the world. I didn't even know it was going to be so big in terms of creating an alternative format for film making that will soon take over celluloid.

I didn't also know it was going to be so interesting that the whole world will be interested in Africa and that it would throw up this vista of employment for so many millions of unemployed graduates in Africa. I didn't also know that it was going to be a very vibrant avenue to counter cultural imperialism.

Then foreign films like Chinese and India were every where and they have alien culture and our people were enjoying them. So, I didn't know that they would enjoy our own to the extent of pushing away all these foreign films. To be candid with you, I didn't know it was going to be this big.

But I guess God, who in His infinite mercy, chose us to begin the industry, knew where we were going, because it took over four years of my doing that film before others started coming into movies.

Now that the industry is so big and so vibrant, do you feel fairly and adequately rewarded?

I would say yes and no. Reward in terms of physical cash, no. But when you look at the number of people who are playing in the industry, who are feeding from Nollywood, then you will know that I am fulfilled.

If Nollywood has become the third film making nation of the world and God used one person to start it, the whole reference comes back to me, it means that you have built a global brand that is bigger than you, that will outlive you.

It means that you have a legacy that thousands of generations unborn will practice and the reference will still be there. So, that is a very strong argument and I will say I am adequately rewarded by God for doing so. But, when you look at my bank account, you will know that I have not made it but I am not grumbling. It is because of what God has done for me or what He is doing that you are interviewing me today.

But God knew and God saved me from all these hardships and problems and brought me to a place where whenever my name is mentioned, somebody will say 'I know him! But, look at it this way, if I didn't do that, maybe God would have used another person to do it.

So, why should I be talking about whether I am adequately rewarded or not when God has given me such a very big name? Another thing I want to say is that the industry is not big yet. You won't imagine what the industry will be when other ways of film making collapses and the only format of making film will be Nollywood style, the home video style.

Very soon it is going to happen. And when it happens, there won't be any other story anywhere but Nollywood. And when that happens, it will still be traced back to that same place. So whether I make money or not, it is immaterial. What matters is that the father of Nollywood is what God has bestowed on me.

After Living in Bondage, you disappeared. What happened after and what you have been doing?

Now, when I finished Living in Bondage Part 1, when Kenneth Nnebue did not give me what we agreed and he had gone ahead to produce the Part 2, I was pained but it wasn't for long.

Then, a friend of his who was selling the film for us in Onitsha, who had paid for supplies but couldn't receive, heard that I had problem with Kenneth. He persuaded to sponsor a film for me. When the man came to Lagos, I went to him with Kanayo O. Kanayo. He gave me N100, 000, rented a house for me. And then, we signed an agreement to do Circle of Doom.

Let me tell you, the man cheated me after a very long time but the first batch of 50,000 films we did, he gave me N800, 000. That was a lot of money. Instead of me to use that same money to sponsor films, I bought a brand new Mercedes Benz and a Toyota Corolla. Before long, I was broke again.

God brought Gabosky Ventures to sponsor Nneka, The Pretty Serpent. Again Gabosky seized my money. But in all these films, I played roles though it may not be as prominent as in Living in Bondage.

After that, I did Brotherhood of Darkness. Another big film that ignited trouble across the nation but I didn't get my money. In 1997, we did When flowers Turn Black. Kenneth Okonkwo was to market it but upon release, the sponsor ordered the film recalled from marketers, because the moment the film came into the market, the sponsor claimed somebody saw the film in the East and so we had made money but didn't want to pay him.

So, with all these troubles, I went into television production.

What programmes do you have on TV?

I have shot a programme called Rough Ages. I have another one called Winnis Hotel, a story about where Nigeria artistes gather in Surulere. I want to tell the story about how and what happens behind the scene. I have other productions, some of them looking for sponsorship now, and another which focuses on Nigerian health care.

What is your comment on professionalism in Nollywood, compared to what obtains in developed countries?

Africa is a nation of great endowment, especially natural endowment. Our stories are great stories. Nollywood has great stories and talents. We also have great professionals, who have artistry in what they do.

What we do not have is the ability to bring our technical quality at par with what obtains abroad like Bollywood and Hollywood. In Bollywood and Hollywood, before you make a film, you would have sponsorship. Government support plus private sponsorship produce films in these countries. What we have here is personal initiative and drive to survive.

So, when you have a film to make in Hollywood or Bollywood, you are given gestation period of years to make the film and recoup the money for the movie. Two, there is institutionalized channels of distribution that everybody knows so that you are sure your money is coming back.

But here, there are no set down distribution channel that you can use to make the movies and get your money. Then the little fund you are going to get from the bank, they give you 30 days, at most 90 days to return it. So, what time do you have to incubate that story, edit it properly, shoot it properly, and do your lighting properly, development and all that?

Now, when you have such big problem in your hand, there is no way you can tell a story, no matter how good it is and maintain a high standard that is obtainable in other countries.

So, there is no basis for comparison between Nollywood and Hollywood or Bollywood because the operational ethics in these two places are different. They are telling stories on computers, CGI (computer generated images). And they have huge budget and huge market to do it. We have huge market but not a structured market.

What should the industry expect from you now?

We are instituting African Audio Visual Award to take place in July, this year. The process will encourage practitioners through reward to make conscious efforts through training and retraining in the area of perfect pictures and perfect sound.

If we can get our pictures and sound very well, Nollywood would have come to a place where the world will stand up for it. All my life is now being given to the new cause for our people. We inaugurated recently at Sheraton Hotel advisory board members towards the award. And I believe that it is a matter of time the industry will not be the same again.

Major challenge and the way forward

Our major problem is distribution channel that would guarantee grassroot distribution of every producer's product, which my friend and director general of Film and Video Sponsorship Board, Mr. Emeka Mba, is already trying to put in place. Because it will take a lot of money to build a distribution framework across Nigeria, let alone other nations because we have a population that can patronize us.

But when they cannot find our products very close to their domain, that's when they copy films, borrow and do a lot of things. If distribution is taken care of, we can then focus on piracy. If we can stem piracy, at least by 60 per cent, then we can begin to talk about funding. Then, if someone brings his money, you can be sure to get it back and the producer and the crew can also be sure to smile to the bank.

What is the contribution of video clubs to the growth of Nollywood?

Video clubs are springing up because we don't have a cinema culture. But they are vital aspect of distribution for our industry and government should register them.

Assuming that there are a million registered video clubs and I release a film and give each club seven copies at N7,000, I would be making N7,000,000,000 (seven billion Naira).

So, they are doing legitimate business the wrong way. It is a new channel of distribution that we can harness if the government is aware of the type of money that would have been made for the producers, government, regulatory agencies and media houses.

But if you don't legitimize them and compel them to buy legitimately from the producers, then the producers will lose money. They will smile to the bank, individually but they won't have control of the market by themselves.

Can you comment on the allegation that marketers have taken over Nollywood?

It is the truth. Nigeria Nollywood has gone to three stages now. We are going to the fourth. The first stage was producers market when we produced everything and the viewer bought it without caring what was inside. And when the marketers discovered that producers don't have the money, they took over the market and turned it to the marketers market, where the marketer tells the producer what to do - right or wrong, so long as it will make him satisfied and his money will come out.

The market has crashed now into the viewers market. The viewers will be the king because they will now tell us what they want to see. The charlatans will now drop because they don't know how to make films. It is then the producers, and big time money bags will come in with their resources, corporate sponsorship will come in. Because, now it is no longer who is making the films but who has the content to give to the viewers.

Now, what you find out is that beyond that frontier, you now have the investors market. That is the final frontier. When we get to that point, you will earn your fee, he will earn his fee, and the film will be a success.

How soon can that be?

We are seeing that in 2013. The banks have all collapsed. Industry will go with it because oil will no longer be in existence. And when that happens, the only vibrant industry across the nations of the earth will be entertainment. And everybody in the world will be pursuing entertainment.

Interview: African Magic has done great harm to Nollywood—Clarion Chukwurah

By Carol Arhere
Clarion Chukwurah is one of the known faces in the Nigerian movie industry, Clarion as popularly called has been in the industry for about three decades now. In this interview, the Anambra State born talented actress shares her views about the industry, the reason why the industry is still where it is at the moment, and what can be done to salvage the situation. Apart from acting, Clarion also runs a Charity organization (Clarion Chukwurah’s Initiative), which she also talks about. Excerpt:

CAN you give us brief introduction about your self?

My name is Clarion Chukwurah, a professional actress and by God’s grace, October this year, I will be thirty years in the industry. I started acting when I was very young say, between the ages of fourteen and fifteen. I was an armature actress but twenty eight years after, I became a semi- professional actress and five years into it, I became a professional actress. I’m a graduate of Dramatic Arts from the University of Ife. I have travelling theatre experience also, professional theatre workshop experience and other professional experiences. I began my acting from the stage, I went to television and from television, I went into cinematic films and from cinematic films, I went back to television and from there to home video.

How did you get into acting?

Well, I began acting by hanging around the theatre at the University of Ibadan. It was there I was spotted by Prof. Bode Showande, who was then a doctor and senior lecturer at the university's department of theatre. I began acting with Odun teams and from the Odun teams I moved to the University of Ibadan performing company, a semi professional theatre company. So from there I went to the University of Ife to study theatre arts. While I was at the university, I did my first film. After my graduation I got into my first soap opera a television production, Mirror in the Sun and from then on, it has been one break after the other.

Can you recall the particular movie or soap opera that brought you into limelight?


Clarion ChukwuraThe first break was Ola Balogun’s film, Money Power, it was shot and released when I was still an undergraduate of dramatic arts at then the University of Ife now the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. My second break was Mirror in the Sun, the first and the biggest soap opera series which made me a house-hold name.

How has it been?

It’s been a growing industry... the first ten years of my career was really high, but after ten years it has been a gradual downward process especially in the last five years due to the fact that un-professionalism has taken hold of the movie industry. Unprofessionalism in all spheres of the industry and secondly, African Magic has done a great harm to the industry. For instance, there is no where in the world where institutions like DSTV, M-net, Africa Magic take over intellectual properties like they do with Nollywood movies. The one thousand dollars they pay was to show the movie once, and not over and over, if they are to show that movie again, they are supposed to pay another one thousand dollars which is the lease showing agreement.

So what is the way forward?

The only hope the industry has right now is that the director-general of the Nigerian Films and Video Censors Board should liaise with Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and bring the demise of Nollywoood to a halt via African Magic. Secondly, they have to sit down and look at the contract under which African Magic is procuring Nigerian movies. The contract has to move from buying to leasing and the one thousand dollars they are paying has to be for one single showing. Nollywood as it is, would not last ten years with African Magic. Nollywood is dead, what is on the rise at the moment is the Nigerian Yoruba movie industry which sales are on the rise because African Magic doesn’t show their movies like they do with English movies.

So to salvage the situation, the censors board has to align with NBC to put a check on African Magic. Also, the dramatic content on television has to increase, while sponsorship on dramatic content on television has to increase because the Nollywoood we have today was borne from the dramatic content on television from the mid 1980s to early 90s. Now that Nollywoood is down, it needs a rebirth and that rebirth can come from television again. New television programmes like new soap opera, new television drama, series should be welcomed. Our television has to wake up again through the helps of banks, the oil companies and other corporate bodies.

Let’s digress a little. How do you fit into different roles with different character?

I’m a method actress, I have a method and my method is borne from interpretational psychology. I mean, in characterization, I give that character a background and life. I look at the character beyond the script because what you are today, is the accumulation of your past and your present. So, it’s a psychological thing, I build my character on my human psychology

High moment?

I have had number of high moments. I started having high moments right from the beginning from my first big play, Farewell to Babylon in 1979 and my next big moment was when I went on national theatre stage in 1980 and also in 1982 when I went on the national theatre stage again to act in Wole Soyinka, Camwood on the Leaves. There were also high moments for me when I took parts in Ola Balogun’s Money Power, The King must dance Naked and Mirror in the Sun.

Dull moment?

A lot too, when things are not working the way I want them. Also my dull moment comes when I’m working with people who don’t understand the concept of professionalism, the concept of story treatment which honestly has contributed to the fall of Nollywood.

How would you describe your kind of person in one word?

I will say I’m a peculiar person, unpredictable and full of drive to win.

If you have the opportunity to change anything about you, what will that be?

Not being a Nigerian, I will not choose to be a Nigerian because Nigerians celebrate mediocrity. They don’t believe in what they can offer but what they can borrow.

Apart from acting, what else do you do?

I have a company that I run, acting is my profession, that makes me whom I am. I also have a charity organization, Clarion Chukurah Initiative. The Clarion Chukwurah initiative has one single objective: to use Clarion Chukwurah celebrity status and good will to raise support for the less privileged in society. I have members in Nigeria, I have members in the United Kingdom and United States of America.