NIGERIA, Lagos – Emeka Ike is not new to controversies. He has been very vocal about the movie industry, and many times, he has ruffled feathers. Ironically, he himself has not featured in movies in a long time, making many to ask what right he has to condemn activities in the industry.
When Box Office met him recently he revealed why he has been off the set for a while.
He said: “I have stopped acting for a while now because the industry has lost its salt. The actors were putting some acts that were annoying me. I acted in Nigerian movies with a Nigerian accent, but other countries shouldn’t come here and try to change our accent.
“When I see my colleagues forming fake accents, I always wonder, ‘What’s wrong with this one?’ If you are an Indian, you do it like the Indians, likewise other countries. I must tell you, I am too busy for that. So I got myself busy with other better things than living fake Nollywood life.”
Ike is also very critical about the various associations and guilds in the movie industry especially the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). He said this about the guild: “There are five people who have taken the law of Nigerian movie industry into their hands.
They are Emma Ogugua, Murphy Stephen, Sunny McDon, Okey Bakassi and Ifeanyi Dikeh. These five people registered AGN as their personal business. No other individual can come in. The idea is money rules the world. Money is the main reason they are there. There are some people who rejoice whenever Nigeria is losing in a football match. Some other people make more money when Nigeria loses match in an international stadium.
Some people just sit and wait for things to go wrong in Nigeria, that’s when they make huge money. These people you can’t do anything to them. They are the enemies of the nation. They are in every sector; banking, oil and gas, and the entertainment industry is not left out. They make things not to work, but they, as individuals are going forward. But we have to try to get these kinds of people off our back to be able to move forward.
“We have had AGN for long, but I can’t remember the last time we had actors’ congress, where all speak their minds on issues bothering the industry. The last congress was when Vivian Ejike was still here, Kate Henshaw too was still very much in the business.”
When asked what could be done to remedy the situation, Emeka said: “How do you rule a set of people that do not see or know themselves? All the money you are collecting, how do you account for it? You, the press, should investigate this and tell the whole world the truth than to dramatise Emeka Ike for being too outspoken.”
Emeka is so right about Nollywood, just a bunch of clowns with an appetite for money.
Emeka Ike speaks the truth. It is unfortunate that all the press will do is criticize him for being outspoken. Maybe the press is collecting some money from the rich Nigerians too.
“I got myself busy with other better things than living fake Hollywood life.” That’s right, I don’t think it’s right to change anything for anybody–not your accent or your hair or your skin color. Hollywood doesn’t know best.
Emeka tells the truth o! Nigerians we are becoming too obsessed with money. The thing that killed the man began with a single desire.
Don’t wake a sleeping giant. If the West thinks they love money, they have not yet seen Africans. But now that they are awake to how this capitalist game is played, the world will soon see the extent to which Africans can chase the coin.
It is sad that people deliberately make things not work in Nigeria so that they can make money. They need to understand that the only way to help all Nigerians is if things work. It is not about the individual in society. The collective group needs to have support in order for the country to really thrive.