The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Actors Guild of Nigeria

  • Austin Ubechu calls for an end to AGN litigation

    Austin Ubechu calls for an end to AGN litigation

    Concerned about the unending crisis rocking the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), in some parts of the federation, a member of the guild in Lagos State, Austin Armstrong Ubechu has called on the stakeholders to intervene and find a lasting and sustainable solution to the matters.

    Ubechu made this plea via voice note to his colleagues asking them to nip the situation in the bud to avoid more crises.

    He said: “I am worried that everybody in the industry has folded their hands pretending that all is well with AGN whereas all is not well. All these crises that are militating against our dear Nollywood if not properly handled, looked into and find lasting sustainable solutions, might get out of hand and if it gets out of hand it will not augur well with us as members. Recall that three months ago, the  concerned stakeholders in Nollywood rose up to the occasion and  called for a concerned stakeholders meeting here in Lagos state but much to the chagrin and disappointment of us, that meeting was attended by a handful of members which parade close to 2000 members across all strata. The reason for that meeting was to look into some of these crises that are rocking the industry in Lagos, Abia state, and Nasarawa states including other states that make up AGN.

    READ ALSO: Governor Umo Eno and the lynch mob

    “As we speak, I am hearing that there are court cases against AGN both at the national and state levels. I hear that the Abia state chapter is in court with AGN, the Nassarawa state chapter, also is in court with AGN and presently, St. Maradona Johnson is also in court with AGN. There are elders, practitioners, foundation members and the first 11 of the industry, all of them are hearing about this crisis and they are folding their hands pretending as if nothing is happening. When this will implode, it is going to drag down the industry if concerned stakeholders do not wade in now. This appeal is seeking to address the myriad challenges that are troubling us. We cannot move forward with these entire crises. We should nip all these things in the bud before it drags down the industry. We do not have any industry other than Nollywood where we find solace, succor to better our lives.”

  • AGN presents N0.7m cheque to late Bambino’s family

    In a move to provide succour to the wife of late Bambino, the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has presented a cheque of N700, 000 to her.

    Presenting the cheque last Friday to her were the AGN President, Mr Emeka Rollas Ejezie, accompanied by Chief of staff, Ifeoma Okeke, the planning committee, (Dadi Muo Nso, Chukky, Emeka Duru, Mattew Nwankwo among the Excos.

    The cheque was raised by AGN members to support the welfare of the kids the AGN member left behind.

    It was the first of such gesture of the present administration.

    “Actually this is the first time AGN is doing this,” the AGN president said.

    “We lost a member and felt it is right to put something together for the family. It is a new administration and we are keen on making sure that the welfare of our members is paramount. We are also making plans to set up a co-operative society where members can benefit from while still active and not after they have passed on. This is one of the things we are planning to make sure they are catered for as actors.

    “We recently launched the Actors Guild foundation to cater for actors who need medical assistance if they fall sick from six to seven million naira. This is available for actors home and abroad.

    “I am using this to call on all actors nationwide to support this initiative of 500million endowment fund.”

  • Trouble again in AGN’s house of cards

    WHILE the recent genesis of the crisis rocking the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) can be traced to the leadership divisions with Ibinabo Fiberesima and Emeka Ike leading two different factions of body, recent activities by the AGN Board of Trustees have further divided Guild members.

    At the crux of the matter is an election of officers into a Government of National Unity (GNU) which was conducted by the AGN Board of Trustees at its 2017 Peace and Reconciliation Conference held in Enugu on August 22, 2017 to chart a way forward.

    At the election, Emeka Rollas Ejezie was elected as GNU president, defeating Emeka Ike with 42 votes to 14 at the congress headed by AGN Vice President, BOT, Emma Ogugua. Also at the congress, Samuel Oniyobo emerged national secretary; Michael Oruma, Vice president, North Central (unopposed); Marshall Johnson, Vice President, North East, (unopposed); Arimu Tope Babayemi, Vice president, South West (unopposed); Mens Nick Ikpeme, Vice president, South south (unopposed); IK Ezeanagu emerged Vice president South East. Other officers were Moses Kasa who emerged Financial Secretary, St. Maradona, Treasurer (unopposed); Frank Dallas, PRO (unopposed); Rex Maxwell M Barde, Chief Whip (unopposed) and AB Cowboy who emerged the DGS. They have a two-year tenure.

    “We thank all those who contributed to this peace meeting,” said Ogugua while congratulating the winners who were immediately sworn in. While Emeka Ike was present, Fiberesima was absent at the ‘election.’

    “We thank Emeka Ike for his support for government of national unity and dissolution of both Emeka Ike executives and Ibinabo’s executives. We thank the congress for voting it too and their approval for all actions taken today for the peace. May God bless you all.”

    Though, the officers were sworn in, not every Guild member is comfortable with this recent development.

    A frosty ‘agreement’

    However, in a swift response, Femi Durojaiye, AGN National Secretary dismissed the Enugu ‘election’ as fraud.

    “First I would like to correct the impression that there was a Congress of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) at Enugu,” he said in a statement he claimed was endorsed by both Ike and Fibresima.

    “There was none. The meeting at Enugu was another Peace and Reconciliation meeting, an earlier one was held in Lagos.

    “It is an act of idiocy to posit that a Court judgement gotten by a member of AGN was “handed over” to a dubious and non existent “Congress”. The judgement of a Court of competent jurisdiction is a law enforceable not just by AGN members but any interested party.

    “The only competent and constitutionally empowered persons to call a Congress of AGN are the two factional Presidents of AGN, Messrs Ms Ibinabo Fiberesima and Emeka Ike. They are yet to do so.

    “It is important to note that the reference to the Board of Trustees led by Ifeanyi Dike at the Enugu meeting is a monumental error of judgement. This board has since been sacked by the Court!”

    Durojaiye further argued that the National Exco was not dissolved and it is only the Exco of the two factions that can dissolve it after putting in place an electoral body.

    “The two National Excos never did and Ms Ibinabo Fiberesima didn’t even attend the Enugu Peace and Reconciliation meeting,” he wrote.

    “The purported vacuum created after the “dissolution of National Excos” is a figment of the imagination of the Enugu power hungry fellows who made a futile grab for power.

    “Our members and the general public are enjoined to disregard the Enugu meeting and all illegalities that has emanated from it, including the “election” of a fake President.

    “The coming together of the two National Excos of Ms Ibinabo Fiberesima and Emeka Ike to bring AGN crisis to a close is laudable. They are working hard at it. They remain the legal mouthpiece of Actors Guild of Nigeria.”

    Also wading into the matter, Alex Eyengho heaped the blame on the AGN BoT for scuttling a peace process between the two factions.

    “Yes, there was a peace process in place with Ibinabo and Emeka signing unto it,” Eyengho.

    “But somewhere along the line, the highly political and politicized AGN BoT hawks, hijacked the process. The Enugu meeting the BoT called was their game plan and they got everything properly worked out, unknown to Ibinabo, Emeka Ike and their followers. But, Ibinabo was circumspect by staying away. She actually advised Emeka Ike not to attend the Enugu meeting but the Yaba Polytechnic engineering graduate turned down the advice. He got his fingers burnt at the end of the Enugu kangaroo meeting! In reality, it is Ibinabo and Emeka Ike that have the locus to call any unity meeting of AGN. Also, the matter is in court. If Ibinabo alone tells the court that she was not part of the so called peace meeting in Enugu, be rest assured that the whole meeting and its AGN GNU outcome is dead on arrival! Bottomline, AGN palava rages on!”

    Also, in Enugu, Ike and Fiberesima ended their messy 12-year old leadership tussle and later posed for a picture, which went viral. And earlier in the week in Lagos, the duo talked peace and clarified their positions on the ‘election.’

    “The division was not about I, Ibinabo, but about the BOT of the Guild whose tenure has longed expired and has refused to allow fresh ideas and innovations and I said NO, because Nollywood is a global phenomenon and the idea of life BOT will not just work,” Fiberesima said.

    Ike added: “As you know this agitation has cost me a lot but today because of the youths I have embraced peace so we can build the future generation together. This reconciliation is for the young Actors in Nollywood.”

    The duo also agreed to make peace with Fiberesima saying she would withdraw the pending court case and call for a joint congress of both factions so as to conduct an election.

    “Our members should be allowed to choose their leaders in a peaceful manner and by tricks and ambushing,” Fiberesima said.

  • Five years’ jail: Ibinabo fails to get bail at Appeal Court

    Five years’ jail: Ibinabo fails to get bail at Appeal Court

    Convicted former beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima, Thursday failed in her bid to secure bail at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, due to an incompetent application.

    A three man-panel of the Appeal Court presided over by Justice U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu observed that the appellant failed to attach copies of the judgment delivered by the court last Friday, which affirmed the five years’ jail sentence imposed on her by a Lagos High Court in Igbosere.

    Other Judges on the panel are Justice Samuel Oseji and Justice Tijani Abubakar respectively.

    The Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) president has also told the Supreme Court that she is recuperating from breast surgery and that staying in prison would endanger her life.

    When the matter came up Thursday at the Appeal Court, Ibinabo’s lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina informed that court of his client’s application dated March 14, which had already been served on the Lagos State Government (respondent).

    However, the application could not be heard as the court observed that the appellant’s failure to attach copies of the judgment as exhibit rendered the whole application incompetent.

    Justice Ndukwe-Anyanwu said the only option left was to strike out the application or adjourn it till another date for hearing.

    Consequently, Amaechina sought for an adjournment to enable him do the needful and the court adjourned the matter till April 7 for hearing of the bail application.

    Meanwhile, the actress has asked the Supreme Court to set aside the judgement of the lower court.

    In her Notice of Appeal, the appellant stated that Court of Appeal erred in law when it affirmed the decision of the High Court of Lagos State by setting aside the option of N100, 000 fine and substituting it with a term of five years’ imprisonment.

    The appellant further stated that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it affirmed the “interference by the High Court with the exercise of discretion by the trial Magistrates’ Court.”

    She added that the “judgment of the Court of Appeal is unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence presented before the court.”

    In a six-paragraph affidavit of urgency deposed to by one Victor Eden, the deponent stated that Ibinabo is currently recovering from surgery and that she recently removed a tumour from her breast and that she needed constant monitoring by her doctors.

    “Her wound has not fully healed and as such she is afraid that her continued stay in the prison may endanger her life as she will not have access to special medical attention”, he stated.

    The deponent stated that it would be in the interest of justice and for her health and safety to admit Ibinabo to bail pending the hearing and determination of her appeal before the Supreme Court.

    The embattled actress was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Justice Deborah Oluwayemi for reckless driving which caused the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraj in an auto accident along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos. Dissatisfied, Fiberesima in her amended appellant brief filed by her lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina urged the court to set aside the five-year sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrates’ Court.

    But the appellate court in its judgment delivered on February 11, dismissed Ibinabo’s appeal and affirmed the decision of the Lagos High Court.

     

  • FG grant causes stir in actors guild

    The  Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) appeared divided over the N3 billion grant released by the Federal Government to assist the movie industry in the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state chairmen of the guild met in Abuja on July 18 on the modalities to adopt in disbursing the grants.

    The National Chairman and Secretary of the guild, Messrs. Agility Onwurah and Samuel Onibiyo, however, in separate interviews with NAN, accused some practitioners of wanting to divert the grant.

    Onwurah accused some known movie producers of making moves to divert the grant for their use while leaving the upcoming artists behind.

    He said some were making surreptitious move of getting the money all alone, and that portended a great danger for those who are coming up.”

    “While practitioners suffered lack of funds and humiliation in the quest of producing films, some people were working to ensure that the guild remained static,” he alleged.

    He said that the chairmen had resolved that the grant be used on production and distribution of movies.

    The national chairman said they had paid a visit to the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) and briefed them on the moves by some reputable producers trying to divert the grants for their use.

     

  • Filmmakers hold tribute for late Esiri

    Filmmakers hold tribute for late Esiri

    It was a night of nostalgia, as filmmakers, on Monday, converged at Ojez arena, National Stadium to pour encomium on late actor, Justus Esiri, who died on February 19, 2013.

    Put together by Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), the thespians, most of whom were clad in white attires, stormed the venue in great numbers, rendering songs, comedy and emotional speeches in memory of the late actor, whom many referred to as a mentor.

    Late Esiri, of the ‘Village Headmaster’ drama fame, died of Type 2 Diabetes, as the age of 71. The tribute, by his colleagues, was a complementary ceremony to the burial rites already scheduled by the deceased family for this weekend, in Oria-Abraka, Delta State.

    As early as 6:00pm, actors, producers, film marketers and well wishers began to troop into the popular celebrities’ hangout. At the tick of time, the number increased. It was a rare single gathering of artistes, who are usually scattered around the country, shooting movies at different locations. As they made their ways to the arena, they threw banters at each for the rare opportunity they get to mingle, not knowing when their path will cross. It was an occasion of mixed feeling, as much as they cherished the convergence; they wished it was not for such a sad moment. Most of them had recalled gloomily, that they had converged on the same spot a few months back for another veteran actor, the late Enebeli Elebuwa.

    Stage set, and the anchor persons; comedians Okey Bakassi and Julius Agwu started the event with praise and worship, a sonorous segment led by Kate Henshaw, Arinze Okonkwo and Chioma Chukwuka.

    The atmosphere was fully charged with some of the stars praising and dancing vigorously to choice songs from popular gospel singers. A supposed solemn moment, Henshaw has admonished the crowd that the best attitude to put up for the night was to celebrate the life and times of the late Esiri, whom she described as a man of great accomplishments. Thus, the entertainers became flexible, dancing to their hearts’ content.

    But the solemn moment was soon to come; as colleagues of the late actor relived the memories of the departed both as a professional and private person. opening the floor, was the deceased’s son, Sidney, a singer, who was dressed in gray colour shirt upon a black pant. He described is father as a man who was very humane, but thorough as a professional: “I remember my father use to say to me that if you do not want to be forgotten after you passed on from this earth, it is either you do something worth writing about or you write something worth reading. I believe my father did just that. From now to the end of the world, my father will forever be remembered for his contribution to Nollywood.” Popularly called Dr. SID, the young Esiri seized the opportunity to avail the gathering of the burial arrangement.

    The burial rites continued today, with a Lying in State at the Esiri’s Mafoluku residence, Lagos. Next set of activities will be in Delta State, where another Service of Songs will take place in Warri on April 11, and Lying in State and Interment in Oria-Abraka, on April 12.

    Fidelis Duker, Director of Abuja Film Festival, who was among the people that gave tribute described himself as one of the numerous benefactors of late actor’s benevolence. Kanayo O Kanayo, who spoke about the professional attributes of the late thespian, noted that Esiri, during his life time, never forgot his lines as an actor. “ there were just two actors that I know in this industry who did not only master their lines on set, but who also mastered the lines of others playing along with them. They would correct you, when you make mistakes delivering your lines. These two actors are late. They are Justus Esiri and Sam Loco Efe.” The crowd cheered.

    Other filmmakers who spoke at the event include: Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Tunji Bamisigbin, Ernest Obi, Kate Henshaw, Zack Orji, Bob Manuel-Udokwu, Olu Jacobs and Zik Zulu Okafor.

     

  • One death too many: AGN calls for prayers

    One death too many: AGN calls for prayers

    President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima has called on Nigerian entertainers to seek God’s face following the seemingly endless loss of major industry players in recent times.

    She made the  call through a message sent out to her colleagues in the industry. Ibinabo stressed that “with the incessant deaths occurring in the entertainment industry this year, it is high time we put a stop to it by seeking God’s intervention.”

    The ex beauty queen maintained that “we (entertainers) must surrender our lives to almighty God irrespective of our religious beliefs.”

    “Lets come together and embark on prayers and commit our industry and practitioners to God. I implore well meaning Nigerian’s to join us irrespective of your status, age, believes and profession to pray. It is high time we save Nigeria, let’s save the entertainment industry because only God saves.” She added.

  • Nollywood actor Lugard Onoyemu dead

    Nollywood actor Lugard Onoyemu dead

    While the industry is yet to come to terms with the death of hip hop artiste, Goldie, another tragedy struck on Friday, February 15 as Nollywood actor, Lugard Onoyemu was reported dead.

    Onoyemu, who was the pioneer Secretary of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Lagos chapter reportedly slumped and died during football training at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

    Confirming his death, the State Chairman of the Guild, Emeka Rising Ibe, said the deceased who had been battling a heart related ailment, was immediately rushed to the hospital but did not make it.

    Onoyemu’s body has been deposited at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).