I’ve brought new style to acting –Yetunde Alade

Yetunde Alade

 

Tofarati Ige & Olushola Ricketts

Budding and talented actress, Yetunde Alade’s name doesn’t ring a bell yet, but she is certainly making moves to become a mega Nollywood sweeheart soon. In a recent chat with Sunday Scoop, Alade said that she has brought a new style of acting into the industry.

She said, “The way I act is unique to me. I am a method actor, and I always submerge myself in any role that I take. I believe that movies should not only entertain, but also teach people important lessons of life. Whenever I take any role, I give it my total attention and sometimes, I talk and behave like the characters even off screen.”

Alade, who has appeared in over 30 films, says she’s preparing to shoot her first movie. “A lot of people have asked me why I haven’t produced my own movie till this time. It is because I want to come out with the best. I like to give my best efforts to anything I set out to do,” she said.

Asked to mention her biggest challenge as an actress, she said, “As far as I’m concerned, piracy is the biggest problem Nollywood has. Imagine a situation where one invests his or her life savings in a project, and someone else just sits in one corner and fraudulently reaps the benefits of that investment. It is very wicked and I think that is the first thing the government should deal with for us in the entertainment industry.”

Why I turned down Davido – CDQ

Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf (a.k.a CDQ)

 

Tofarati Ige & Olushola Ricketts

Rapper, Sodiq Abubakar Yusuf, better known as CDQ in the entertainment industry, insists that he never abandoned Tiwa Savage’s husband, Teebillz, when the latter had marital issues.

Recall that in 2016, Teebillz’s marriage to Tiwa was on the verge of collapse following his outburst on social media. In response, Tiwa, granted an interview where she revealed all that went wrong in their marriage. Things seem to be resolved now, however.

But according to CDQ, while speaking with Sunday Scoop, he did all he could to reach Teebillz when he was struggling with his marriage, saying all his efforts proved abortive.

“I tried my best to reach him at that period, but he was not reachable. Then, I was working with a record company, General Records, and they needed returns on their investment. So, I could not stop the flow of things. It wasn’t the company’s business whether anyone was going through hard times or not. That was why I needed to move on.  We are still friends. He is a big brother to me and he advises me a lot,” he added.

CDQ, who now owns a record company, No Struggle No Success, admitted that it had not been a jolly ride since he left Masterkraft’s General Records.

He stated, “Being a solo artiste has been good, but I will not say it has been rosy all through. But when I make N100, I know all the money is for me alone and I can decide what to do with it. When I was with a record company, it was a different ball game. Once I made N100, they would keep N70 to themselves.

“I was so close to MasterKraft before I got signed on to General Records. There is General Records on one side and Mastercraft on the other side. The two are different entities.

“For people who believe I left General Records so soon, they may need to check what I have been able to achieve as a solo artiste and what I did while I was with the label. They don’t really know what is happening but at the end of the day, I am still part of my former label.  We are a small family and I didn’t just leave abruply; we had an understanding before I left.”

On why he turned down Davido at a time, CDQ said he was already signed on to another company.

“If I had taken up Davido’s offer, I think I would have done better for myself, but you have to think of other things too. It may have affected my music career as well because he is an artiste like me and he has a career to keep. Davido is a great person. Despite his success, whenever we are together, he is still humble,” he said.

ICYMI: My wife told me I wasn’t her type when we met –Oristefemi

Oristefemi Majemite Ekele

Singer, Oristefemi Majemite Ekele, otherwise known as Oristefemi, speaks with OLUSHOLA RICKETTS about his music career, controversies, finding a wife and why he is in support of one Nigeria

How did your recent tour go?

It was a world tour and it went well. I had the opportunity to visit places that I’d never travelled to and I also revisited some places. The essence of the tour was to export our music to other parts of the world. As we speak now, Afrobeat is now recognised all over the world. This is a good development for Nigeria as it shows that we are developing musically. I also advise all my colleagues to continue to look beyond Nigeria and Africa.

Why did you decide to hold your white wedding in Lagos unlike some of your colleagues who did theirs outside the country?

People who are very familiar with me know that I am a man of the people. Most of my fans and friends reside in Nigeria and I want them to be part of my special day.

How did you meet your wife?

I met her at a show in Nigeria. I had just returned from a tour in 2016 when I was hired by MultiChoice to perform at an event. When I was backstage with Daddy Showkey and other colleagues, she was the one attending to the needs of everyone. Despite her beauty, I also liked the way she related with the artistes at that event. I was far from her, so she didn’t notice I was observing her.

After my performance, they invited us upstairs for a certain Nabila Fash’s birthday. I didn’t really show interest because I was tired and I didn’t know she was the one. When I saw her pictures the following day, I wished I had attended the party. The event lasted for five days; we moved from one place the other. I knew she was a nice lady and I felt terrible that I didn’t honour her birthday invitation.

We later met backstage at the next day’s event. The first event was held in Port Harcourt while the other was in Enugu. I introduced myself to her and she did the same. From the outset, she knew I wanted something from her. She told me she was not my kind of person, but I should let her know what I wanted.

When I told her I wanted to marry her, she thought I was joking. She said she knew Oritsefemi’s music but didn’t know the person behind the music. She said she needed to know me more before she could say a word.

To cut the long story, she thinks I am down-to-earth regardless of the fame and she feels she can handle me. She had already taken her time to know me more before she started hearing negative things about me. All that she later heard didn’t change her perception of me.

How did a street boy get to convince an educated lady like her?

Most women are very intelligent. But I have always told God that among these intelligent ones, I need just one to stand by me for the rest of my life. I think she saw that I was sincere to her from the beginning. I am always truthful to her and she is always truthful to me.

Are you satisfied with the performance of your last album?

Inasmuch as I don’t want to praise myself, when it comes to the production of albums, people always embrace my albums. I prefer releasing albums than singles because I believe my music cuts across the country and some fans don’t listen to radio stations or have access to the Internet. All they do is buy albums.

Even before I drop an album, marketers always approach me. Though the sales of albums have dropped hugely in Nigeria, I still make money from it. You will always see my albums everywhere, even in traffic.

Apart from music, do you make money from other sources?

I am an entrepreneur, but I prefer to keep that side of me private. I believe some parts of me need to be kept secret.  Already, people know a lot about me; I even think my name is bigger than me.

Is it true that you were evicted by your landlord?

Where are you right now? People believe most of these rumours because they don’t have a personal relationship with me. I’m always indoors except when I have a place to go. They only see me on stage or on their television screens. I can’t be telling the public everything about my life because I want to prove that I am not broke or that I was never evicted from my house. I feel the rumour emanated from people who are close to me. Everyone cannot be happy with you. Whenever I am with my friends, I try to advise them on how to move forward. They know that I don’t like to be static. I’m a competitive person; I want to be ahead all the time. So, if anyone wants to move with me, he must be ready to move whenever I am moving.

Do you still visit Quilox nightclub?

I have not been to Quilox since the fight I had with them. I don’t even plan to go there because I don’t want problems for myself. If anything happens to me at the club, people would ask why I went to a place where I’m not welcomed or wanted. I am as free as a bird, but I watch my steps too.

I am not just happy with the club. I don’t like it when you treat people differently because some are wealthy and the others are not. We should respect human beings because money goes and comes. The person who doesn’t have money today may have tomorrow, while the person who is rich today may be poor tomorrow. That is my philosophy.

They didn’t even show any remorse after they snatched my gold chain worth N8.5 million. I lost the chain that day. Till date, nobody from the club has talked to me about it. It will be a joke if I expect them to return the money, but at least, they should show me some respect.

I will always insist that what they did to me was totally wrong. They treated me as if I was a nobody and made me look like a terrible person. I didn’t take any legal actions because I don’t like trouble.  Whether the management agrees with me or not, the club has lost its relevance and it is simply because of how lowly they treat customers.

Even God is not happy with what they did to me. I have challenged the club to upload the pictures of what they did to me, but they didn’t. I still insist that if they dare upload the footage, it is the end of the club.

Why I’m not yet married –Ebube Nwagbo

Ebube Nwagbo

 

Tofarati Ige & Olushola Ricketts

Ebube Nwagbo is the type of woman that would make many men drool, but the actress has said she wants to ‘take her time’ before getting married.

Speaking with Sunday Scoop, Nwagbo stated, “I believe that everything happens at the right time, which is the time that God ordains. I don’t like abandoning things halfway; I prefer to stick with it till the end. That’s why I have to be very careful about marriage. I don’t think divorced couples go into their marriages with the intention to split. It is because issues came up that they couldn’t handle or that they did not know one another well enough before getting married. Anyway, I have learnt from the mistakes of other people and whenever I make my decision, it just has to be the right way.”

On her experience with some male fans, she said, “Some of them can be quite extreme and I always put such people in their place. I try to relate with people equally, irrespective of class or status. However, most of my fans are pleasant and I love them all very much. I appreciate all the females too. But I also want fans of celebrities to know that as humans, their favourite actor or artiste wouldn’t always be in the best of moods. They should try to be a bit more understanding.”

When AFRIFF inspired new heights for Nollywood

L-R: Balogun, Ude and Mohamammed

 

Akeem Lasisi

The African International Film Festival inspired new hopes for the movie sector on the continent when it held in Lagos last week. Apart from screening about 150 films and rewarding film-makers who won various categories in the AFRIFF Globe Awards, it drew more than the attention of stakeholders that included the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and corporate bodies, all who renewed their promises to further empower the industry.

While the feast peaked at the Globe Awards, where stars that included Omotola Jalaade-Ekeinde, Kate Henshaw, Mahmood Ali-Balogun and Ramsey Noah rose to celebrate with AFRIFF Founder, Chioma Ude, the fervour sparked at the opening night, where the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, led other players to project a better future for the sector, was memorable.

At the opening event held at Genesis Cinema, Victoria Island, Lagos, the minister, alongside other dignitaries that included Senitor Godswill Akpabio, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, and the Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Igwe, expressed commitment to the development of the movie industry on the continent.

Before the commencement of the screening of I am not a Witch, the film that opened the festival, Mohammed saluted Nigerian filmmakers for the pioneering role they are playing in leading Africa to greatness in the screen business.

He hailed Ude for not only promoting works from far and near, but also for including the training of youths in AFRIFF programmes.

Mohammed said, “Standing here and gazing at this great gathering, I can feel the confluence of passion and creativity and the promises and possibilities that the future holds for the global movie industry. The object of our gathering tonight, the platform on which we celebrate African and international film-makers, is one of the great stories of Nollywood, for AFRIFF was birthed because there is Nollywood.”

On the efforts that the Federal Government is making to advance the sector, the minister stressed that it was pushing for a single-digit interest on loans for infrastructural developments for the industry, and supporting the building of 100 community cinemas to be evenly spread across the country.

‘’We are also close to having a world-class pre- and post-production facility using the current NTA infrastructure with a few additions,” he noted, adding that,  with the advent of the digital switch-over in television broadcasting, the Federal Government was ensuring that the set-top boxes were enabled to allow the 24 million TV households in Nigeria to buy movies with and without the need of data.

Ayorinde also commended AFRIFF for sustaining its dream to be part of changing the story of film-making.

He noted that the Lagos State Government was not only providing an enabling environment for arts and culture to thrive, it also believed in the sector’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the state and the nation in general.

On his part, the managing director of Access Bank, which is a major supporter of AFRIFF, congratulated Ude and her team for the success they recorded.

Igwe noted that a major project, in which Access and AFRIFF were collaborating, would soon be unveiled, with a promise that it would be of benefit to all and sundry in the sector.

Wulu (Mali), Felicite (Senegal) and Nigeria’s Hakkunde, produced by Oluseyi Asurf, were some of the big winners at the Globe Award. Their N250,000 cheques, each, were presented by Access Bank. Ghana’s Lydia Forson was named Best Actress for her role in Keteke while Ibrahim Koma received the Best Actor Globe for his role in Wulu.

The Best Feature Film Globe, and the N500,000 prize money, went to the opening night film, I am Not a Witch (Zambia/UK), produced by Juliette Grandmont and Emily Morgan.

FESTAC ’77 was not fetish – Obasanjo

Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo

 

Akeem Lasisi

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has punctured some people’s perception that the World Black Festival of Arts and Culture, held in Nigeria in 1977, was fetish.

Some people have argued that it was the fetish nature of the festival that brought socio-economic and political problems to Nigeria.

But Obasanjo, who was the military head of state at the time, said this was far from the truth and that the festival was a celebration of the identity of the black race.

He said this in Lagos on Monday at the opening of the 40th anniversary programme of FESTAC, organised by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation.

At the event where Obasanjo was conferred with the King of Ruby award by CBAAC, he stressed the significance of culture and history to national development.

Obasanjo said, “We celebrated FESTAC to show the world what black and African peoples have culture and know where we want to go. I think we must remind ourselves about having those things. It is not a fetish celebration or a fetish festival. FESTAC ’77 is what it was for – culture.

“And what is the meaning of culture? It is the totality of the way of life of our people, their food, their dances, songs, the way they marry, the way they bury their dead. Culture is the totality of the way of life of any people. And if you want to kill any group of people, if you want to destroy them, take away their culture; and they would have no identity left. So, what we did that time was meant to bring to light the diverse contributions of blacks and African people. Some people even say we have no history, and yet human existence began here in Africa. We are the ones who globalised the world, from Africa; and they say we have no history. So, it is important for us to remind the world that we all emanated from Africa. And that was one of the things that I said at FESTAC ’77.

“And let nobody deceive you, culture and development are not opposed to each other. In fact, if you are going to develop outside your culture, it will be a mismatch. You must develop within your culture.”

According to the former President, another thing that he said then was that the event would provide a forum for the rediscovery of ties which bind together all black and African peoples the world over.

“We wanted a symbol, which was taken away from here and it’s in London; we said, ‘Give us this symbol or even lend it to us; we know you have taken it, we didn’t say that you are a thief. But lend it to us.’ They refused. And we said the expertise that created that one could still remake; and we said we would make another one. And we made it, and the symbol was exactly the same as the one that the British had taken away.

“This is where human beings moved out from to occupy the rest of the world as we have it today. So, when we are celebrating, our objective is to say to ourselves, ‘We are going to change the narratives that others have given us; the names that are not our names that they have called us. Africa is not a poor continent.”

CBAAC ‘s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ferdinand Anikwe,  said the honour accorded Obasanjo was in recognition of his valued contributions to the promotion and development of African culture and heritage as well as his role in the emancipation, unity and development of continental and Diaspora Africa.

 “Named after the precious stone Ruby, the Ruby King award is a representation of an inextinguishable flame,” he said.

Among others, the anniversary is featuring an art exhibition, cultural dance, dance drama, poetry, musical performance, wrestling and food exhibition.