Junior Pope and the future of Nollywood
THE deaths of Nollywood actor John Paul Obumnene Odonwodo, a.k.a. Junior Pope, and four others could cause a paradigm shift for the sector. Their boat capsized as they were riding to the location for the film The Other Side of Life.
They rode in an open boat on the River Niger, crossing from Asaba, Delta State, to Anam in Anambra State, when their boat ran into another boat and capsized. John Paul and a few others did not wear safety attire and drowned.
The industry plans to go beyond outrage over the circumstances of the accident to pay greater attention to the safety and hygiene factors of the business.
The Actors Guild responded with petulance and banned Ms Adanma Luke, the film’s producer. The Guild instructed actors not to participate in her productions. The Guild also took a dim view of Asaba as a base for many films.
The welfare of actors on set has been a critical discourse point amidst the pathos. How do Nollywood stars engage on set? Do they have stunts for dangerous scenes, such as engaging animals? Are the actors for each production insured? Do producers pay well or barely enough?
Other issues include false presentation as producers by those without platforms, deception and abuse of aspiring movie stars, and passing off Youtube skits as movies.
Much drama has surrounded the death. It has been a Nollywood production without a director. Claims have included magic, rituals, predestination, sacrifices to the water spirits and subsequent escape, the lamentations of Junior Pope during the journey and how what he feared came upon him.
In a statement for the family, Dr Divine Odonwodo asked for privacy
Just In: “Your Lastwords where “Na Only Me My Mama Born I Get 3 Children Na Me Go Raise Them, and I solemnly commit to honour that vow, All your 3 kids now find solace in the Embrace of the Okonkwo Family, I Pledge to Nuture them as you would have wished” - Billionaire Mogul E Money Takes it Upon Himself to Raise Late Jnr Popes 3 Kids
“as we grieve and mourn this irreparable loss” in a “wholly avoidable tragedy” on 10 April.
• Messages from the pulpits
Two videos from two pulpits engaged netizens during the week. They attracted different responses: approbation and a mix of anger, condemnation, and grudging praise.
The message from Abuja was that speaking eloquently enables you to defend your claims and credentials. Pastor Paul Enenche lit up the blogosphere with a video in which he stopped, harassed, and ordered a lady who was sharing her testimony off his platform. He accused her of lying.
Enenche’s Dunamis Church has a 100,000-capacity auditorium, the Glory Dome, located on the airport road in Abuja.
Ms Veronica Anyim testified that she renetizens cently became the first graduate in her family. She faltered in responding to Enenche’s questions about her degree, describing it as a BSC in Law instead of Nigeria’s more popular LLB in Law standard. Enenche doubted her claims and sent her off brusquely.
reacted angrily. The pastor and the church responded to the loud backlash on social media by apologising to the policewoman who spent eight years getting her degree from the National Open University of Nigeria. Enenche and his wife later met with their parishioner and shared the reconciliation photos.
The NOUN law degree has been under a cloud of suspicion for years. President Bola Tinubu cleared the air in a convocation address on 13 April: He asked the Nigerian Law School to allow NOUN graduates to attend and asked the NYSC to enrol them.
In Port Harcourt, Pastor David Ibiyeomie of Salvation Ministries earned the plaudits of netizens for rewarding church worker Henry Eromosele for integrity.
Ibiyeomie testified about Eromosele: “He has seen billions (of naira) pass through his hands. He has never taken a dime, never stolen where every other person stole, and he was exempted.” This was at the 27th Anniversary of Salvation Ministries.
• The high cost of spraying the naira at parties.
EFCC raised the stakes for persons who spray the naira at parties, trample on it or mismanage it in any way. They secured a six-month jail term for Lagos cross-dresser Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, a.k.a. Bobrisky. On Wednesday, 17 April 2024, they moved against the influential businessman and celebrity Paschal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest. The court granted Okechukwu a N10m bail.
Before them, the Federal High Court in Ikoyi Lagos sentenced actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin to six months imprisonment with an option of N300, 000 fine. Her offence was spraying and stepping on new Naira notes at a friend’s wedding in Lagos.
Distrust and cynicism continue to trail the action. Videos on all platforms show Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State recently spraying (throwing) money at citizens from a vehicle. Citizen Ikem Okuhu decried the “selective justice”. He stated on Facebook: “Yes, we understand that the governor is under the protective custody of immunity from prosecution, which unfortunately does not cover the audacious, if not impudent, Nigerian transvestite, but people expected that given the high crime for which Bobrisky was docked and jailed, the appropriate agencies of government should have voiced some words of reprimand to the governor for his bad example.”
What constitutes Abuse of the Naira?
It is against the law to...
1. Spray the Naira banknotes on occasions
2. Write on banknotes.
3. Staple the banknotes as the pins can cause corrosion of the banknotes.
4. Tear the banknotes
5. Soil the notes by dancing/stamping on the Naira banknotes. Do not stain the banknotes with oil or ink, as this is also a form of defacing.
6. Sell currency banknotes.
7. Mutilation - mutilating the Naira note or coin is an offence punishable by law (CBN Act Section 21)
8 Reject - reject the Naira (Section 20 subsection 5)
#Statisense (CBN)
Distrust and cynicism continue to trail the action. Videos on all platforms show Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State recently spraying (throwing) money at citizens from a vehicle. Citizen Ikem Okuhu decried the “selective justice