Beyond revisiting old wounds, controversial actor, Emeka Ike, reflects on his life. The actor and factional head of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria was a special guest of V Channel, a new pay TV in Lagos, last Friday.
When asked to relate his experience as a factional president of the AGN, he let loose a canon, saying “I really don’t care about the AGN because it cannot put food on my table or pay my bills.”
Speaking on his personal experiences in life, Emeka Ike said:
“Some people think that I am a trouble maker. They think I am a bad boy in the movie industry. But that is not who I am. I hate injustice and I fight for the oppressed whenever I can. I will give you an illustration.
“One day, I was passing by Oshodi Bridge when I saw a physically challenged person struggling with a policeman. I had to pull over immediately and confront the policeman, though he was armed. I succeeded in stopping the fight. This is the kind of things I do.
“I believe in hard work. I don’t date rich women for money. I believe that you can become a millionaire by selling akara. My mother sold akara to train me and I am a millionaire today.”The actor, who wants to be remembered for his humanitarian deeds, would like to see Nollywood witness a radical shift in terms of the language of production. He wants films to be produced in indigenous languages and actors to be proud of their cultural heritage.
“We should be making more films in Igbo, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Efik and other Nigerian languages. I don’t like it when we speak English all the time and try to imitate the American accent,” he said.
