Too Many internal rancour Killing Nollywood: Actress, Ngozi Nwosu

Popular actress, Ngozi Nwosu, warns that internal rancour in Nollywood may have serious consequences for the Nigerian film industry, CHUX OHAI writes

Now fully recovered from the illness that had kept her away from the Klieg lights for a while, popular Nollywood actress, Ngozi Nwosu, is back on the beat.

The actress is currently on the set of a new movie that is still in progress.

“I am just trying to get back on my feet. I have been off the scene for quite a while because of my state of health. Now I am coming back fully and I am working with Chris Obi-Rapu right now,” she says, declining to mention the title of the film yet.
This should be good news to millions of Nwosu’s fans who have patiently waited for her return to the screen these past months. Although the actress has decided to go back to Nollywood, she is definitely not done with drama productions on TV.

As a versatile actress who has peddled her skills on the stage and screen, no doubt, she is not the type to ignore an invitation or opportunity to put her God-given talent into good use.

“I can never get tired of acting. This is what I have been doing all my life. Anywhere I am called to do the job, I will do it. It doesn’t matter if it is on TV, a stage production, a movie production on celluloid or home video. I will always be there,” she says.

Listening to Nwosu talk on the phone, it was difficult to imagine that she was the same person whose failing health had attracted so much attention from movie fans and other individuals across the country. For once, her voice exuded good health, self-confidence and a cheerful disposition that many Nigerians, especially her fans, had feared might be lost forever.

About two years ago, the actress was diagnosed with a kidney ailment that had left her seriously sick and emaciated. At one point, it was rumoured that she was infected with the dreaded HIV/AIDS virus and the illness was due to complications arising from the infection.

Perhaps scared of exposing her illness to the public, Nwosu had kept mum and reportedly gone underground to evade prying eyes. But many fans of the popular TV family sitcom, Fuji House of Commotion, in which she played a prime role, had noticed her continued absence on the set of the series.

It was not until the actress appeared as a special guest on the MTN-sponsored TV game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire– her first outing in public since she went ‘AWOL’ really – that the truth about her condition began to unfold.

It took the personal efforts of Nwosu’s friend and entertainment journalist, Seun Oloketuyi, who incidentally assisted the actress on the hot seat of the game show, to let the world know that she was not infected with the HIV after all.

Convinced that she was suffering from a heart-related and kidney ailment, Oloketuyi and a few close friends of the actress had swung into action and called on kind-hearted Nigerians to provide financial assistance for her treatment abroad. About N6m was needed for her treatment.

Several months later, the Lagos State Government donated the sum of N4.5m to Nwosu, in addition to N2.5m previously donated by well-meaning individuals from different parts of the country. Finally, she jetted out of the country on February 26, 2013 for a surgical operation in a London Hospital.

The celebrated Nollywood actress, whose career started on a bright note with her sterling performance in Kenneth Nnebue’s groundbreaking home video film, ‘Living in Bondage’ in 1992, marked her 50th birthday after she returned from the United Kingdom.

Still as vivacious as ever, she is truly back in her elements and more than anything else in the world, wants to reclaim her rightful place in the Nigerian film industry. Part of her dream, in the present dispensation, is to make regular appearances in the movies, including Yoruba language movies. But, first, she has to deal with a basic problem, which has to do with the existence of cabals in the movie industry.

“One of the things killing the film industry is the fact that it is riddled with too many cliques. Nowadays, it appears that you have to belong to a clique in the industry to get a role in a movie. This is really silly and something has to be done about it. I don’t want to belong to any clique.

“Although I am seriously affected by this unhealthy development, I believe there will be a change of attitude soon. The only thing that is constant in life is change. Nevertheless, I am still available to anyone who sees me as a professional and wants to work with me,” she says.

The actress notes that the worst affected are members of the older generation of artistes, adding that many of them are withdrawing into their shells because movie producers are no longer giving them jobs to do.

“They are ready to work, if they are given jobs to do. But this doesn’t mean they should go down on their knees to beg the producers,” she says.