Mazi Jude Pondis, an Igbo individual has called upon the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and other prominent Nollywood figures to address a recent statement made by actress Aisha Lawal.
Recalls that, Nigerian actress, scriptwriter and filmmaker Aisha Lawal reveals that the Nollywood movie industry was owned by and started by the Yoruba celebrities.
She stated this during and interview with Tribune Online. She said:
“We own the industry. Go back to research. The industry belongs to the Yoruba people. If you go back to research, you will hear from people like Hubert Ogunde and Ade Love. I don’t want to go into details. But, if you go and research very well, you will discover that Yorubas own this industry, we started this industry. We messed up at some point, but we are not playing catch-up. We are there already. Now, everybody wants to shoot a Yoruba movie.
Aisha Lawal statement ignited a debate among various ethnic groups within Nollywood.
Among others is Mazi Jude Pondis who voiced his concern over Lawal’s statement.
He emphasized the importance of respecting the contributions of all ethnic groups that make up Nollywood and avoiding statements that could lead to division.
In a statement he released on social media, Pondis urged the Actors Guild of Nigeria and other key Nollywood stakeholders to intervene and request a public apology from Aisha Lawal.
In his words, ” This is almost 48 hours that Aisha Lawal opened her mouth to spit out irre|evant, inconsequential and false information saying Yorubas started the industry (nollywood) and they own the industry and till now the Actors Guild of Nigeria and all other Nollywood stakeholders has not called her to order and have her publicly apologize and rephrase her der0gatory and defamat0ry statement, not even the Yorubas has come out to caution her for saying such, I’m even so disapp0inted to see that the lady is doing 5k giveaway on her page which shows she’s not remorseful for what she said.
A broad daylight big0t, not even Falz, Mr Macaroni and other vocal Yoruba born celebrities has come out to condemn her statement. I was thinking politics was our problem but I didn’t know tribalism has dea|t with us to the point of no repair.
This woman said Yorubas own the Nollywood industry on a national Newspaper ’Tribune’ and till now no one want to discipline her for making such unnecessary statements, Nollywood is a growing industry due to collective efforts of people from different tribes and for one person to come out to say a particular tribe owns it does not show we’re one again. Aisha Lawal should be suspended by Nollywood until she shows remorse for her actions and gross misconduct, if not, her statement is going to rubb|sh all the efforts everyone is making for a better industry. Why is it so hard to be one in this country? Even those expected to unite us are breaking us. Why???”
