9jaNollywoodstars

The year 2007 has been a very eventful year.It has been full of Nollywood 2007:The Good, The Bad And The Ugly as far as the movie industry is concerned.

Early in the year,a top Yoruba movie actress was caught in the web of drug trafficking. Hassanat Akinwande, the one popularly known as Wunmi, was trying to travel outside the country when security agents stopped her. In her defence of the act, she said she fell into hard times and there was nobody to help her. She was not ready to disclose the identity of the man she was working for either, as she only identified him simply as 'Alhaji'.After some months of trial, she got away with a fine which many considered too lenient. However, she learnt her lessons and decided to put her experience on movie by going on location. She is said to have completed work on the movie which she titled Egbogi Oloro. The movie is yet to be released.

In between the making of the movie, she was said to have sought the help of the NDLEA for a few things but she was turned down. The NDLEA replied that the reason behind that was that she did not cooperate with the drug-fighting officials during her ordeal.As the dust over the case of Wunmi was settling, another actor,Tochi James Uche,was arrested for the same offence. However, he was not as lucky as Wunmi, as he got a jail term.

It was also during the year that one of the veterans of Nollywood, Emma Agu, died. Another artiste, Ebereonwu, also died,among others that included Joe Adekwagh and Danjuma Mohammed.Broadcaster, producer and presenter of Nnkan mbe,a Yoruba real life issues programme on television and Iriri Aye on radio,Kola Olawuyi,also died during a protracted illness.Some other Nollywood artistes who also died during the year include J T Tom-West and Laide Adewale.

However,it was not all bad news from Nollywood.There was good news too.Bad boy actor,Segun Arinze,joined fellow artistes at Lekki who have become landlords in the area.Another landlord in Lekki is Cossy Ojiakor.

Wedding bells rang in the course of the year.Opeyemi Ayeola got married and so did Kunle Afolayan who also launched his new movie Irapada and also went into collaboration with foreign partners to do a movie on Nigeria.Sola Omoniyi popularly known as Lepa Shandy settled down into marriage.As some artistes were getting married,others were breaking up.Popular Yoruba movie couple, Fathia and Saheed Balogun,formally separated after a series of on-and-off marital squabbles.Saheed had survived a fatal accident earlier.

Nollywood actor,Fred Amatha,and his Talk Show host wife,Agatha,also broke up after a series of in-fighting.Fred later teamed up with Ibinabo Fiberesima who had a case hanging on her neck until recently when she was acquitted by the court for the murder of a top Lagos University Teaching Hospital medical doctor.

Eucharia Anunobi-Ekwu also broke up with her husband who abandoned her and her kid and took off to the United States.He was said to have returned recently but has not got in touch with his wife or tried to reunite with her.

Popular midget actor, Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki),was engaged to a lady called Nkechi. She was said to have backed out of the arrangement later.However, Aki explained that he was not engaged to Nkechi in the first place and that the purported engagement party was a birthday get-together.

During the year,an actress and daughter of late Prof. Peller,popular magician, Nike Peller,went on holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

Trouble brewed for multiple award-winning actress, Toyin Adegbola, whose boyfriend used her jeep to harrass the family of a top politician. The vehicle was later traced to Toyin Ayegbola's house and she was arrested and detained. She was later released when her boyfriend, who had earlier been on the run, was finally apprehended.

Only very few artistes were sanctioned by their associations during the year. However, a very notable one was Ini Edo, who was banned but later pardoned by the AGN for misconduct. She was said to have held a producer to ransome by leaving the location of a movie without notice, thereby putting the shooting of the movie in jeopardy.

A former notable Nollywood actress,Cossy Ojiakor,who said she was going to bounce back in the course of the year,did not go beyond the mention of her intention to do so with the launch of an album.Having been banned,the dancer-cum-actress who hardly made any reputable mark as an actress,had since gone into oblivion.

In the northern part of the country, a little problem brewed.An actress ran foul of the code of decency when a recording of her and her boyfriend making love was widely circulated.The recording,which apparently was without her knowledge,was probably later transferred to a friend and from there began to circulate to the whole of the North,with some people even making brisk business from it.The lady,who is well loved by the Hausa movie audience,went into hiding for quite some time.

Also on the foreign scene,Big Brother Africa made a return to the screen after a few years of absence.It was a little bit more controversial than the first time.Towards the end of the show,the last three Housemates,Richard,Tatiana and Ofunneka got drunk and Richard was said to have raped Ofunneka by putting his fingers into her private part while Tatiana was urging him to stop.Eventually, Richard won the $100,000 prize at stake.

The Oscar Award at the beginning of the year also sprang surprises,as Forest Whittaker,who acted as Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland got an award with Jenniffer Hudson.