Fresh from her re-election as President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria
for a second term, Ibinabo Fiberisima says she is determined to improve on her
previous achievements.
She says, that the welfare of members of the AGN is top on her agenda.
However, to make sure that the image of the guild will no longer be
tarnished, Fiberisima may have introduced some measures that will prevent any
of its members to go asking for financial assistance in future.
She says, “Now that we have a health plan for Nollywood actors and
actresses, you don’t see many of us begging any more. So we don’t have actors
asking us to raise money for them again.
“We are telling all actors now that if they are not valid members of the
guild and something bad happens to them, they are on their own. No state
governor or government will come to their aid, if they are not registered
members of AGN.”
Stressing that the days of ‘begging’ in Nollywood are over, she adds,
“We are ready to support any of our members because that is what the guild was
founded for.”
Contrary to the belief that the AGN is split into different factions,
Fiberisima says there is no division in the Guild.
She says, “I think the problem is that everybody expects you to please
them all the time. But you can’t satisfy everybody a hundred per cent. You can
only do your best, which is what I am doing. Although everybody has the right
to speak their minds, if these people who have been criticising my
administration know what the AGN is all about – I am sure they don’t even know
where the office of the guild is located – they won’t be going to the press to
run us down.
In response to those who have accused her of frequently shuttling
between her office and the Presidential Villa in Abuja, she puts up a defence,
saying “President Goodluck Jonathan has done a lot for Nollywood. He has helped
us tremendously. Maybe some people are thinking that he is giving me money. But
he is not doing that. They forget that there is a process you must pass through
to get money from government as a Nollywood professional, not necessarily as an
actor. Movie producers, directors, editors, scriptwriters, even costumiers have
all been able to get access to funds to train themselves. People should learn
and understand what is going on in the film industry before attacking other
people
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