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Clarion Chukwura opens up on her grudge with Ibinabo Fiberesima

-‘She has scandalized the guild of actors’

ON Wednesday, April 23, 2014, ENCOMIUM Weekly visited veteran actress, Clarion Chukwurah at her Omole, Lagos residence, where she opened up to us exclusively on the alleged feud with Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) President, Ibinabo Fiberesima and other issues that revolve around the guild and much more…

Ibinabo Fiberesima
Ibinabo Fiberesima

Can you shed light on your alleged feud with Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) President, Ibinabo Fiberesima, especially on her visit to President Goodluck Jonathan?

Thank you very much.  It gives me a great concern that we continue to face this kind of issue in this country.  Rather than determine the merit of the issues that are being raised, people will misdirect the whole point to be a personality attack. I do not have anything whatsoever against Ibinabo Fiberesima.  Ibinabo as a person is a friend of mine.  I have known her since the 80s when she was running a night club.  So, Ibinabo Fiberesima, as a person, is not the issue.  The issue is that she succeeded in a very commendable field which is accessing an appointment to see the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at a time like this when the President is engaged in all fronts.  It was a mighty opportunity that was given to her on a platter of gold.

My grouse is what did she do with it?  It’s about the Actors Guild of Nigeria.  Ibinabo Fiberesima led a delegation to see the President as AGN president. This is the constitution as amended for her (shows reporter a copy), which part of this constitution did she use that visit to actualize?  She asked for political appointment which is an attempt to destroy the guild. AGN is not a group established for lobbying for political offices.  This is an association of creative people not politicians.  The constitution says, ‘We, the actors of the acting profession in Nigeria.” We’re not politicians, so AGN is not a political group.  Actors are creative people.  You did not ask the president to look into the private sector fulfilling what’s in the Nigerian constitution for the art in Nigeria for AGN, by speaking out that in the Nigerian constitution there is a proviso that once you’re running a business, a private company that’s a conglomerate or corporation or whatever, you have to be investing a certain percentage of your earnings into the art.  That is supposed to cut down your tax one way or the other.  This industry started as commerce driven, it didn’t start as a political party.  You didn’t ask the president for support on issues of legislation that could bring all the screen actors in Nigeria under one single body so that an enabling environment could be put in place for casting agencies for jobs for actors.  You went there to ask for a political appointment and a national secretariat in Abuja.

How did you get to know that she went to Abuja to ask for a political post?

Thank you.  I am a very informed person.  The visit took place a night before I came back to the country. I was in Kenya, doing some works for my initiative.  That was sometime in February precisely, I came back to this country on Monday, February 17, 2014.  Then, the visit was on Tuesday.  Actually, I didn’t know anything about it until I was invited to a programme on Galaxy TV.  I was shocked when they asked a question that related to the visit.  And immediately I left Galaxy TV, I made a couple of calls to her, read the address sent to me by email.  I read it and I was scandalized.  I was shocked.  And more shocking that she led a delegation that didn’t have veterans, she led a team, which some of them were said they were not privy to the fact that she was going to read an address, asking for all these things.  So, be that as it may, that has happened.  But it has to be corrected.

You said it’s not a personality war but some people will still see you as being at loggerheads with Ibinabo…

Yes, those who see it as that are people who choose not to look at the issues that I raised.  These are the people who were part of the team that went to Abuja with her.  Ifeanyi Dike, Segun Arinze were part of the delegation.  Understandably, they found that they are falling flat on their faces because they cannot defend the request for political appointments.  The request that has done the damage of placing AGN as being a group of partisan politicians.  An association of creative people all over the world is supposed to stand on the sidelines as a monitoring team but using their art to mirror the society.

Is there anything wrong in a member of AGN taking a political appointment?

An artiste deciding to run for a political post is free to do so.  There is nothing wrong with that. We’re not talking about the individual, we’re talking about the guild itself.  The deliberate attempt to distract attention from the point I am making is what must be corrected.  It’s because of the guilt of the people involved, that’s why they are distracting the attention of the people from the issue.

What’s your reaction to Ifeanyi Dike’s comment?

Ifeanyi Dike is my friend, a colleague and long time member of Board of Trustees of AGN.  That particularly made his comment sad because a member of the Board of Trustees is not allowed or authorized morally or by the constitution to speak on behalf of the president of AGN.  So, he has stepped outside his office in speaking about Ibinabo Fiberesima against Clarion.  It’s wrong.  He can’t even speak against any member of the guild on behalf of the president.  And again, he also mentioned that when the guild was in crisis, I was invited to run it and I declined.  I want to correct him.  Back in 2003, we had discussions, he, Ifeanyi Dike and Emeka Rollas spoke to me to run the guild.  Then I accepted, now came the issue of men not women running for the presidency of the guild.  Though, because it’s me they were ready but when you go to the state chapters in the interior of the East, they would complain that the association is not ready yet for a woman to be president, let’s have a woman as vice president.  It was now suggested that Zack Orji should run for president, and I now run for vice president.  And I said no, I will rather support Zack to be president.  It’s either I am president or nothing.  I don’t want anything vice.  That was the story behind 2003 when the issue of me heading the guild came up.  I had served after as chairman of a committee in the guild, specifically during the tenure of Ejike Asiegbu between 2006 and 2008.  When the Caretaker Committee issue came up, Kanayo O. Kanayo was appointed chairman of the committee, and I was to assist him.  But it came to the point of taking issues to the police station here and there.  I said I won’t be part of them.  If the issue at hand can’t be taken on dialogue basis, then I don’t want to be part of that.

What’s now the way forward so that there will be lasting peace in AGN?

The fact that I spoke up has finally given hope to the members.  Now, there is going to be a resolution, a change and AGN is going to move forward because for the first time in the history of the guild, almost all the chapters have two executive councils.  Lagos State chapters has two chairmen, two executive councils. So also is Rivers, Abia and all other states.  Almost nine state chapters have parallel executive councils as a result of the impasse the present leadership has brought to the guild.  Is that a situation of peace to you?  Definitely no.  What is happening now is that I have decided that I am going to contest for the AGN president in the next election.

That’s part of what some people are saying, that it’s because of your ambition that you’re tackling Ibinabo Fiberesima.

Let me correct that.  I didn’t have an intention of running.  To begin with, if I had at anytime in the past decided that I wanted to contest for the presidency of AGN, I have always had mass support. So, I don’t need to use anybody to become president of AGN.  That’s me. Two, I do not look at the presidency of AGN as part of my plan at this point in time but there have been consultations, calls here and there. People from different chapters calling me.  And most important, there have been senior members in this society who are not members of Nollywood, who belong to other professions, including medical, accounting and all that calling, saying if veterans like you are not stepping forward, what legacy are you handing down to the younger ones?  It’s for that purpose that I am saying that I am stepping forward.  Consultations are still going on.  So, it’s not just about Clarion Chukwurah wanting to become the president of AGN at all costs, I don’t need it.  People who know me closely know that I don’t need it.  And when I say consultations are going on it’s because my colleagues know the kind of person I am, and they know the kind of leadership we’re talking about.  We’re talking of power sharing, an all inclusive leadership not a leadership of one person taking all the decisions.

When is the election coming up?

The next date for the AGN general elections is September.

 – TADE ASIFAT

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