Samod Biobaku takes a look at Nigeria's entertainment industry in 2010
2010 in Perspective
Harvest of deaths, controversies & scandals
For the Nigerian entertainment industry, the year 2010 was laced with its fair share of highs and lows.
For some, it was a year they silently wish could be slowly replayed while for others, the torrent of heartaches, disappointments, controversies and tragedies have indeed made it unforgettable.
We have therefore chronicled events, controversies and issues that marked the year 2010.
This year was particularly grey for the entertainment industry especially with the series of deaths and even near-death situations that threatened to take the glow off an industry usually characterised by pomp, fun and unrivaled excitement.
In 2009, the death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson unarguably marked the biggest blow to the international entertainment community. Similarly, the Nigerian entertainment scene also had its share of tragedies with the death of three popular actresses, Remi Abiola, Isho Pepper’s wife, Mojisola Ogunsola and Monsurat Omidina popularly dubbed ‘Omoladun-’ all in 2009.
Death continued its harvest in 2009 when it claimed one of Afro Juju star, Sir Shina Peters’ wives, Tinu Babalola and even extended its ugly tentacle into the media industry with the death of ace broadcasters like Steve the Sleek Kadiri as he was fondly called, Nicholas Anukanti, Kolade Alabi and Momoh Kubanji.
The year 2009 was filled with tragedies and death appeared to have eased its way into 2010 as made apparent in the number of deaths and near-death situations recorded in 2010.
Tragedy kicks off on the first day of 2010
For the Nigerian entertainment industry, the year apparently kicked off on a very tragic note with the death of popular Hausa actress, Hauwa Ali Dodo popularly known as ‘Biba Problem’ on January 1, 2010.
What further gave her death a scary dimension was the fact that barely two weeks before the New Year, National LIFE published the prophecy of the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church
Tragically, the year had barely kicked off when the Hausa film star died; precisely on the first day of 2010 (at the age of 35) in a fatal automobile accident. The actress became popular for her prominent role in a popular Hausa flick titled ‘Ki yarda dani in the mid-90s where she played the role of ‘Biba Problem.’
Sikiru Ayinde Barrister dies
In his prophecy for 2010, Evangelist Ayodele pointed out that a popular musician would be in dire need of prayers to avoid kicking the bucket and without any modicum of doubt, veteran Fuji
Throughout the year, Barrister constantly struggled to free himself from the clutches of death. In 2010, his health consistently degenerated to a point when he slumped on stage on several occasions. A couple of months ago, National LIFE published several reports on this. Some of which include ‘Sikiru Ayinde Barrister slumps again’ and ‘Ayinde Barrister still alive but gravely ill – Son {To be flown abroad again for further treatment}.’
Sadly, on December 16, 2010, he gave up the ghost at a London hospital.
Toun Oni dies @ 68
One death that shook the Nigerian entertainment industry in 2010 was that of veteran actress, vocalist and dancer, Toun Oni fondly dubbed ‘Mama T.’
The amiable actress gave up the ghost shortly after a brief illness at the age of 68.
One of her sons, Toyin Oni had earlier revealed that had been sick adding that she died while she was being rushed to a hospital in Ebute Metta.
“She complained of not feeling too well and the day she died, we had to rush her to the hospital but she passed on before we arrived there. We were rushing her to the hospital from our Ajah home,” he said.
One of the brightest points in her career was the conferment of the prestigious Order of the Niger (OON) on her in 2006 and will be remembered for her roles in soap operas such as ‘Checkmate’ and ‘Fuji House of Commotion’ where she played the role of a character known as ‘Mama Moji.’
Anita Joseph escapes death
Popular Nollywood actress, Anita Joseph came very close to kicking the bucket on a film location in 2010
The curvy actress escaped death by the whickers while on location of the movie, ‘Titanic Hustle.’
According to a source, the near-death episode was so traumatic for the actress that she nearly quit her career as an actress after the ugly incident.
In the movie, Anita Joseph played the role of a woman who mistakenly killed her husband and was so devastated by her role in her husband’s death that she decided to hang herself in the movie. Incidentally, it was during the act of shooting the hanging scene that disaster struck. While trying to get her neck into the noose and keeping her feet on the raised platform, disaster struck as what was supposed to be a make-belief hanging scene turned real and Anita Joseph almost got herself killed as the noose tightened around her neck and she simultaneously lost her footing.
“I don’t know what happened. I think they forgot to pull the rope or something and I almost died. Though it was a mistake, when I came down, my eyes were turning and I almost quit,” she said.
DaGrin kicks the bucket
On April 30, 2010, DaGrin’s body was laid to rest at the Atan Cemetery
A good number of sympathizers at the burial expressed their relief at the fact that the late rapper was buried inside the ‘Ebony Private Vault’ and not within the Atan Cemetery, which they described as being less secure.
DaGrin (born Oladapo Olaitan Olanipekun) gave up the ghost on April 22, 2010 at the Lagos State University teaching Hospital (LUTH) where he was hospitalized following a ghastly automobile accident about a week ago in Lagos
He was just 23 years old but during the early hours of Aril 14, 2010, the axe of destiny struck a devastating blow on his lifespan when his 2-week old Maxima car ran into a stationary truck (a heavy duty vehicle) at full speed and on April 22, DaGrin passed away and as expected, his death shocked the global entertainment industry.
KSA loses mum
Madam Mariam Adegeye, mother of juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade was laid to rest in 2010.
Given her son’s fame, her burial ceremony turned out to be one of the biggest events ever held in the ancient city of Ondo
No fewer than fifty top artistes; both foreign and local performed at the final burial of the mother of King of World beats, King Sunny Ade between September 20 and 24, 2010.
Artistes for the event were lead by the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) President, Admiral Dele Abiodun who was accompanied by the likes of Kollington Ayinla, Abass Akande Obesere, Saheed Osupa, Alabi Pasuma, Ayo Balogun, Timi Osukoya Telemi, Bola Are, Sola Allynson, Tope Alabi, Dbanj, 9ice, Tony Tetuila among others from the country.
The Wake Keep was held on September 23 while the final burial took place on September 24, 2010.
Terry G’s close shave with death
When the news of popular singer, Terry G’s involvement in a fatal car crash broke on September 4, 2010, the media was awash with reports of concern and fear as fans, fellow artistes and family expressed grave apprehension over his state of health and eventualities of the ghastly crash.
However, despite alarm raised over the crash, the energetic singer fully recovered to the delight of fans, family and friends.
Shortly after the car crash, fellow artistes and fans slammed Nigerian artistes on their apparent reckless lifestyles and for failing to take safety precautions.
The accident reportedly occurred at about 3:00a.m when the singer cum producer was on his way home; shortly after hanging out with friends in Ikeja. He reportedly ran into a road demarcation around Chemiron; close to Sunday Market in Ogba.
Stella Damasus loses dad
The year 2010 got off on the wrong footing for the Nollywood diva, Stella Damasus as her dad, Pa Damasus died of cardiac arrest on January 4, 2010; 2 days before his regular medical check up.
Wande Coal’s naked episode
In 2010, Mo Hits star, Wande Coal was hurled into a pool of scandal when pictures alleged to be his nude shots, surfaced on the internet.
In a flash, he became a topical subject on popular networking site, Twitter and as expected, this attracted hordes of comments from fans, fellow artistes and industry practitioners in a pool of mixed reactions.
Mo Hits producer, Don Jazzy had tweeted “Kaiiiiiiii my boy is trending sha. Oya make somebody photoshop my own too o. Maybe I go trend too. Lol.”
While some urged Nigerians to ignore the pictures, others stuck to the school of thought, which believes ‘there is no smoke without fire.’
9ice and Toni Payne maintain hostility
When the news of the separation between popular singer, Abolore Akande a. k. a 9ice and his wife, Toni Payne broke on January 8, 2010, millions of music fans across the globe were devastated by the news of their matrimonial collapse.
However, many would expect that almost a year after their separation, both parties should have moved on with their individual lives especially as their chances of reconciliation appeared to have fizzled out.
In 2010, 9ice came close to denying his son, Zion Akande the opportunity to travel abroad when he refused to release Zion
Ikechukwu’s temper and musical instability
In 2010, popular rapper, Ikechukwu found it hard to remain on any single record label for too long. When he returned to the country a couple of years ago from the United States, he teamed up with Obi Asika’s Storm Records and wasn’t doing too badly and just when his fans expected him to settle into Storm Records, Ikechukwu jumped ship and was officially declared a member of the Mo Hits crew.
However, for the second time, Ikechukwu pulled a rabbit out of his hat when news about his exit from Mo Hits began making the rounds.
According to sources, the rapper apparently bit more than he could chew when he allegedly began having misunderstanding with Mo Hit’s cash cow, D’banj and was on the verge of pummeling the singer save the intervention of the Mo Hits crew.
His temper also got the better of him in 2010 when he allegedly spilled a bouncer’s blood at Club Rehab in Victoria Island, Lagos
Gulder Ultimate Search adds an expensive touch
In 2010, the popular reality TV Show, Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) was taken to a new dimension with the introduction of an additional version, ‘GUS: Celebrity Showdown,’ which features celebrity contestants. For the maiden edition, Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike overcame Muma Gee, Daddy Showkey, Darey, Princess, Obesere, Funke Akindele, Chioma Chukwuka, Weird MC and Bob Manuel Udokwu to emerge winner and cart home N37million.
Interestingly, GUS 7 also produced another millionaire this year with the emergence of 23-year-old Oluwaremi Kunle as winner. He won for himself N7m, a brand new SUV and N.5m wardrobe allowance.
Silverbird Group clocks 3 decades
On November 6, 2010, the drums were rolled out at the Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos
The group also secured land in Abuja to build the Silverbird Stratosphere; a 60 storey building, which will become the tallest building in Africa upon completion.
In addition to these, Silverbird boss, Ben Murray Bruce also secured a whooping $200million from the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government for the country’s entertainment budget. A couple of weeks ago, Bruce promised to lobby for the budget to be raised to $400m.
Sade Adu stages come back
After almost a decade away from the spotlight, Nigerian born music star, Sade Adu and her self-titled band released her latest album titled ‘Soldier of Love’ in 2010.
The band had earlier dropped a single (soldier of Love) from the album with U.S based Hip Hop star, Kanye West deeply involved in the musical project.
Seun Kuti commemorates the burning of ‘Kalakuta Republic
Seun Kuti is one artiste whose consistency in with the Egypt 80 Band in 2010 at the Afrika Shrine is indeed commendable.
Except for times when he is outside the country, he religiously performed at the New Afrika Shrine every last Saturday of the month.
Interestingly, he was also on stage with the Egypt 80 Band in a special performance at the New Africa Shrine to commemorate the 33rd Anniversary of the burning of Kalakuta Republic
It is on record that Fela’s ‘Kalakuta Republic
Ruggedman and 9ice become enemies
The duo of Mama Award-winning singer, 9ice (born Abolore Akande) and popular rapper, Ruggedman were jolly good friends but today, all that has changed as they suddenly turned against each other with so much hatred and revulsion for each other in 2010.
Both artistes once respected each other to a level of mutual adoration and often spent time together as good friends would but all that has been cast out of the window following allegations and counter allegations of betrayal of trust.
In 2008, Ruggedman introduced 9ice his now ex-wife, Toni Payne (their marriage ht the rocks after 20 months) and they mutually decided to separate in 2010 amidst allegations of infidelity on the part of Toni Payne.
The loss of affection was blown out of proportion when 9ice released his third album, ‘Tradition’ and dedicated an entire track titled ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’ to reveal how he had allegedly caught his wife in a sexually compromising position with his friend. Suddenly, Ruggedman was fingered as the culprit.
To clear his name, Ruggedman appealed to 9ice to come to his rescue by issuing a statement that would put him in the clear. For some strange reason, 9ice refused and out of desperation to redeem his battered image, Ruggedman called 9ice on phone, spoke to him at length on the controversy, recording the entire telephone conversation and posting it online for the world to see.
In one of his singles, “Talk I’m Listening,’ 9ice teams up with Seriki (an act on his label) to slam Ruggedman.
In retaliation, Ruggedman equally teams up with a rapper, Chinaydu to hit 9ice below the belt with two diss singles titled ‘9ice the Ingrate’ and ‘A Word is Enuff for 9ice.’
Ebenezer Obey and his theatrics
In 2009, what began as a dismissive rumour about former Juju musician turned man of God, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi returning to secular music eventually blossomed into a controversial issue, which the media, as expected, feasted upon.
Last year, the man of God had stunned his fans, devotees and industry watchers when he stepped out of the vineyard of the Lord to wax an album for Globacom boss, Mike Adenuga while holding on to his calling to serve the lord at his church, Decross Gospel Mission.
This would have been a laudable project but it is on record that shortly after it became public knowledge that Evangelist Obey had given his life to Christ, he publicly swore never to have anything to do with circular music.
In 2010, Obey once again reneged on his declaration not to return to secular music when he thrilled fans and guests at the 70th birthday bash of one of his closest friends and fans, Chief Jide Osinubi popularly known as Sokoyokoto.
The news of how he how he received between N15m and N30m for the album he waxed for Adenuga was met by mixed reactions.
Genevive and D’banj
The controversy trailing the alleged relationship between music star, D’banj and popular Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji has continued to deepen.
Nnaji had earlier denied having anything intimate with D’banj fondly dubbed the ‘Koko Master but both parties have been spotted together on a couple of occasions; thus fueling speculations of their alleged romance.
The rumoured affair was blown into limelight shortly after D’banj shot the video for his hit single, ‘Fall in Love,’ where Nnaji played a very prominent role. In the video, both D’banj and Nnaji are caught in a ‘wet’ kiss as this also forms a scene in the romantic video.
Shortly after the video was shot, D’banj reportedly revealed in an interview that he and Nnaji were romantically involved.
As earlier noted, Nnaji had openly denied being romantically involved with the Koko Master. “It’s ridiculous; though. D’banj is not a bad guy, the fact however remains that he just does not fit into my kind of guy…,” she had said.
The Hip Hop World Awards
Arguably touted as Nigeria
For all celebrities who invited on stage to present the awards as well as the actual winners at the event, it was a shower of the ‘Blackberry Curve’ mobile phone as they all got one each in addition to the ‘Headie’ received by winners.
Olu Maintain lied
Earlier in the year, popular singer, Olumide Adegbulu a. k. a Olu Maintain had openly declared that he had finally decided to quit bachelorhood.
To buttress his claim, he had even shown off his ‘wife-to be;’ Wendy Ajakaiye; a London-based Chartered Accountant.
However, somewhere along the line, other female names popped into contention and Olu’s wedding, which was expected to take place in London and Nigeria
Uche Jumbo’s heavy backside
Nollywood actress, Uche Jumbo found herself thoroughly embarrassed at an airport in 2010 when the sheer size of her backside caught the attention of an official at the airport.
His observation might have gone unnoticed but the naughty official just couldn’t tear his eyes off that part of Jumbo’s body.
According to a source, when the male official couldn’t hold his observation inside anymore, he expressed his surprise at the size of her buttocks by cracking a joke at the expense of the actress while she was on queue to check in her luggage while she was on her way out of the country.
We gathered that with a comical look on his face, the official asked, “Who get this cargo?”
Jumbo who was unaware of the joke as she felt he was referring to her luggage and confirmed owning the luggage. She was however, left speechless when the official pointed at her backside.
Jumbo according to our source was so embarrassed by the official’s joke, she said, “Can you imagine the idiot referring to my bum bum as a cargo?”
2 Face lands multimillion Dollar deal from FIFA
As expected, the father of five also emerged richer as he was paid millions of Dollars for performing alongside Shakira and other artistes across the globe at the event.
We gathered that 2 Face had earlier signed a deal with South African-owned telecoms company, MTN years back when he had officially toured the length and breathe of the Nigeria
In 2010, 2 Face also pioneered the sale of musical albums at N1, 000 compared to the established selling price of N150 by marketers.
Kel & Clarence’s unfinished business
Once upon a time, the duo of rising Hip Hop act, Kelechi Ohia popularly known as Kel and popular Video Director, Clarence Peters were inseparable.
Till date, there are so many unanswered questions that only Kel or Peters might be able to provide answers to; off record.
For instance, why exactly did they fall apart after starting off well with Kel’s hit single, ‘Wa waa alrite?’
Another question that bothers millions of music lovers out there is why did Peters spend a whooping N11 million on Kel only to end up having that sum of money being regarded as unaccounted funds?
The already strained relationship between both parties went from bad to worse in 2010 when Clarence allegedly threw Kel out of the venue of Jesse Jag’s video shoot.
Quiet year for Cossy
Compared to 2009, controversial actress, Cossy Orjiakor was able to avoid getting involved in any major scandal in 2010.
The year 2010 might have seen Orjiakor running a low profile but the busty actress and singer paid dearly in 2009 as her reputation was dealt a nasty blow following allegations and wild reports that she had sexual relations with a dog.
One thing many do not know about Orjiakor is that the busty actress and singer owns a property in Lekki and has been silently endorsed for mouth-watering contracts all over Nigeria
Eldee on CNN
Not a bad year for Nigeria
Eldee is not only well known for making great music but also for his relentless fight for a better Nigeria
Fela’s biography rounded off
The Nigerian tour of the authorised biography of Africa's musical genius, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Fela: ‘This Bitch of a Life’ was rounded off on October 16, 2010 at the French Cultural Centre in Abuja
The author of ‘Fela: this Bitch of a Life,’ Carlos Moore began touring Nigeria on October 9, 2010 at the Centre for Contemporary Art, 9 McEwen St, Sabo, Lagos at 4:00pm.
First published in 1982, ‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ is the authoritative text on the life and times of Africa 's greatest ever musician.