Stories by Tony Ogaga
It has been a union made and blessed in heaven. For over three decades, Nollywood’s numero uno couple, Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva have continued to grow from strength to strength in an industry replete with tales of divorce and break-ups.
Recently, a source opened up to TS Weekend revealing how Olu Jacobs in the early ‘80s toasted and married Joke Silva.
“The story of how Olu Jacobs met Joke Silva in the early ‘80s at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos and eventually married her is one steeped in love and romance. But for the sheer determination of Olu Jacobs, the pair would never have been married. Olu had just relocated from the UK to Nigeria and was rehearsing at the National Theatre for a role in Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero when Joke Silva and a male friend strolled casually into the venue. In fact, the male friend had only accompanied Joke to the venue for her rehersal. It was the last time he would do so!
“As soon as Olu set eyes on Joke, it was love at first sight. He went after her with everything in his arsenal, wooing and practically ‘snatching’ her from her male friend who later became a pastor.
“It was love at first sight and Olu showered Joke who was much younger with love and affection, and quickly proposed to her. Today, the rest is history,” the source squealed.
Pretty Okafor’s big dream
Though, it has been projected to worth billions of naira annually, the Nigerian entertainment sector, despite its potentials continues to lie fallow.
But lately, the media have been awash with news of factional PMAN president, Pretty Okafor’s panacea to the industry’s woes.
And the basis of his approach is that globally, creative industries are not affected by recession hence it could be used as a springboard to revive the economy. Enter the G-Create.ng, the structure and application Okafor says will be used to transform the entire creative industry into the creative economy with government support and backing.
According to Okafor: “It is the digitalization of the creative industry. It will provide the requisite data for the entire industry and allow investors to track their return on investment (ROI) amongst other things. It also has other benefits accessible through a combo card, the PMAN biometric ID card. The benefits include medical insurance, a pension plan, barcoding and encoding of creative works and royalty monitoring and collection among others including benefits that will curb piracy.”
Citing the UK and US as examples, he argued: “In the UK, the creative economy contributes about 84.1 billon Pounds to the economy which is about 10 million Pounds per hour! In the US, the value the arts contributes to the country’s GDP is about $700 billion. Nigeria can also achieve this due to the vast potential of the industry.
“As number one in Africa and number three globally, the digitalization of the entire creative industry will help unlock the revenues inherent there, allow government take their share of taxes and reflate the economy.
“As a matter of priority, The Federal Government has to give adequate attention, investment and focus to the entertainment and creative sector. It has to support the launch of the Nigerian creative industry through legislation, pronouncement, regulation and enforcement.”
And through its partnership with the Federal Ministry of Information & Culture, it would seem that PMAN is already on track and recently, Ruggedman and members of Pretty Okafor’s exco displayed their biometric cards on social media but then, the issue of implementation and execution arises.
Said an industry source: “No doubt Pretty Okafior has laudable plans but it is all on paper. Don’t forget that our biggest problem is implementation. However, all we can do now is watch and wait and see how it unfolds. Don’t forget that we have seen many brilliant initiations like this which failed to impact the industry.”
Femi Kuti plans new album
Afro beat king, Femi Kuti is on the march again. As 2017 unfolds, he has begun work on his next album.
In a chat with TS Weekend, Femi opened up on the new album: “
2017 is going to be quite an exciting year for me and my fans. As I speak to you, I have already started work on the recording for my nest album which would be released later in the year.”
Commenting on what music buffs should expect, he said: “It is going to be hot, it will be my best album to date.”
What randy music producers told Ruby Gold
Fast rising singer, Ruby Gold (Ebere Blessing Okafor), has opened up on what randy producers told her just to lure her into bed!
During a chat with TS Weekend recently, Ruby Gold said: “I have been harassed sexually but one thing I notice is that when you are up and coming, music producers just want to take you to bed with bogus promises. And once they get what they want dump you!
“I have met a lot of producers who told me that before you become a star, you need to drop something. They said ‘look at the big stars you look up to, they all did the same thing; it is a rite of passage.’ But I said ‘no I am not going to go through this’. One of my biggest problems to date has been finance. That is why it took so long to do a remix of Ololufe.”
Declaring that smoking Indian hemp is not a way of getting inspiration for artistes to write songs, she said: “Indian hemp cant give you inspiration. I can take a little alcohol but Indian hemp will not help artiste with inspiration. I get my inspiration when I am walking, washing or doing something and in a flash it just comes. My kind of music is Afro R&B. It is all about love. My new single, Ololufe, is the story of a lady who fell in love the very first time she set eyes on her man.”
What has the response been like?
“The response has been awesome. I have received a lot of calls and messages on social media from my fans and they have been very encouraging.”
What are her dreams?
“To become what God wants me to be. I know God is going to use someone out there to make me a super star,” she concluded.