TIWA SAVAGE'S 'ARREST'

TIWA SAVAGE'S ARREST
Sometimes a celebrity assumes a self-imposed larger-than-life image and believes he or she is above the law or above reproach. If the reports of Tiwa Savage's arrest are factual, with the areport by thenetng suggesting that they are, then a 'bringing down to earth' psychological regimen is needed for the newly-wedded singer. One major fact to note by celebrities and other citizens, DO NOT SCREW WITH THE NIGERIAN POLICE. No matter how much you hold them in disdain or think they are inept, those guys operate within the ambits of the law or laws which they can conjure to empower their case. If you have ever 'visited' a typical Police Station in Naija to setlle or aid a case, you will know what I am saying.

In fairness to the Police, they are quite friendly and accommodating when celebrities are involved and treat artistes with respect more than other citizens but that should not be taken for granted by the artistes in any way. 

There is what I term ' a galloping stumble' in the career of artistes which comes full circle most times. An artiste attains dizzying heights in his or her career within a time capsule of promise, possibilities and potential. Fame, endorsements, adulations and unbelievable stardom follow one after the other or even simultaneously for a hitherto backwater act. Having achieved such within a short and unsolicited for career, the artiste finds himself or herself on a fast lane. On that lane, all caution is thrown to the wind and a breakneck speed is allowed by the artiste on that lane. But more-often-than-not there would be a stumble along the way; a big pothole to rein excesses. For the smart ones, they slow down. For the others who believe they are delirious gods on earth, they go faster. Most times, doom beckons. A career doom or even a fatal one.


What if Tiwa had encountered one of those trigger-happy Policemen who, without thinking, could have fired off a shot at her? Has she and her handlers thought about that? It is all well for her husband to wave it off as a joke as he did in the report by Thenetng. But if indeed it isn't a publicity stunt ( and I don't think it is) then this is where her brand handling should be put under a microscope. Personally, I love Tiwa's music and admire her seeming humility, having been opportuned to speak with her and her then Manager a year ago on a proposed project then. I think she must be commended for blazing a trail in a male-dominated music industry and making a huge success out of it too. And it is because I like her and believe she still has a lot to offer to our entertainment sector that I wrote this.

Let's just say I hope this little advice fills the potholes on her lane. Or maybe it should serve to erect a speed breaker?

'SIR, PLEASE TELL GENEVIEVE TO HURRY UP WITH HER MAKE-UP' said STELLA DAMASUS ON MY SET! From the book 'NOLLYWOOD TILL NOVEMBER by Charles Novia

CHARLES NOVIA REVEALS THE ARTISTIC RIVALRY BETWEEN GENEVIEVE NNAJI AND STELLA DAMASUS ON HIS SET IN HIS NEW BOOK 'NOLLYWOOD TILL NOVEMBER'  Excerpts from the new Bestseller 'NOLLYWOOD TILL NOVEMBER BY CHARLES NOVIA               The Producer in me wanted to titillate the audience with a box office pairing never before seen in Nollywood. I had for a few months wondered how it would be like to have Genevieve and Stella Damasus in leading roles in the same movie. They both were audience favourites for various reasons and the prospects of having another box office hit with both of them was quite appealing. Besides, the script 'MORE THAN SISTERS', was just right for both of them to explore their creative abilities.
Stella promptly signed up for the movie as did Segun Arinze, whose re-branding process was an on-going project for me. He was cast as a mellow ‘bad-guy-turned-good-guy’ who paid the ultimate price just to pay back a favour. We went on location after a couple of rehearsals. The chemistry and energy between Genevieve and Stella was amazing. Both actresses gave amazing performances. They were literally smoking! Somehow though, I could sense an unspoken professional rivalry between both of them. A certain competition to outshine each other, behind the friendship they had. When I noticed a bit of that, I had to consciously rein in artistic excesses where I felt their acting could become melodramatic so as not to lose the essence of the story. But incidents like this were few.
Though both actresses were friendly with each other, at that point in time, Genevieve was the bigger box office star. I expected some diva tantrums for her and was quite prepared to either curb such or handle it with the firmness I had devised for such but surprisingly, she was very co-operative and blended with cast and crew alike. Our mutual professional respect for each other developed the more. I remember on the third day of recording, one night while shooting at a clinic in Victoria Garden City Extension, I came out for a bit of fresh air while the technical people were setting up for the next scene.I saw Genevieve in a dark corner of the building, smoking a cigarette.
‘Whoops! You caught me’, she said, laughing.

‘You smoke?’ I asked, a bit surprised.
‘Now and then. It relaxes me ’ she said. ‘Do you smoke?’
‘Never have. Never will. But I don’t have any problems with people who smoke though. But health wise, I hope you stop soon.’ I replied.
‘I am trying to. Sit with me a bit, lets talk about this scene ’ I sat with her and I explained some few things to her about the scene. We also talked about a bit of her stardom and how she was coping with it. She was in a chatty mood and it was a revealing conversation.That evening, I saw a vulnerability in her, I had never seen before. This young lady, by a dint of her talent, hard work or fortune, had superstardom thrust upon her and seemed to have no private life anymore. She had become one of the most recognisable faces in the continent and whilst enjoying the adulation, she was also coming to terms with the scrutiny of her Privacy, which was not too palatable to her. I admired her courage and somehow felt that she would go places beyond Nollywood. I remember I told her so. 

Genevieve was quite particular about make-up. She would spend many minutes, ensuring that her face was well-powdered. She had some pimple breakout on that shoot and wanted them less visible on screen. She would have mild arguments with the make-up artiste about the right powder application to her face and at times would go out of her way to make up herself after the make-up artiste must have finished. I found this quite amusing and in some cases, I did not mind her fussiness over her make-up as the script progressed from a flashback period to ‘present day’ and I felt if she had to hide her blotches, she was very well within her ambits to do so, in tandem with the character who was supposed to be trendy.

I remember when we went to Ikorodu village to shoot some forest scenes, it was getting late and we had one night scene left to shoot. The time was about 7.30pm and it was supposed to be the last scene for the day. Genevieve took some extra time on her make-up. Stella walked up to me in agitation.
‘Sir, please tell Genevieve to hurry up. Its late, we are in the middle of nowhere and she’s still making up. I am a wife and mother. I have kids to attend to at home tonight. She should not waste our time.’

I looked at Stella in surprise. There was an unusual edge in her voice. I could not fathom out why she would sound a bit antagonistic. I knew she had a point on the time being spent by Genevieve in making up but I always assumed she had been ok with it. But she did have a point about the time being a bit late and we were actually miles away from the main town in a bush somewhere! I walked up to Genevieve who was rubbing powder on her face, while the make-up artist stood nearby, warily telling her she had over-done her face . ‘Genny, let's shoot this. It's late. Come on!’
‘Just a minute, sir’ she replied. She spent a few more seconds dabbing powder over a big pimple on her cheek. Stella was behind me, scowling and tapping her foot, impatiently. I took the whole incident between them as one of some brimming rivalry among actors which directors and Producers face at times on set so I did not pay much notice to it.    However, I was taken unawares by what happened a few days later! 

A VICIOUS VALENTINE BY CHARLES NOVIA

Tony Tetuila, one of the pioneers of the Afro-hip hop genre of music in Nigeria in the late nineties, had a moderate hit song in 2006 titled 'I'm in love with two women'. While I found it funny then that many ladies rushed to the dance floors at clubs and parties at the peak of the song whenever it was played, it also spoke volumes about the acceptable norm in Naija about the double-dating fad which ferociously crept into the society with renewed vigour less than a decade ago. Where it concerns the men, one could make a hypothesis that a new form of modern pseudo-polygamy has taken root in Nigeria. But this time, instead of one dude marrying many wives as three or two generations before us did, one dude has a string of girlfriends and its accepted that that is 'how men are wired'.




Fela Kuti, in his biography 'This Bitch of a life' written by Carlos Moore has something interesting to say about polygamy. He says, 'If a woman likes a man, she doesn't really mind sharing him with other women...women today are not making men happy. They are constantly confusing the man's mind. There's too much deceit..confusion going on. The Christian Woman and the Muslim Woman? Oh yes, too much bullshit, man! If a woman don't like a man, she should leave and go find another man. That's why polygamy is fantastic!Monogamy was imposed by religion. Its against the natural order. Men just have to go for other women. Nobody can explain it! A man with many wives is natural. A woman with many men is not. The woman can be satisfied with one man. Besides women can stay without sex. Men can't. Why? Go ask nature, man! Different sexual structures, that's all. Sex is a gift of nature. So why do men make laws to check it? A law deciding when a woman's ready to fuck and another law saying where to fuck. Look, what's natural is not illegal. Sex should be something people participate in properly, with joyfulness and happiness. Sex is clean. But by bringing human laws into it, its made 'dirty'. Sex is life-giving. Sex is joy.' End of quote. (FELA: this bitch of a life. 1982. London: Allison and Busby)




For those who lift off quotes off my blog, please note that the above were statements of Fela Kuti and not mine because I have discovered that many bloggers are quick to sensationalise most of my writings just to get hits on their websites. Why did I quote Fela? Basically because his position is a fundamental Africanist opinion on relationships between man and woman. I will come to that later. 




Valentine's Day in Nigeria comes with a yearly ritual. The overt commercialisation of sex; however you look at it. Whether its between married couples or plain lovers or randy burgers. The build-up to the day is so huge and commercially driven that the essence of it all is lost. It's not unusual to find many ladies 'roasting' on that day and willing to give in to just any man so as to have a 'Valentine story' to tell when her mates are telling theirs. Likewise the men, though with more rascally intentions sometimes. Valentine in Nigeria throws up despair and loneliness for millions of people more than love, romance and affection. It's a mind-blowing contrast. In Lagos, there's always a terrible traffic along major roads on Val's Day. I cannot for the life of me imagine where everyone rushes out to that day. I can only theorise that the traffic is caused more by hormones spinning out of control. Testetorone-charged male drivers would blare deafening car horns in anger at the traffic as if the oestrogen-induced ladies they are rushing to meet would not wait if they are late! Incredible.



Shops and restaurants always sell out on Vals Day. Not to mention the heavily booked hotels all over! If Valentine is a day of love and sharing, can someone please tell me why condoms have the biggest sales day in Nigeria during the valentine week? And that is according to statistics too! Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not dissing Val's Day in anyway. Not when I'm an old-fashioned romantic. I'm just commenting on how it has lost its esssence since my growing up days. Its just more of a desperate day for things behind closed doors than the import of the day itself. However, the day is here. Traffic and all, have a good time (pure good time, I mean!).





And coming back to Tony Tetuila's song, there's a verse in it which typifies a lot of disappointments going on today in the country over this Valentine phenomenon. 'This na the reason I nor dey celebrate my birthday..Tony; Valentine nko? Omo, I nor dey for house!' The song captures it. A lot of ladies are knocking on closed doors of their 'boyfriends' today as I write. Ha! O ma se o!