Veteran actor and politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, is not pleased that some people judge Nollywood by only bad movies. The Living in Bondage actor said one should be objective in describing the industry.
In a chat with Sunday Scoop, he reiterated his position, saying, “You should expect that in any situation, when a good thing arises, it will attract the good the bad and the ugly. It will be wrong to describe an entire industry by its ugly side. I believe that the standard of our movies is okay but we need to acknowledge that there are (and will always be) bad eggs. And unfortunately, bad things are usually louder. But we refuse to be defined by those bad ones. We now shoot with modern equipment and our movies are being shown in cinemas. We are getting better.”
Speaking on the third part of Living in Bondage(regarded as one of the first direct-to-video films in the country) currently in the works, Okonkwo noted that the script took some years to be written.
“A work of art can be made at any time. There is no specific time for one to unleash one’s creative talent. It took almost three years to write the script for the new movie and I can tell you it is a massive one. We shot both in Nigeria and outside the country. We are in the 21st century, and there is a need to fit into the modern way of making movies. Now, we are more experienced, empowered and advanced. Living in Bondagewas the beginning of Nollywood. And this is the beginning of another beginning. It will shake the world,” he said.
The trained lawyer also maintained that he was usually finicky about the type of movies he appeared in. He said, “From the time of Living in Bondage, I have always been very selective about the movies I appear in. It has to be up to my taste and standard. After doing a movie likeLiving in Bondage, it wouldn’t be good for one to appear to be nosediving (by making films of lesser quality). However, after being in the business of making movies for almost 30 years, I think it’s time for me to exploit the other talents I have by being more like a tutor to the younger ones.”
The actor also maintained that his political career was still active. He added, “In a democracy, everybody should be involved in politics, because it is a government of the people, for the people and by the people. You may not be in power or be contesting a position, but you should be in politics. I am in politics and I intend to be active for some time to come.”
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