By Olamide Jasanya
In this interview with Nigerian Entertainment Today, the embattled AGN President says she is not a convict as people think. She also details the travails she has been through because of her position. She is Ibinabo Fiberesima, the first female President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria.
How true are the allegations levelled against you by Comrade Dayo Onibiyo and the conference of State Chairmen of the AGN?
Let me state here that he [Onibiyo] is a nobody! He claims to be a Chairman but doesn’t have an executive. He uses AGN for personal businesses. I haven’t seen him before but from what I gathered, when Ejike Asiegbu went to inaugurate a chapter in Kwara State, he appointed Onibiyo as a coordinator pending the time they would hold an election but that election didn’t hold because of issues that happened after and that was how Kwara State disappeared.
There is another allegation that the election that led to you becoming President wasn’t free and fair. Is that true?
That’s false. The elections were held in Lagos and every state was properly represented, although they voted by proxy, they sent in their votes and it was collated here in Lagos by AGNEC in the presence of the press, so there was no form of malpractice in anyway.
When is the next election?
Hopefully in November, because that was when I was sworn in.
Does the word hopefully suggest it may not hold?
Why not? It should. What I mean is by the grace of God. Besides, that I was sworn-in in November does not mean it will hold in November, it depends on the AGNEC.
You are also accused of threatening erring members with violence from the Ateke Tom camp. Did you do that?
Why would I threaten anyone? I don’t do that. They threaten me. You should see text messages I get but life goes on.
And why do you think you are getting attacked from different quarters?
The only reason I think is because they don’t like change and they want to continue to cheat people and I won’t allow it. Take, for instance, free and fair elections, they don’t want it but I am ready to fight them because everybody in each chapter has a right to run for election. As the President, I will set up AGNEC after the congress has sent me names and I have confirmed their revalidated membership. The election will hold after but I will not help any candidate and that is where I go wrong because over time, it has been a case of favouritism and bias. But like I always say, whoever has issues with me should go to court. At least the court knows neither of us and will make an unbiased judgment. I do things to better the guild and someone like Onibiyo wants to run me down along with some people, he calls conference of chairmen… who are they? I don’t know even know some of the Chairmen I have today. I don’t know them and I haven’t seen them…
But you are the President, aren’t you supposed to visit and meet with the State Chapters regularly?
No, I am not supposed to. I am only supposed to have congresses and we haven’t had another since December. We are having our interstate cultural competition, so it’s likely I will meet the ones that have done election since December. Otherwise, I don’t know how. I can’t visit every state at the same time. How many persons am I? I am one. I can go to some state when I don’t have the time to do it.
So you have spent two years as President and haven’t met all your State Chairmen.
I said I have met the ones that were there before I became President and before the Congress. I don’t know the ones that are new and I cannot till we have a congress.
Are there financial rewards attached to any of the positions?
Here is the secret. These people who call themselves conference of Chairmen, they are first of all, one person. They make letter heads with AGN of their state and go to government and companies to seek for fund. These are things my administration seeks to end, which is why I have become an enemy. I do not exclude Emeka Ike from my list. I contested against Emeka Rollas and Steve Eboh but Emeka Ike kept parading himself as the president just to gain attention. They go from one place to another claiming to be president. They say I am an ex-convict and charged me to court before and after the election but I won both times.
Which brings me to the question, were you ever convicted?
Yes, I was. I am not denying it but I was convicted for a traffic offence. Even the Nigerian constitution states that it is not criminal or fraudulent so I can hold public offices.
But this involved the death of an innocent man.
It was involuntary. I didn’t go out of my way to kill someone. It was an accident and could have been me or anybody else. People have had accidents after me. What is painful is that these people are bringing up the pain and sadness in this case because of their own selfish reasons. Do you think they care about the family and the torture they went through back then. They don’t even know the pain the family will go through now that this has come up again!
Are you saying that because you were convicted for a traffic offence, you aren’t an ex-convict?
No, I am not an ex-convict.
How then do we define a convict? Isn’t it someone who was charged, tried and sent to prison?
I was charged. I am in court and I am appealing.
But were you ever jailed?
Yes, I was. I was sent to jail.
Did you spend your term?
Yes
How long did you spend in jail?
Three months and three days.
Doesn’t that make you a convict?
No, because I came out on bail to appeal and I am appealing because the judgment was wrong.
What made the judgment wrong?
Why was I sentenced? Anyway, I have my own issue. That is between me and the court. I am appealing my conviction.
I am particular about this because the clamour for you to be removed from office is premised on your being an ex-convict, as stipulated in section 4, item U of the guild’s constitution.
That was nowhere in the constitution. Just before my election, they brought up this and it was masterminded by Emeka Rollas who was the secretary of the guild then. He quickly put that part in so I would be disqualified. Remember, he was running against me. This constitution was given to me after my election. For me to have come out and run for an election, I have done my home work. There is nothing or nobody that can stop me, except God.
Do you not feel betrayed by all these happenings even from your own members?
I’m very interested in this because suddenly, AGN news is now big news and what everyone is talking about it. We have become glamorous and everyone wants to associate with us.
But shouldn’t it have been for a better course instead of a scandalous fight?
For me, it is an achievement. They are the ones loosing on this. They are thieves like I said earlier.
Who are your referring to when you say ‘they are thieves’?
The people that sent the release — Onibiyo and the conference of chairmen that lost elections. Chairmen that exist only on the internet. Let them come and chairmen where people are talking.
There are stories about your interest in running for a second term. Do you think you deserve to be re-elected?
Did I tell you I want to be?
Are you not running for the position once again?
I didn’t say that.
Do you think if you contest you will win?
I’m not interested. Let me finish my work. It will speak for me.
Are you aware that actress, Clarion Chukwura has been on your case for a while now about your eligibility as the guild’s president?
I don’t want to trade intelligence for ignorance.
By that you mean…
I just said I would not want to trade intelligence for ignorance.
She made available the documents for your judgment and even granted an interview with NET earlier where she rated your administration zero. How do all these make you feel?
I will say again, I don’t want to trade intelligence for ignorance
Clarion Chukwura berated your achievements, could you tell us some of the things that you have done since you got on board as President of the guild.
I think this is the kind of question I would love to answer not defending myself over people that don’t exist. We have introduced a health plan, which requires them to pay a certain amount and they have access to medical attention free of charge, to an extent, depending on the plan they want. If they paid thirteen thousand naira, they have about a 100 thousand naira worth of surgery free of charge, with fifteen thousand naira, they have access to that of two hundred thousand and it goes up like that. Mind you, the money is paid annually and the choice of hospital is theirs. Not long ago, I signed a memorandum of understanding with Aero Contractors to fly us anywhere we want for twelve thousand naira and at whatever time, same is applicable for road transport. We have started interstate cultural competitions so as to ward off the minds of youths from crime and to encourage a better life.
There seems to be a case of sectionalism amongst Yoruba, English and Hausa actors… are you doing anything about this.
They are all my brothers and sisters. I am not bothered about the tribe or where they are based. All I know is that we are all actors. The Yoruba actors, a lot of them are my members. There is a big Yoruba actor who is also a member. I’ve told him I won’t unveil him yet, when I do a lot of people will know how prepared we are.
How many members does AGN have?
We are over 5 million although a lot of us can never act and that in itself is a problem. We are a professional body but we have people who will never act because they don’t.
How many active members of AGN do you have?
On the data base, we have over 10 thousand, those that have been revalidated.
But don’t you think that is a problem?
I took over this guild a few months ago. I can’t change what has been overnight. It is the same problem the country is having. We are expecting Jonathan to heal up what has been bad for over 50 years. Things are so bad that the little good done looks irrelevant.
What plans have you put in place to curb this?
Now, we have a screening committee. So, when a new person registers, they go through a screening to confirm what their talent really is. For those whose talents are in scriptwriting, we direct them to their guild, same for those who have a flair for directing. This is so because a lot of people don’t know about these other guilds. Those who know how to act are then trained.
