Gbinigie plans grand burial for mum

Benin city, the capital of Edo State would be agog for a period of four days non-stop, courtesy of Mr. Ekhator Andrien Gbinigie, the patron of MORGON and other guilds in Nollywood, as he and his siblings get set to bury their late mother, Madam I.O. Gbinigie.
The carnival like burial/celebration of life, for their 86 year-old deceased mum, begins on June 11, and runs through 14, 2009, with several family, church and social activities geared towards giving their mother a befitting and memorable burial. According to the burial plan made available by bereaved Gbinigie and his eight other siblings sired by their late mum, a Christian wake keep would kick start the burial programme on Thursday, June 11, at 10. St. Stephen Street, Benin city. The Lying-In-State holds on Friday, June 12, between 3 and 10pm, same venue. The main event, (social outing), is expected to rock Benin and its environs on Saturday, June 13, at the indoor sports hall of Ogbe Stadium, between noon and 6pm. In the words of Gbinigie, the reception has been designed in such a way that guests could easily fly into Benin and take off same day, without much stress, due to the proximity of the venue to the airport. The final outing service, which
is mainly for the family, holds on Sunday, June 14, at the New Benin Baptist Church, thus bringing to an end, the four-day carnival like burial.
Reliable info at our disposal has it that the leadership of virtually all the guilds in Nollywood would be storming the burial in grand panache and intimidating ways. Already, the national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Mr. Ejike Asiegbu, has promised to lead a powerful delegation to the burial. “As one of our patrons, who has always stood by us and still standing by us, we will surely lead a powerful delegation to honour Mr. Gbinigie and his entire family at the event,” he stated.

ABAN berths in Nollywood, marches on


Pic- Ngozi Ezeonu, Nollywood actres

The need for good governance and to further ensure a better representation at the home front, most Nollywood actors from Anambra State recently came together and happily launched the Association for Better Anambra in Nollywood (ABAN), with fanfare and accolades. Speaking at its recent formation, top filmmaker and the body’s interim national president, Mr. Obi Madubuogwu, said they ultimately seek to unite all Anambra people in Nollywood with the sole aim of helping to install good governance, especially now that election is just by the corner in the State. He further urged members to ensure that only the best candidate, who must also be entertainment inclined, emerges as the State’s governor, in next year’s governorship election. “As entertainers of repute, who also contributed immensely in the setting up of what is today known as Nollywood globally, we must begin to make meaningful impact and contributions concerning how our great State is
governed. We are tired of being spectators, we now want to be full participants and stakeholders, for a better Anambra through good governance.”
Also speaking, Ngozi Ezeonu, a leading Nollywood actress, maintained that the time has come for Anambra actors and entertainers in Nollywood to take the bull by the horn and stand firm in their choice of who governs them. “As a body we have a lot of plans for the people of our State, especially the youths, but we can only achieve all these lofty ideas, if an entertainment friendly governor is installed. And through entertainment, we will definitely assist the government of the day in ushering in good governance. We all know that entertainment is big business globally, and we are set to use it as a tool of development judiciously in Anambra. We want to help change the face of Anambra through entertainment, because we helped to achieve that in today’s Nollywood. Though, most of us are resident in Lagos, but we also want to contribute meaningfully on how our State is governed, based on our popularity and the good jobs we do on national and foreign TV’s as well as cinemas,” she pointed out.
Other interim executive members of the fast growing body include: top actor and the current chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Actors Guild Of Nigeria (AGN), Ernest Obi, top actresses, Oby Edozieh and Benita Nzeribe. Others are: leading producers: Donald Okoli, Felix Chigbo, Bambino Chuks and Yours Sincerely.