In Nollywood, the second largest movie industry in the world, dog eats dog. And it is news as big as man biting dog. As they say in journalism, it’s no news for a dog to bite a man. After the pioneers and veterans of Nollywood, Mercy Johnson is a favourite actress of many people, yet she is one of the most scandalised in the business. A promising actress, there is no doubt that she is crying when she is doing that on set. This is one of her shocking dog-eat-dog experiences, told a newspaper: “Let me tell you this story. When I was heading for Benin, I was supposed to leave at a particular time but I didn’t leave. My friends kept calling me and that’s why I am telling you that people can be terrible.
They were calling me and asking to know when I was planning to leave and I told them I wasn’t sure yet. I eventually decided to leave on a Monday with an 11.45 a.m. flight. Do you know that at precisely 11.45 a.m., a woman appeared at the airport screaming at the top of her voice that I should leave her husband alone. She told officials at the airport that she was hundred percent sure that I was aboard the flight.” There are similar stories on some other Nollywood people, indicating how competitive the industry has become, and the need for a unified Nollywood to address its mounting challenges. Mercy is one of the Nollywood people I have been studying to develop the characters of a novel I am planning to write on the industry. Another person is Mike Ezuruonye. I like it that outside the “scandals”, some of which look too silly to believe, Mercy has defied another of Nollywood’s dirty fads to commence marriage processes to her fiancé.
cont… http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=162550