Let me start first by saying that I
am humbled by the popularity of
this column, only six weeks after it
made its debut. I am told, and this
has been verified by random
Google search, that this column
has been culled and appropriated
by practically every social media
platform including leading
bloggers all over the world.
One of such bloggers called me, to
say she has been eagerly awaiting
my column every Sunday, and
updates on my blog,
EkereteUdoh.com, so she would be
the first to post my stories. I must
say that I am flattered.
Last week, I published on this
page, excerpts of an interview that
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde granted
my New York-based newspaper,
The Diasporan Star, in December
2009, and also on my blog. The
interview, though done some years
ago, was still relevant. (the kind of
interviews that have no time-limit
or currency). The story has become
a hit on social media and some
other newspapers here. The
popular blogger, BellaNaija, culled
the story, and a day after,
Omotola, through the same
BellaNaija, denied ever granting
the interview to Sunday Vanguard.
She, however, did not deny that
the said interview did take place
and that some other excerpts of
the same interview were published
in The Diaspora Star, which she
had read when it was first
published.
Since her denial, there has been a
feeding frenzy on the social media,
with some misguided fellows
thinking that the interview did not
take place and I am offended by
this. The notion that I, Ekerete
Udoh, one of the pioneers of this
genre of journalism in Nigeria, a
man who God has used to promote
and project Nigerian pop culture
and its practitioners both in
Nigeria and in the Diaspora, would
publish an interview that was not
properly conducted is, to say the
least, stupid, puerile and utterly
objectionable and I AM MAD AS
HELL!
Let me, for the records, state that
the said interview took place in
Omotola’s HOLIDAY INN, hotel
room in Yonkers, New York. Since
2008, I have been the publisher of
The Diasporan Star newspaper,
easily and without sounding
immodest, the most popular
newspaper that projects and
promotes Nigerian, nay African,
pop culture, politics and our way of
life in the United States. The
newspaper, to the glory of God, has
grown in stature and reviewed by
such newspapers as The New York
Daily News, Post, among others.
In 2010, when the Queen of
Daytime Television, Oprah Winfrey,
did a segment on her show on
Nollywood and Bollywood, and
wanted background information on
Nollywood and its stars, it was my
newspaper – The Diasporan Star –
that she turned to. Her production
outfit, HARPO, contacted us, and
we provided the background
information she used in the
segment where Genevieve Nnaji
was called ‘The Julia Roberts of
Africa.’
Because of the impact my
newspaper has made in the United
States, I was honored by the New
York State Senate in 2012 for
‘Outstanding Community Service’,
an event where CNN’s Anderson
Cooper was also honoured. I have
been invited to address students
on African pop culture and politics
at many institutions in the United
States among them the New
School of Social Research in New
York City, a top school that has as
its president, the former Nebraska
senator and former Democratic
Party presidential aspirant, Bob
Kerry.
My newspaper has been media
partners to a number of campaigns
in the U.S, including the Obama/
Biden Campaign Organisation,
where we canvassed support for
the African-Diaspora community
for the ticket. Ours, therefore, has
been a credible medium, and I
hold, very dearly, my over 20 years
of storied journalism career.
Now, this is the fact of the story. I
first met Omotola in 2008 or
thereabout, when her then manager
– Jim Bass – asked me to help
promote her in North America.
Omotola had a musical
performance at Lehman College,
the Bronx, as part of an event that
was put together by former beauty
queen and Nollywood actress,
Regina Askia. Because I was her
big fan and was proud of what she
was doing, I agreed to help
promote her in the media. Since
then, Omotola and I struck a very
professional relationship.
In 2009, during another of her
visits to New York for the premier
of an HIV/AIDS movie produced by
Nollywood actress and producer,
Chisom, I helped alongside her
then manager, Bass, to organise a
meet-and-greet session for her at
the popular Nigerian watering hole
– Tropical Grill, a restaurant and
lounge – located about ten
minutes away from JFK Airport,
and has played host to many
prominent Nigerians including
former President Obasanjo. My
friend, Ms. Bola Jawo, the owner of
that restaurant, agreed to give us
the hall free, to host Omotola.
Jawo can authenticate this.
Private life
At the event, Omotola was so
impressed by the huge turnout of
fans and our friendship deepened.
It was at that event that I asked
her for an interview that was going
to be different – where emphasis
was going to be placed on her
private life, her marriage and other
angles that the media had not
explored. She told me exultantly,
“Thank God, this is going to be
different form all those generic
questionnaires I have been used
to, from Nigerian journalists”.
The next day, in the company of
my two daughters, Ekaete Bukola
and Uduak Temitope Udoh,
respectively, (my daughters,
Ekaete, who has already graduated
from college and will be starting
her law school in the spring 2015,
and Uduak, who is a freshman in
college, are Omotola’s fans and
had told me they will not forgive
me if I didn’t take them along to
see their idol). I drove to Yonkers
– a distance of about 30 minutes
from New York City – and the said
interview took place right there in
her room at the Holiday Inn. It was
a meeting of two friends and I
remember her even jokingly telling
me not to take pictures because
she just woke up and “looked a
mess”. We all laughed and told her
she was as beautiful as ever.
Since then, I have done other
stories on Omotola and she has
regularly sought my help to tamp
down negative situations that
arose about her.
When in 2011, a picture surfaced
on the internet showing a man
with his hands firmly grabbing her
butt, and it sparked a media frenzy
on the state of her marriage, with
most accusing her of cheating on
her husband, it was me and my
news paper, that she ran to, to
help debunk that story. Not only
did she grant me an interview, she
also made me speak with her
husband, who had stoutly defended
her. That interview finally put a lid
on that brewing mess and it is all
over the social media. I reproduce
below, that interview and her
confirmation of the initial 2009
interview that she purportedly
denied was ever granted. The
Diasporan Star edition of May
2011 reported the story.
“In our last edition, we did a cover
story which was titled, `Omotola in
the eye of the storm! Husband
angry over butt-grabbing photo at
the Grammys…Why she
apologized.’
The story centered around the
rumors then spreading all over the
world about the state of marriage
of Omotola – by far, one of the
most visible and popular stars in
the Nollywood firmament –
following a butt-grabbing incident
by her escort at the 2011 Grammy
Awards in Los Angeles, an event
that had Omotola, as the first
Nollywood star to ever walk the
Red Carpet at the star-studded
event.
The picture had elicited wild
rumors and innuendoes – with
some speculating that her
relationship with the guy, whose
hands was on her backside, had
more to it than meets the eye.
Some had openly stated she was
playing games with her marital
vows.
We had reported in the same
article our inability to get Omotola
to state her own side of the story,
since she was shooting a movie in
Ghana. We had, however, relied on
close sources to piece together our
facts which provided the
background to our story.
A few days after the story hit the
newsstands, I received a call from
Omotola, who expressed the desire
to finally speak on the issue. “I am
now going to use this platform to
put this issue to rest once and for
all”, she said.
Omotola went on to add: “People
have insinuated all kinds of things
and read numerous meaning to
what was nothing but an
innocuous picture taken of me and
a member of my new management
team at the Grammys. The picture
was an innocent one, signifying
nothing.
“I have been married to my
husband for 15 years now, and I
say this loud and clear that I have
never cheated on him, and would
never do so ever! Remember I said
in an interview I granted you in
2009, that yes, I have been
tempted numerous times to violate
my marital vows, but I have
always resisted the temptation to
do anything that would bring
dishonor to my marriage and my
children.
If I told you – as a popular actress
– that we have not been tempted, I
would be lying to you. But should
one sacrifice all what one has
built, nurtured and worked hard to
establish just because you want to
indulge in some ill-motivated
affair? No. I don’t believe in that. I
count myself blessed to have
married a perfect gentleman, a
man who has supported me
throughout my years in the
industry, and is still there, as a
rock of Gibraltar. My husband is a
rare find, and no amount of
temptation will ever make me
cheat on him.
“So the notion or the rumor that
my haters and nay-sayers have
spread to the effect that the guy at
the Grammys was my boyfriend, is
ludicrous, to say the least! If I
wanted to cheat on my husband,
would I do that in the open?
Would I advertise my boyfriend for
everyone to see and at such a
public function? Just analyze that
logically – would that be a
commonsensical thing to do?
“This rumor is really a sick one
and I’m offended. My husband is
my soul-mate and I will never soil
or put that trust in jeopardy – no
matter what and the extent of the
temptation. It is not worth it.” (At
this point, she handed the phone
to her husband).
My wife is no flirt – Husband
•Omotola and husband … marital
vows strong
It was obvious from the manner
Mr. Ekeinde, pilot, sounded, that
he was pained and frustrated by
all the unfounded rumours about
his wife’s glorious outing at the
Grammys
“My brother, I am very proud of my
wife’s accomplishments and I join
other well wishers and millions of
her fans to toast her success. I’m
a little surprised that instead of
Nigerians celebrating her
appearance at the Grammys and
her being the first Nollywood star
to walk the red carpet, they are
busy spreading tales and rumours
that do not exist”’, he said.
“Truth be told, I was not angry
with my wife when I saw the
picture. Why should I be? I know
who I married, how self-respecting
she is and also the nature of her
industry. She is an actress for
God’s sake, and it is not out of
place for actresses to appear in
scenes that may look a little out of
place for a married person.
‘’The key thing is that my wife
respects her marital status, and in
our 15-year-marriage, she has
been the best woman any man
could aspire to have. In spite of
her stardom, at home, she is my
wife. She cooks for me, takes care
of the home and, above all, is a
great mother to our lovely children.
“I sincerely would implore her fans
not to buy into rumours and
speculations about her marital life,
because I, the husband, the one
that is lucky to have her as my
wife, am so proud of her and I
continue to thank God for bringing
her into my life. I could never have
asked for a better wife than her.”
Now, let me address the point she
made that she did not grant an
interview to Sunday Vanguard.
About six weeks ago, I became a
columnist in this newspaper.
And since one of the planks of this
column rests on popular culture, I
have been publishing AUTHENTIC
AND CREDIBLE interviews that I
have had with leading
personalities over the years. There
is no ethical kerfuffle involved with
this practice. A writer or journalist
who did an interview with a given
subject can use same interview in
any other credible media platform
of his choosing, as long as the
said INTERVIEW WAS PROPERLY
CONDUCTED AND THE STORY IS
REPORTED ACCURATELY.
That was what I did, with the
Omotola story. She granted me an
interview, and I am now a
columnist with Sunday Vanguard,
a very credible and easily one of
the leading mainstream
newspapers in Nigeria, and I
decided to use the story, with my
byline boldly displayed, which
should suffice. Her story is not the
first I had done along this line,
which, I may add, is a universally
adopted practice by journalists all
over the world. Journalists are free
to syndicate their stories in
whatever medium or platform they
deem fit.
For three weeks, I ran an interview
I did with Her Excellency, Mrs.
Bianca Ojukwu, the beautiful and
erudite Nigerian Ambassador to
the Kingdom of Spain last year in
her home, in Enugu. When I did the
interview, I was not yet a
columnist with Sunday Vanguard,
but I exercised my editorial
judgment and used it to flag off
this column.
Call from Bianca
When the interview ran in Sunday
Vanguard, Her Excellency, Mrs.
Bianca Ojukwu, had called me,
while I was on a quick trip to
South Beach, Miami, Florida, about
three weeks ago, to commend me
on the interview and even told me
she couldn’t get a copy of Sunday
Vanguard in the entire eastern
states because the paper sold out.
She called me from New York
where she had gone for a socio-
cultural event and I told her that I
was now doing a column in
Sunday Vanguard and she wished
me well.
Mrs. Ojukwu did not deny the
interview on the account that the
said interview was not meant to
have been published in this paper;
she knew that the interview had
the full complement of my integrity
and professional bonafides, and
was happy for me. In the weeks to
come, I will use other exclusive
interviews I did with other popular
figures in our politics and pop
culture worlds on these pages.
Omotola my friend
Omotola is my friend and even at
this very strange moment of our
friendship, I will still count her as
a good friend. She has been a
great ambassador of our arts and
a role model for millions of women
and I will not excoriate or
eviscerate her, even though I am
so massively tempted to get REAL
ANGRY and to use the American
street slang “wild-out” but I will
hold my fire for NOW.
I count myself as one of the
standard bearers of this genre of
journalism and thus, acutely aware
of ethical issues and concerns. I
was trained at City University of
New York, Queens College
Department of Journalism by the
same faculty members who taught
students at the Columbia Graduate
School of Journalism and my late
Head of Journalism Department,
Professor Judith Serrin, whose
book: Muck-raking: The
Journalism that Changed America”
is used by almost all journalism
schools in the United States, was a
former Professor at the Columbia
School of Journalism. Another
professor who taught me
broadcast media – Professor
Solomon was the long time
producer of CNN’s Larry King live.
I have been hosted by New York’
Times Ombudsman at New York
Times 43 Street, Manhattan office,
and have been regularly invited by
CUNY Graduate School of
journalism to speak on the impact
of ethnic media in America. So I
take ethics and professional
conduct very seriously. I have
preached this to all the reporters
and journalists who have passed
through my tutelage and I will
continue to hold aloft the ideals,
values, ethos and ethics of our
profession.
Let me also add here that not only
do I hold a bachelors degree in
journalism, I also hold bachelors
and masters degrees in political
science, where I was the Best
Overall Graduating student of my
class of 2006, International
Relations at the Brooklyn College
of the City University of New York.
Brooklyn College produced some of
the leading lights in various areas
of the Nigerian professional fields,
among them, the late loadstar of
Nigerian journalism – Dele Giwa,
former Ogun State Commissioner
for Information, Taiwo Alimi, Dr.
Yemi Ogunbiyi among others.
I have an acute sense of right and
wrong and have mentored
hundreds of journalists who today,
are publishers, editors, top op-ed
writers, commissioners of
information, special advisers and
corporate affairs heads of several
agencies. I will continue to do this,
as long as the good Lord gives me
the strength to do so!
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