Tofarati Ige & Olushola Ricketts
Sunday Scoop takes a look at some of the most outstanding events in the entertainment industry in Nigeria
Banky W and Adesua’s wedding
When Oluwabankole Wellington, aka Banky W, proposed to Adesua Etomi, many people thought it was a rehash of the roles they played in the movie, Wedding Party, where they acted husband and wife. But it later turned out to be the beginning of something special in their lives. It is not an understatement to say their wedding was the biggest in the entertainment industry in 2017. The white wedding, which was held in November, at Cape Town in South Africa, was the talk of the town for weeks. They had earlier had the traditional wedding ceremony at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to friends of the couple, the lovebirds started as friends, and were together for about a year and a half before Banky W, in February, asked the important question – ‘Will you marry me?’ Of course, she said yes.
P-Square’s split
PSquare
The split of Nigerian pop twin singers, Peter and Paul Okoye, didn’t come as a surprise to music followers. Before they finally went their separate ways in September 2017, they had been engulfed in a war of words on social media and it was just a matter of time before things went out of control. In a letter Peter sent to their lawyer, Festus Keyamo, he accused Paul of not cooperating with him totally, and unilaterally cancelling their music tour of the United States. He alleged that Paul spoke badly of his wife and children on social media, and that his family was being sent threat messages. Peter also accused his elder brother and manager, Jude, of threatening to kill him and shoot his wife, Lola. He stressed that he was tired of the situation and all he wanted was to be a solo artiste. The brothers have gone on to pursue solo careers, and they have both released songs independently.
Dammy Krane’s fraud scandal
It came as a rude shock when news circulated on social media that pop artiste, Dammy Krane, had been arrested for grand theft, credit card and identity fraud in Miami, United States of America. All the evidence gathered pointed to the fact that Krane committed the crime and many thought he would be jailed like his colleague, Sauce Kid, who was arrested and tried on July 26, 2016, for grand theft. Dammy faced criticisms from fans and certain Nigerian celebrities, who believed he allowed the lure of a luxurious lifestyle to push him into a life of crime.
Mercy Aigbe’s marriage crash
Mercy Aigbe
In Nigeria and around the globe, celebrities are increasingly find it hard to stay in marriage. Mercy Aigbe, claimed that she tried her best to keep her marriage to Lanre Gentry, but the union hit the rocks in April 2017. The actress claimed that she was battered by her estranged husband on numerous occasions, and that in order to save her life, she had to leave the marriage. According to her, the physical violence she suffered at the hands of her husband affected her sight and caused her to bleed internally for weeks. Immediately, she removed the name, Gentry, from her various social media accounts, and declared that she would never go back to her husband again. Aigbe also alleged that her husband was fond of sleeping with her aides. Similarly, Lanre Gentry, accused the beautiful actress of cheating on him. For allegedly beating his wife, Gentry spent some days in Kirikiri prison.
Moji Olaiya and Eric Arubayi’s death
Moji Olaiya
The deaths of actress, Moji Olaiya, and singer, Eric Arubayi, really shook the entertainment industry this year. The actress’ death was even more painful as she died in Canada just two months after giving birth to her second child. With the help of a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, her corpse was brought to Nigeria and the star actress was buried at the Ebony Vault, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Meanwhile, West Africa Idol star and gospel artiste, Eric Arubayi, died in February at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara. He developed serious complications after taking an expired drug meant to treat malaria and typhoid. His death was a hard blow to his friends and loved ones, as the 34-year-old left behind a wife and kid. His death was a major loss to the gospel music community.
Davido loses friends
Though he just rounded off the year with a successful concert, misfortune visited David Adeleke, aka Davido, in 2017. While he was still trying to explain what led to the death of a friend, Tagbo, who was seen partying with him hours before he gave up the ghost, two other friends, DJ Olu, and Chima Amaechi, were found dead in a car at Banana Island, Lagos. DJ Olu was the son of a billionaire, Dapo Abiodun. Davido was fingered as a suspect in Tagbo’s death, but he was later cleared after several investigations.
Kiss Daniel versus G-Worldwide
We have seen in the industry on countless occasions in the past when artistes would dump their record labels in the middle of a contract, and opt to start their own labels. The latest addition to that list is pop star, Kiss Daniel, who left his former label, G-Worldwide Entertainment, in the latter part of the year. Daniel claimed that G-Worldwide had practically ripped him off, and that the account books were doctored. Meanwhile, G-Worldwide filed a suit against the Yeba singer, accusing him of breaching his contract. The company stated that it had never hidden the accounts from Kiss Daniel, and that it had re-adjusted the contract to favour Daniel on many occasions. The court ordered both parties to maintain the status quo. According to the court order, Kiss was to remain in the label, and refrain from releasing or promoting any material with the imprint of another label, without the permission of G-Worldwide.
However, it seems Daniel is unperturbed, as he has continued to release songs under his new company, Fly Boy Inc.
MI Abaga’s many fights
Rapper Jude Abaga, a.ka. MI
Rapper, Jude Abaga, aka MI, ruffled a lot of feathers this year. Though he didn’t do much, by way of making music, he was in the news a lot because of the many quarrels he had. Sometime in the year, he had granted an interview on radio where he said that he was open to having collaborations with every rapper in the industry. Shortly after he said this, another rapper, Vector, countered his claims, and stated that he had been trying to secure a collaboration with MI for a while without success.
The duo continued to drag each other on social media for a while until the issue fizzled out.
Meanwhile, this was days after MI lost his cool during an interview with an online TV. The host of the show had accused MI of having sycophants around him who never told him the truth. He went on to say that MI’s third album, Chairman was the worst of all the albums released by the rapper. However, people have blamed the presenter for being unduly pushy and for using swear words on air while speaking with MI. MI was also applauded for the patience with which he initially handled the matter.
As if all that wasn’t enough drama for one year, MI was reported to have dragged American rapper, Nas, to court. When many first heard the news, they couldn’t fathom what type of business could have transpired between the duo to warrant Nas being sued. It however turned out that MI had allegedly paid $50,000 to Nas, for him to deliver a verse on his song. Nas’ verse was supposed to contain certain words earlier agreed to by both parties, but when the American entertainer submitted his verse, there was no mention of any of the requested words. This had led the rapper and his label to seek redress in a New York. We wait to see how that would turn out.