MY TAKE ON THE OMOTOLA ISSUE: WE LIFT AS WE CLIMB, WE TEACH NOT TEAR DOWN - By Chief Gary Austine Ebuka Ugboma Nzeawo of Ndoni. I've been following the trending story around veteran actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and the old interview clip that resurfaced about an alleged pronunciation issue on a Hollywood set. 1. MY OWN EXPERIENCE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: Many years ago, before I answered the call to law, I was a music producer.
One of the projects I'm most proud of is Ollie Gee's monumental hit song 'Daddy Moh'. The golden female voice and exclamations on that song was rendered by Joan Emi, and for the record, Joan Emi is IJAW, not Igbo. Did that stop us from making an authentic Igbo-sounding song? No. I took my time to sit with her; I taught her the proper Igbo pronunciations, the tonality, and the exclamations.
We rehearsed until it sounded native. Today, 90% of listeners assume the female voice is a native Igbo speaker. That is the power of coaching and mentorship. 2. MY ANGLE ON THE OMOTOLA MATTER: From the clip, Omotola noticed an Igbo actress struggling with Yoruba/Egun pronunciation and reported it to the supervisor. My verdict is this: that was a missed opportunity for leadership.
The more professional and humane approach would have been: 'Supervisor, I noticed she's struggling with the lines. With your permission, let me coach her for 10 minutes so we can get this take right.' Authenticity matters, but so does solidarity - Nollywood itself was built on this; Hollywood is even tougher and Africans get very few chances there. 3. THE BIGGER LESSON: We cannot preach 'Africans supporting Africans' and then practice 'report first, coach later'.
Excellence is achieved through teaching. You correct in private, you praise in public. You lift as you climb.
