Tallest actor in Nollywood, Raymond Okafor who stands at a height of 6.8ft and who was recently appointed as a member of Actors Guild of Nigeria’s National Task Force has revealed some of the details of their assignment as contained in the Bylaws made by the Guild in the constitution amendment of the acting regulatory body.
According to the giant of a man who is elated by the appointment by the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, the new bylaws would change the game in the Nigerian movie industry.
“It is going to favour the producers, the marketers, the directors and the actors too. It is going to affect us positively. It will completely change the narrative so everyone will go home happy. As bad as it may sound, this industry is really messed up. The up and coming people don’t get to make money in the industry. Although these are some of the things we treated in our new bylaws. Now, we are making sure that everybody gets paid, even if you are only an extra or waka-pass. Everybody gets paid, everybody gets insurance, everybody gets attention, no matter how small the role is. It is part of our new scheme, our new bylaws that we are trying to enforce. Also, we have put a stop to shooting of movies on Sundays. The healthy situation in the industry is depressing, so we feel everyone should take Sundays off, gone is the era of working ourselves to death,” he said.
“Although I know there are bound to be bad eggs, people who don’t like progress but me, personally, I’m equal to the task. I’m willing, I’m ready and I’m going to come with my own approach . It’s not going to be merely about settling disputes and all that, I’m going to try in my own little capacity to educate our members and make videos from time to time and post on my social media and advise them on how to go about some certain things.
“’We don’t always have to learn from bad experiences, sometimes we could avoid bad experiences. It is better to save a situation than to look for a solution to it. I will urge them to always do the right thing, to be patriotic members of the Guild. And anyone who chooses to be on the wrong side would be very corrected adequately, though in a respectful and honorable way. I will discharge my duty diligently,” he added.
On July 28, 2023, the entire Nollywood, the Actors Guild of Nigeria, both the States chapters and the national body drafted a bylaw and adopted it on the 28th of July at a seminar held in Asaba.
“We already had departments in the industry that take care of certain things. But then after implementing the bylaw, the national president, Emeka Rollas found the need, with his power, to support the enforcement body for this new bylaw. He found a reason to appoint a person or two to join in overseeing that these new bylaws are carried out. So, I was opportune to be one of the people that were selected for that position as a Member of AGN National Task Force. We have State Task Force members, then we have National which oversees all the States in Nigeria. It’s a huge position. It is actually an elective position.
“If I wanted to get to this position on my own, I would have to contest for the State chapter first, contest for any position in the State chapter, and win, and that’s how I can become a national member and being a member for a certain period of time when I will be eligible to contest for a national position. That’s when I would be able to contest for a national task force member . It’s a huge appointment. It’s like going from 0 to 100 in one day. It is something that could have taken me years to achieve. It means so much to me. I feel so honored and privileged to serve this great and noble association, AGN. The job is not easy, it’s a heavy job, it’s a big responsibility. If something goes wrong on set anywhere in Nigeria, my phone will be called or any of my colleague in the national task force .
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