Ay defends chioma

Apparently Vanguard ’s reporter
Yemisi Suleiman, Chioma Akpotha and
Comedian AY were all on the same
flight back to Lagos where they went
to attend AMAA Awards. Yemisi and
Chioma got into a fight. Today
Vanguard published their own side of
the story, but Comedian Ay is saying
the story is quite different. Read both
stories after the cut. Vanguard
Writes…
Like most Nollywood stars, Chioma
Chukwuka-Akpotha is not given to
pretence. She’s always ready to
vibrate and return fire-for-fire.
Last Sunday evening was not different.
Following the frustration and
exhaustion that greeted everyone
after the AMAA awards and the
endless wait at the Port-Harcourt
International Airport, Chioma boarded
the evening flight back to Lagos,
however something happened!
Vanguard reports that a quarrel
ensued between Chioma and a Lagos
based female journalist, Yemisi
Suleiman (who was trying to interview
her), which caused the actress to loose
her temper in a manner that attracted
the attention of everyone on board.
Chioma claimed that the journalist was
rude to her, adding that most
painfully, she “called me Igbo bitch
and all that’. I wouldn’t blame her
because AMAA brought us together. I
can conveniently pay her salary,” she
fumed.
A colleague of mine just said and I
quote “I think Chioma needs to work
on her anger issues especially in
public…you will recall that she was the
same person that disgraced herself
even with fellow stars at the Gulder
ultimate search for celebrities a few
years back.”
AY Writes…
Recalling what happened between
Chioma Akpotha and Yemisi (The
Vanguard reporter) on the AMAA
flight from Port Harcourt, one would
have expected a cultured woman to be
contrite and apologize forthwith, since
everybody is error-prone. I crave your
indulgence to say this not because the
former is a movie star and the latter a
journalist. More so, I dread not to
raise my voice for the truth and my
compassion against injustice.
It was quite unfortunate to read a
report from today’s Vanguard Online
in favour of Yemisi (their staff), as
against Chioma Akpotha who was
publicly insulted alongside every Igbo
speaking individual on that flight, by
Yemisi. Besides, if some of us do have
the franchise to suffer disharmony
with our personal values, I still want to
believe that in reporting a case,
Professional Journalism should keep it
quite professional by not identifying
with any side in an issue of this
manner. But this is obviously not the
case of the Vanguard reporter who
wrote the story between Chioma
Akpotha and Yemisi. The reporter in
question has proven to me that fiction
can sometimes make a better job of
the truth and an exaggerated
relativism.
How could you in every sense of
professionalism start a story involving
your fellow reporter and Chioma
Akpotha by saying “Like most
Nollywood stars, Chioma Chukwuka-
Akpotha is not given to pretence. She’s
always ready to vibrate and return
fire-for-fire. Last Sunday evening was
not different. Smarting from the
frustration and exhaustion that
greeted everyone after the AMAA
awards and the endless wait at the
Port-Harcourt International Airport,
Chioma boarded the evening flight
back to Lagos, determined to cause
another stir on board”.
Determined to cause another stir on
board? I am 100 per cent convinced
that even a blind reader could
perceive that your biased and fully
loaded rifle was well targeted at the
Nollywood actress from the very
beginning of your report. My dear
journalist (the almighty one with the
ability to make and kill the career that
was given by God), what happened to
being objective and giving equal space
to all sides in your news gathering?
So the best you could do to justify your
false report was to hide the identity of
the Vanguard reporter by concluding
thus: “A quarrel ensued between
herself and a Lagos based female
journalist, which caused the actress to
loose [sic] her temper in a manner
that attracted the attention of
everyone on board. But for the fact
that she was on board, the visibly
angry Chioma would have done the
unexpected.
She claimed that the journalist was
rude to her, adding that most
painfully, she “called me Igbo bitch
and all that’. I wouldn’t blame her
because AMAA brought us together. I
can conveniently pay her salary,” she
fumed. Who cares!”
Now would you really like to know who
cares? AY cares! And yes I was on that
same flight like many other industry
people including a good number of
foreigners who flew in to be a part of
AMAA 2013.
The poor Chioma only succeeded in
getting her multiple visa of becoming
a “lousy bitch” when Yemisi was
brushing through the president of Eko
International Film Festival, Mr. Hope
Obioma Opara. She was obviously in a
hurry to make the exit when the flight
touched ground. All Chioma said to
her was “take it easy they are yet to
open the exit door”.
She brushed her way through to two
other ladies who sat in front; the next
word that came out of her mouth was
“lousy Igbo girls”. Apparently, Chioma
heard what she said and asked “did
you just refer to me as a Lousy Igbo
girl? The best response from your
Yemisi was “what if I did?” (I am so
sure she wouldn’t ask an Angelina Jolie
or a Kim Kardashian that same
question if she were to be on the same
flight with any of them).
Perhaps she would have started
twitting immediately, saying “AMAA
things…. Kim just asked me to take it
easy, they are yet to open the exit
door. Wow wow wow 2013 my year of
exit opening doors”). But definitely not
to a Nollywood multiple awards
winning happily married actress with
kids. Chioma Akpotha, Grace Ama, and
Nollywood producer Chinwe Egwuagu
were still busy playing catch-up with
Yemisi when she went on target again
like the Boston Bombers to launch
another verbal bullet.
This time she called them ‘LOUSY
BITCHES’.
Chioma Akpotha managed to get off
the bomb scene through the help of
some of us who were on hand to stop
the detonation of further bombs by
Yemisi. Not even knowing she was a
journalist from The Vanguard
Newspapers, Chioma said “I will allow
my God to fight you. It’s even possible
that it is an Igbo person that is paying
your salary. I wouldn’t blame you
because AMAA brought us together. I
am sure that I can convincingly pay
your salary”.
For your information, Chioma Akpotha
did not deserve all she got from your
colleague ‘Yemisi’, whom you have
proudly disguised or baptized to
become a Lagos based Journalist. Who
knows? Maybe by tomorrow “Miss
Lagos based Journalist” could go
through another baptism of fire to
become “According to a reliable
source”, all in the name of bringing
down a fellow creation to the
excitement of your colleague who
ought to go to God and ask for
forgiveness.
I hope she did not forget to let you into
the corrective measures I gave to her?
I am not a fan of anyone with
uncultured attitude and public display
of visible arrogance. Kindly ask her to
remind you, so that I will not fail to be
on your list of the next set of career-
killing candidates. Or should I tell you
the opinion of others concerning
Yemisi on that same flight?
I guess there won’t be any need for
that, because I am very sure of us
having many more LOUSY BITCHES
cut across the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa,
Ghanaians, South Africans and
Americans on that AMAA flight. I
would intentionally skip the question
of the speedy hibernation in tribal
cocoons, which is indeed unfortunate
even as we try to push for a more
detribalized mindset. (Please don’t
mistake me for an Igbo man or take it
that I am fighting for my “IGBO LOUSY
BITCHES”. I am a full-blooded Yoruba
Man like Yemisi)
Finally, my dear Madam Yemisi, kindly
permit me to point out that contrition
is a sign of strength, not weakness. To
my “Amiable honorable I must defend
my colleague till death”, I would like to
plead with you in your capacity as a
widely followed public reporter, to
kindly grant objectivity its rightful
place in your reports.
‘A lie can travel halfway around the
world before the truth has a chance to
get its pants on.’ But three things
cannot be long hidden: the sun, the
moon, and the truth. May we bear in
mind that the Internet and social
media have come to stay. We now
have millions of followers who would
at least hear our own side of the story
before we are judged or criticised.
Written by AY Comedian