Actor and singer, who is also 9ice’s contemporary, Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W has also had his days in the proverbial Nigerian political sun and he has been repeatedly browbeaten by the rays of disappointment and the heat of frustration. On two separate occasions, 2019 and 2023, he contested for Lagos’ Eti-Osa Federal Constituency seat in Nigeria’s House of Representatives and, on both occasions, he lost
Politics is one of the few human endeavours with little or no entry barriers. It is a profession that has been ventured into by men of different status, intellect and temperament. However, despite it being an all-comer affairs and when compared to other professions like law, accounting and banking, the entertainment industry has not enjoyed an impressive and significant involvement of those who ply their trade there in politics. That is not to say politics has not borne witness to the show many top shots in the entertainment industry. Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected on the Republican Party ticket as governor of the U.S. state of California. Joseph Estrada, an actor, who, riding on the crest of popularity, was also elected as president of the Philippines. Needless to say, his presidency was a disaster. Estrada was impeached.
Ronald Reagan, an accomplished Hollywood actor, acquitted himself as America’s president. The records show that Reagan put an end to the “Cold War” between the Western and Eastern Blocs of yore. It can be argued that in Reagan’s years at the white house, the former Union of Soviet socialist Republics, USSR, became dismembered, and today we have twenty independent republics.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the current Ukrainian president, is another character in the entertainer-to-politician pipeline. He has served as the sixth president of the Eastern European nation since 2019. His time in office has seen the nation go through one of the most turbulent, perilous and chaotic times in its history since it became an independent nation after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 90s. His presidency has been marked by war with Russia and geopolitical instability as he took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas, and has continued to serve during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022.
Nollywood, Nigeria’s equivalent of Hollywood in the U.S., and Bollywood in India, have become a force to reckon with. Our actors/actresses are ranked amongst the best on the continent, and the world. And no thanks to the democratisation of filmmaking and production occasioned by the advent of ubiquitous video/movie streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and HBO, our actors are now enjoying massive commercial successes that are unthinkable or unheard of a couple of decades ago with the profit-sharing framework and monetisation package these platforms offer. The gambit lately, is for our artistes and actors, foraying into the cheerless world of politics.
Onyeka Onwenu, the singer/actress, attempted to win the chairmanship of her Arondizuogu local government area, twice, and twice, she failed. But that is not to say that it is taboo for entertainers to have a shot at representative or party politics. After all, Tony One week, a Nollywood giant, is a politician, in his native Anambra state. Desmond Elliott has been a member of the Lagos State Assembly since 2015 but after serving three terms there has been noticeable growing opposition to his fourth term bid in the state assembly over what his disenchanted constituents described as ineffective and poor representation.
But Elliott and Tony One Week are just a couple of the lucky ones whose political aspirations were realised. When it comes to musicians and actors venturing into politics in Nigeria, there have been more misses than hits. Singer Akande Abolore Adégbolá better known as 9ice once tried to vie for the House of Representatives in his home town Ogbomoso in 2015. He lost the All Progressives Congress primary election for the Ogbomosho North/South/Orire Federal Constituency seat. He would later describe the Nigerian political environment as ‘not ideal’.
Actor and singer, who is also 9ice’s contemporary, Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W has also had his days in the proverbial Nigerian political sun and he has been repeatedly browbeaten by the rays of disappointment and the heat of frustration. On two separate occasions, 2019 and 2023, he contested for Lagos’ Eti-Osa Federal Constituency seat in Nigeria’s House of Representatives and, on both occasions, he lost. Others, like Kate Henshaw and Tony Tetuila, have thrown their hats into the political ring but their popularity and achievements in the entertainment industry did not translate to success in politics.
But despite the abysmally low rates of success in actualising their political ambition, the population of Nigerian actors and musicians who dabble in politics has grown in the last decade as they continue to leave the klei light for the uncertain and treacherous terrain of politics with many of them gunning for elective seats in various constituencies across the country.
The latest thespian to hop on the political bandwagon is actor Zubby Michael. Michael recently joined the African Democratic Congress. He has since declared his interest in running for a House of Representatives seat for the Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency of Anambra State.
What the gambit is, we can only conjecture. The industry, Nollywood, and the music business, could do with their know-how. We do not seem to understand what message they are sending. Nollywood and the music industry could do with their god-given talents, rather than foray into a field they hardly know anything about
