“A female producer once invited me to her production. She was the friend of the boss that trained me in the industry. You know in the Yoruba movie scene; we usually have bosses. I trained in Ogun State. I had always begged the aunty to invite me to her production whenever she wanted to shoot. So, she invited me to this production.
“After the shoot, she begged me not to go home yet, so I could play with her in her house. So, we went to her house on the outskirts of Lagos together. I noticed she was fond of playing with my breasts at the slightest joke or hitting my ass.”
“The major surprise was when she said we should go and bathe together. I told her to go first. After all that, she brought out Hennessey from her refrigerator and made me comfortable. We talked like mates, even though she was much older than me.”
“I got very high that evening. Next thing I knew, she started to touch me. I was still in my bra and panties because we were alone, and I didn’t think anything like that could happen. Although I was drunk and too weak, I put up a feeble resistance.”
“And at the end of the day, she left me alone. Eventually, I saw that she brought out her vibrator and satisfied herself. None of us said anything about it. I took it with maturity, but I can never make the mistake of being in the same room with her again.”
This was an upcoming Yoruba actress reliving her near same-sex experience with a much older colleague in a recent interview with eelive.ng’s MAJEL UMAR.
As the larger Nigerian society grapples with the increasing disposition of people to same-sex relationships, Eelive.ng’s investigations have revealed that the country’s film industry is fast becoming a hub for the permission of these practices.
Sex consultant and pornographer, Seyi Hunter, herself a participant in the film industry told the newspaper during the week that she was conversant with stories about people who take interest in the same-sex relations or swing between the two in the industry. Hunters said given her own professional practice, however, “I see nothing in it. People should do what pleases and satisfy them.”
And that seems to be what people are up to currently, despite the sanctimonious nature of the Nigerian society, a few of these actors are beginning to find their voices. Damning the shaming and name-calling, they are now becoming confident enough to own up to their sexual orientation even though the stringent laws which prescribe a 14-year jail term for anyone caught in same-sex acts, in a bid to restrain those engaged in the practice from publicly coming out.
This is the case of South-South Nigeria born fast-rising actress, who simply wants to be addressed as Aret, for the purpose of this piece.
She told eelive.ng “What’s the big deal in being a lesbian? I’ve been into girls for 12 years now. So what? That’s who I am even before I came into Nollywood. So why should I stop now? As a matter of fact, all my life, a guy has never penetrated me. I disvirgined myself, with a candlestick and have never been attracted to a man.”
Speaking further, the Nollywood actress explained that there are more than a few of her colleagues in the industry who are also into the same action even she is very selective and would never have anything to do with an artiste “but we do know one another. Because you’re a lesbian doesn’t mean you will go about having sex with every other girl. There has to be a connection for me before I get down with anyone else.”
But There Have Been Unsubstantiated Accusations
Sometime in 2019, an Instagram user with the handle, Bold_pink poked accusing fingers at popular Nollywood actor IK Ogbonna. She dared the actor to come out and tell the world how he and his colleagues get to fund their ostentatious lifestyle. The actor denied the accusation and threatened to file defamation of character charges against his accuser.
But the accusation from this Instagram user was preceded by one much closer home. Sometime in 2018, the mother of Mr. Ogbonna’s first daughter, Sonia Columbus accused the Nollywood actor of being a deadbeat father. She also openly called him bisexual on Instagram. This accusation went without response!
Sources also told eelive.ng last week that there were speculations that the model cum actor’s marriage to the Colombian model, Sonia Morales may have ended when the lady found out about her erstwhile husband’s sex preferences.
Sources within the industry also told eelive.ng about the indulgences of a Southeast born actress who shares her first name with a London based football club. Our reporters were told that this renowned chain-smoking, soft-spoken actress makes no excuses about her preferences, she even had a partner to used to be with her on set for a very long time. “I cannot tell what has happened to them now,” one of our sources said.
A more recent, allegation was made by Nollywood drama queen, Tonto Dikeh, against her erstwhile friend, Abuja based filmmaker and actor, Uzee Usman, who was secretly recorded on phone gossiping with Churchill, Tonto Dikeh’s erstwhile lover, about her being broke.
In the now-viral video of Dikeh’s response during a phone conversation with Uzee, she called him “…gay f—g born arse men!”
Dikeh has herself however not been without similar accusations. The actress, who once publicly ridiculed her ex-husband for inefficient performance was also linked to a married actress who is said to be bi-sexual. Our sources insist that this married actress’s indulgences are well known to her husband who is also in the entertainment industry.
Dikeh also recently alleged in an Instagram post that 60% of married men indulge in same-sex relations.
Check out the post below:
Allegations of same-sex proclivities have always been levied against Nollywood actor Alex Ekubo and former Big Brother Africa winner, Uti Nwachukwu as being alleged gay partners because they lived together in the past. These allegations were repeatedly denied by both parties. In the case of Mr. Nwachukwu though, he had also been fingered to be in a same-sex relationship with a Yoruba actor, who left his dual-citizen actress wife after one child close to two years ago,
Just as his wife moved out of a close to two-year-old marriage sometime in 2019, rumours hit the waves about the sexual preference of actor Ken Erics. The rumours were fueled by the wife’s allegations that Mr. Erics refused to consummate their marriage for the two years that it lasted.
She claimed that any attempt to get her husband change his mind was followed by physical assault and that she left the marriage a little after one year after it was contracted
Mr. Erics, however, denied the allegations; He was quoted to have told Inside Nollywood that: “People should believe what they want to believe. Lies don’t last. The truth will come out pretty soon… I’ll clear my name from all this rubbish but not now. I’d do that at my convenient time.”
Why People Go That Way
Questions asked by eelive.ng reporters in the cause of our investigations show that people engage in same-sex relationships for various reasons. While some people are just occasional adventurers, we discovered it has become a way of life for some of the artistes.
And in two of the instances our reporters encountered, those involved were led into it for the first time in search of roles, which they got. They have however become stuck because it became difficult to turn down the older practitioners with whom they first engaged in the act.
There are cases like that, Aret affirms, where girls acquire the tendencies from peer pressure and the desire to “belong.” Aret told eelive how the habit started: “Back then at FGGC, Calabar, was when I started doing girls. My best friend Uduak introduced me to lesbianism. Most nights she comes to sleep on my bed, in my bunk. It is usually in the middle of the night that she started to fondle my boobs. And play with my genitals. At first, it felt strange, which I confronted her for; but later I decided to try it out by touching myself. After we became friends again, I now asked her for us to have it the next night. That was it.”
Yet, there are those who engage in same-sex acts just out of sheer curiosity.
For the urge to “just have a feel”, some of these people are able to swing between the two sexes at will, others would after their first or second encounters walk away from it while some are never able to think of anything else.
One of those who belong is the first category is Banke Ogundare, an upcoming Nollywood actress, who admits to being bisexual in orientation having discovered that she enjoys being with girls as much as she enjoys being with men too. “My ultimate pleasure is derived from being with a guy. The warmth from a guy cannot be traded for anything else. I started doing girls out of curiosity. Yeah, that’s fun too but my ultimate choice is the man.”
Like Ogundare, another who just wants to be addressed as Lizzy admitted to mating with another woman only once in her life, and according to her, it happened many years ago.
“Yes, I’ve done a girl before. But I don’t consider myself a bisexual, or a Lesbian, and that is because I’m not a freak, neither I’m I attracted to other girls sexually. My friend then was a lesbian, it took time before I knew. We met at an audition and became friends, so close that each of our families knew us together. She had studied me to be sure I won’t turn her down when she makes the move on me. Luckily for her, it was in a freaky mood one night that we came back from an audition. We had been out since about 5am and ended up in her parents’ home.
She made a move on me and I gave in just to know how it feels like. I’ll say it was just there. Nothing out of this world for me. I think I still preferred a guy’s touch. The only thing is a girl knows just where to focus on when they have sex with each other. But for me, I am a man’s person forever.”
A few people who spoke to us also own to the fact that the influences from the western part of the world and access to drugs have also boosted the confidence of people, especially girls in engaging in these practices.
There are also loads of people who believe that they are the way they are by some accident of creation. Aret told eelive.ng that a lot of those she has associated with feel that they were created that way and that there is nothing that can be done about it.
But it can also be about money…
Investigations by eelive.ng, however, indicate that career advances and monetary incentives dictate most of the same-sex engagement you have in the movie industry.
Sources who spoke to us in anonymity explain that this operates on different levels. “There are established practitioners who blackmail upcoming ones into same-sex relations in exchange for roles and a foot in the door professionally.
“They promise you that once you open up yourself to them, they will make a way for you in the industry and that truly happens. They not only ensure that you get into their productions, but they also get their friends to engage you. This is most common with the women although it also involves men,” a source told us.
The second level of operation, according to our source is that wherein big wigs in the society get into same-sex relationships with Nollywood actors, actresses and even film producers for huge sums of money.
This source explains to us that such relationships, which also involved men and women open huge doors with also limitless resources from practitioners and I can tell you that a lot of those so call successful practitioners are servicing people of the same sex with them,” the source told us.
An actress who wants to simply be identified as Cyndy gave an insight into how temptingly lucrative the situation could be when she said: “Imagine a scenario where a Nollywood producer is offering you 300k to come on set for five days, and your hook up offers you USD 10,000 or more for same amount of days. Nollywood alone can’t pay bills, especially with our lifestyle as celebrities. If you don’t dress well or wear the latest designers’ outfits and accessories and live in presentable houses, your fans will go on instablog to abuse you and call you broke.”
This fact was corroborated by Shantel, Ghana-born Abuja based actress who admitted to being a lesbian and pimp. Shantel disclosed that she arranges female actresses for lesbian wives of high-fliers in the country and she makes good money for brokering the deals.
Although, the Nigerian society, its religions, culture, people and laws frown at same-sex relationships, the fact that, a combination of curiosity, abuse of drugs as well as survival is leading many Nigerians into these sexual behaviors.
Investigations by eelive.ng showed that a sizeable number of young Nigerian girls outside Nollywood are inclined to swinging between the sexes behind the curtains.
Even though many of them are unable to own up to the preference now, they are building a groundswell of defiance that the country may soon find it difficult to resist especially as it does not seem to notice the trends.
Such anger is what Cyndy displayed in her final word, “What’s anyone business with what two consenting adults decide to do behind closed doors? I’m not loud about my sexuality, I think it’s immature in the first place to come out and start telling everyone about my sexuality.”
“The government is joking about imprisoning gays and lesbians. There are a lot of people in government who are also into it. So, what’s the noise? I’m not changing anything. It’s like asking me to stop eating. It’s my lifestyle.”
Is this what happens when individual pleasure becomes more important than the standards of a conservative society?
Hmmmm
It’s indeed a big story!.