Actors Guild of Nigeria President, Ibinabo Fabrisima came under fire at the Nigeria Entertainment Conference held recently in Lagos when legendary film maker Amaka Igwe in her opening presentations accused the guild of having no proper health insurance schemes for members.
Mrs Igwe had in her paper titled: The Nollywood Paradigm – reflections from an unapologetic commercial Nollywood film maker accused the Guild of for long not taken the health concerns of members with utmost importance; citing the death of J.T Tom-West who died in an undisclosed hospital after an auto accident in September 2006.
Mrs Igwe said the Guild had no identity documents for members or any form of health insurance arrangements that members can fall back on in cases of extreme exigencies which she said had delayed help for late Tom-West.
Ibinabo, AGN boss
AGN President, Miss Ibinabo had in her defence said today’s Nollywood actors and actresses have rejected the health scheme of the Guild.
According to her, “I have repeatedly asked our actors and actresses to please register with our health scheme but they tell me that they don’t need it. In their words, they tell me that they do not fall sick. How can the Guild help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?
“Many have even refused to register as members of the Guild. I have said it times without number that the Guild is not a burial planning committee. It is only when there is a health crisis, that the Guild is remembered and then they want the guild to help non-registered persons. Eventually, we all start to run up and down to raise money”
Miss Ibinabo further used the oppurtunity to call on members to register with the health insurance scheme of the guild which she promised would serve them better under her leadership. The session ended with Kunle Afolayan and Nse Ikpe-Etim joining the panel to discuss: The challenges facing Nollywood, the phenomenal success of the industry and then what practitioners need to do to build the Nollywood of their dreams.
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