recent Dubai trip, Charles Novia criticized her for showing
off ....Her manager Serah Donald then took to social media to blast
him, calling him a failure and a jealous under achiever ..Well,
Charles Novia has given a wicked response on his blog titled A
SALVO FOR SERAH
I have mulled a bit about how to put out a riposte to a
character called Serah Donald who went on an uncouth rage
against my person on social media recently.My first reaction
was to ignore her as I saw through the statement that she
really had nothing to say but perhaps wanted to gain some
little fame through an open insult directed at me. And so I did.
But in retrospect (and knowing that most things put out on
social media are usually twisted the other way to suit such
whims, as it were) I decided not to really let it rest but to
perhaps give a riposte on some of her rabid tirades.
I use the word ‘rabid’ because the impression I have of this
Serah, which still persists, is that she is somewhat of an
industry lap-dog and one whom I have met formally only twice
in my life and fleetingly too because I did not want some of
her fleas around me..
I was introduced to her in 2007 in Los Angeles while I was
attending a film industry convention on Nollywood where I was
one of the Speakers on the positive trajectory of an evolving
Nollywood. I vaguely remember some less-than-Plain-Jane looking
lady staring at me in a manner which unsettled me a bit. To her, it
could her been a fawning look but to me, from my perspective, it
looked like a deviant character from a horror movie giving me the
looks! It was my good friend, Stephanie Okereke ( now Linus) who
was graduating from the New York Film Academy that period, who
formally introduced her to me before I understood why she was
awestruck.
‘It is a great honour to meet you, Sir’, Serah said and went on
to gush about how she was a big fan of my movies and
actually reeled out some of my hit titles she had watched. I
believe I was told then that was a student of the New York
Film School at Stephanie’s flat in Los Angeles where this Serah
was perhaps squatting or was somewhat of a personal maid or
something I can’t be bothered to remember .
I completely forgot about this young lady and never saw her again
till sometime in 2013 in an event organised by the Tourism Ministry
at the Civic Centre in Lagos. I pride myself in having a retentive
memory for faces and when Serah and her Principal, Chika Ike,
walked up to my table to greet me, I instantly remembered her
face, though now overtly padded with some hideous make-up. We
exchanged pleasantries and she took my number.
I took the pains to reconstruct how I know this young lady so
as to put to rest any other misinterpretation by the usual
busybodies. And also to dismiss her silly insinuation in her
statement that I was the one who met her in California! On
reading her guttersnipe against my person, the first thought
which crossed my mind was that perhaps her Principal, Chika
Ike, might actually be in cahoots with her in putting out that
statement because if, as Serah claims, she is Chika’s ‘Manager’,
(who in this clime and industry are usually glorified
messengers) it might be the case of the tail wagging the dog.
This Serah Donald crossed a line of decorum by calling me names.
That is not new within the circle of her ilk who are sometimes
critiqued by me in professional articles but what is irksome is her
blatant disregard for seniority within the industry. Whilst her lack
of manners is actually a vindication of one’s perception that she
actually might be obtuse by inclination, it also is proof of lack of
home training. And such reduces the value of a Lady’s Bride Price
in this part of the world, for any unlucky Gentleman in her regard.
What does one really say to an errant cretin, notorious from
feelers for being an industry groupie who finally found
anchorage on the muddy shores of one whom she claims to
manage? If posting pictures of an average actress who
mistakes facial recognition for ‘stardom’ in the belief that the
public must be forced to reckon with the ‘arrival’ of her
Principal in the social circuits, is what makes her a Manager or
perhaps a Publicist, it goes to show the shallow mentality
behind such reasoning.
I have always been amused by some usual suspects who abound in
the movie industry and portray a life more hyped than a life less
lived. That amusement has now given way for a personal
investigation and a soon-to-be-announced public analysis. Within
the industry, it is well-known how much an actor or actress earns.
The public displays of sudden wealth by some of such personalities,
is very misleading to many among the gullible public. We know the
sexual dalliances which many of such engage in with the hoi poloi
in our land which more often than not brings much disrespute to
my sector. What such characters do with their private lives is
entirely their business but when the lines become blurred between
private indiscretions and selling dummies to the public, then it
behoves on the level-headed and moral brigade to ask questions.
We have to ask questions because almost every young girl who
aspires to be an actress in Nigeria today believes that a little
fame is all that is needed to get some rich ‘mugu’ to shower
her with material wealth. And so, an industry which is
supposed to be the bastion of family values has suddenly
nosedived into a cesspool because of the antics of such
‘Publicists’ like Serah.
And when you ask questions publicly, you are labelled a hater?
Gosh!
May I use this medium to call on the Tax Authorities in Nigeria to
immediately begin investigations into the income of the actors who
make public their material acquisitions. It is time we remove the
veil of hypocrisy these people have on their faces by going after
their tax filings. If the Tax Man goes after these self-styled
instagram celebrities, many would think twice before assaulting our
sensibilities with such questionable lifestyles.
And when people like Serah asks questions about my own
material pedigree with the assumption that I am broke and
envious of the success of those who are critiqued, I actually
feel pity for such. To Serah and her ilk, it’s all about money.
That is the level of thought propounded by lobotomised
reprobates. Those who are comfortable through an honest
day’s work do not flaunt their lives and wealth on social
media. It is the groupies, the morally decadent, those who
engage in serial prostitution whilst hiding under a toga of false
celebrity adulation, who must let the world know that their
hypocritical sexcapades with the high and mighty actually yield
dividends. Instead of living their lives with some measure of
discretion based on their sex romps, they try to hoodwink the
public with paid articles on blogs and newspapers that their
entertainment careers actually made them such money.
Ridiculous!
I turn 43 in a few days (and I don’t tinker with my age, please!)and
my career speaks for itself. With over 40 movies produced, a star
making contribution to Nollywood, an intellectual legacy to my
industry and country and membership and fellowship of prestigious
film festivals, associations and entertainment organisations all over
the world, I do not lack. I have earned my right to be the voice of
an industry I love.
The most stupid conclusion one can draw from this Serah’s
rant is the ironical reality that the money she purportedly
enjoys from her Principal in the form of the laughable exotic
holidays is not even earned by Serah herself. Her antecedents
as an industry lap dog who chases after the juiciest bone is
known to those who bother to scrutinise her lifestyle and life.
Such are the adventures of Hangers-on and lap dogs. For fear
of losing their crumbs at the feast table, they must bark in
stupidity rather than bay at the dimming moon of their
unfortunate lives .
I am not taking pleasure in upbraiding Serah. Whatever smirks and
snivels I have on my face is actually a reaction of pity for her. I am
told she has produced a couple of rag-tag films as well as an
uncompleted Project film for the NYFA. A life not complete is a life
in limbo. And so, I understand that she must feed on the success of
others to move on in life. It’s all well and good. ads
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