Filmmaker Kunle Afolayan
has responded to actor Mike Ezuruonye’s allegation of being anti-Igbo
by sharing a DM screenshot in which he (Mike) was tagged a fraudster.Making a clarification on why he shared the post, Kunle Afolayan
said he intended to “jocularly send a message to purveyors of fake news
and unproven allegations that they should free him and by extension his
other colleagues of such mindless allegations.”
He added that he did not just share the message to subtly disprove
such accusations but to send a signal that he frowns against such
intrusive messages.
On being anti-Igbo, Kunle stated that the “array of star colleagues
and subject matters treated in his films, in addition to the staff in
his workforce and friends in and out of Nollywood will easily put a lie
to the cheap anti-Igbo toga that Mike has pitiable tried to dress him
with.”
Kunle also shared his DM exchange with Mike Ezuruonye .
He wrote;
“Mole, Mountain and My Brother Mike Ezuruonye
I’m compelled to publicly offer a response to Mike Ezuruonye’s diatribe against my person.
On Thursday, I shared on my Instagram timeline a message posted on my
comment section about an unfounded insinuation of his involvement in
scams.
With a message in Yoruba, which I inscribed on the post: “E gba mi o.
Ewo n temi?” (Spare me, what’s my own) I had shared the post on my
timeline with the intention to jocularly send a message to purveyors of
fake news and unproven allegations that they should free me and by
extension my other colleagues of such mindless allegations.
It was not just a message to subtly disprove such accusations but to send a signal that I frown against such intrusive messages.
Sadly, my colleague and brother took it badly even after exchange of
private messages to explain the harmless intention behind my post.
Not only has he called me out openly and making a social media feast
of his disavowal, he has also accused me of being anti-Igbo.
He is wrong!
While my apology to him subsists, because it’s only fair; it is
pathetic of him to bring needless ethnic sentiment into a mere molehill
of an issue that can’t be fancied as a mountain.
To me, it didn’t matter that the sender of that message is apparently
Igbo. What’s important is that my post drew no negative comments until
Mike decided to raise the roof.
To dissppoint Mike and other ethnic jingoists, this molehill issue
isn’t enough for me to climb the rooftop to shout my detribalised
Nigerian nature. The array of star colleagues and subject matters
treated in my films, in addition to the staff in my workforce and
friends in and out of Nollywood that i associate with, will easily put a
lie to the cheap anti-Igbo toga that Mike has pitiable tried to dress
me with.
My utmost regard is always reserved for him as a man of honour and large heart that I knew him to be.
Ire
Kunle Afolayan
