Julius OkoriePrior to what has now been dubbed the jet age especially in Africa, a popular adage has it that a child is never trained by one person.
In fact in most African countries and communities every adult in the vicinity is a guardian to a child or youth in the vicinity.
Join our WhatsApp Channelwhat this means is that, that child is monitored, corrected and scolded if need be, by teachers, neighbours, Catechists in the Church, Church leaders, elders in the community to mention just a few. Again it means that a child or youth cannot just do anything wrong and go scot-free because so many eyes are monitoring and all those monitors are empowered by unwritten societal law to correct such erring youths.
Nobody Cares Anymore
But these days no one dares bother to correct a child or youth publicly without getting a backlash either from their parents or from overzealous fellows who are quick to reel out the rights of the child and why the usual ‘dirty slap’ that resets the brains of erring young ones in the past belong to old school.
In our schools these days, corporal punishment has been practically abolished replaced with softer and most time ineffective method of reprimand.
Serious matters like cultism in schools, which most times results in maiming of innocent students, and even death have been treated with kid gloves, which explains why the monster continues unabated. Recently a circular emanated from the Federal Ministry of Education ‘warning that students caught in cultism will be suspended from school.
Imagine. Of what impact is suspension to student cultists whose parents are rich and connected for instance, when the possibility of being transferred to another school or even sent abroad to continue his education is very high?
Confusion In The Society
It is becoming difficult to know what is wrong and what is right these days. In fact what is right, is what the social media and its exponents say is right, and what is wrong is what they say is wrong if any.
Moral decadence has become a relative term and the onus lies on who alleges that an act is immoral to prove it .
Nollywood Veteran Ngozi Ezeonu was recently mobbed on social media recently to the shock of most right thinking people or better put members of the old brigade who have been thought and meant to believe that descent dressing is the hallmark of womanhood.
What was the offence of Ezeonu that saw many yelling crucify her, crucify her even from some of her professional colleagues?
Ezeonu committed a sin, the sin of correcting aspiring actresses who had shown up for movie audition where the veteran actress was calling the shots and screening with a view to choosing the bests.
Who Wants To Hear The Truth?
Perhaps she wouldn’t have been dragged if she had said it doesn’t matter you can come ‘pant-less and braless’ it is only your acting ability that I am interested in”
But alas the mother in her forced her to scold these daughters of eve who came to the audition braless. A video captured on social media from different angles, revealed where Ngozi Ezeonu, scolded two upcoming actresses for not wearing bra. The scene captured Ngozi leaving her seat while scolding the young ladies.
As the thespian questioned them if their choice of outfit could be worn to job interview, the camera panned towards others waiting to be auditioned, showing that they were all casually dressed.
Ngozi Ezeonu who was one of the judges at the auditioning, stated that one of the ladies wants to fight her as she had her hands on her waist, before someone told her to put it down. The movie star said, “She wants to fight me now. Are you stopping her?”
She had said, “Any day I’m on any audition table and anyone comes to me dressed like this, I will disqualify that person.
“How can you come to an audition without a bra and with a crop top? It’s wrong.
“Who are you trying to impress? That’s why people see us as people who are not serious. I’m a serious-minded actor; you can’t catch me dressed like this, even when I was your age. It’s wrong. You carry breasts, leave breasts without a bra — ahnahn, why?”
But in a swift reaction Yeni Kuti, singer and daughter of the late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti lampooned Ngozi Ezeonu for her action insisting that it was none of her business how the ladies dress.
READ ALSO:How Nollywood Actress, Omotola Jalade, Escaped LA Wildfire
Speaking on popular program ‘Your View on TVC, Yeni said Ngozi’s remarks were unnecessary and suggested that the actress could simply reject candidates who do not meet her preferences instead of criticising them publicly.
“I think it was not really any of her business. All she had to do was reject them, saying, ‘I do not want people who dress like you.’ I do not want to be a hypocrite because I wore tight jeans and a small top when I was that age,” Yeni said.
Reflecting on her younger years, she noted how older people often forget their past choices when judging the younger generation.
“At 24, I had flat tummy. But if you wear it now and people see me, they would say, ‘Aunty, what’s wrong that you are showing this your belle?’ Because it is her set, she can say she does not want them on her set. The country is hot, and these ones do not want to sweat,” she added.
Ngozi Ezeonu was however lucky to have support in one of her colleagues Kate Henshaw who defended her senior colleague in the midst of attack.
In a video via her Instagram page, Kate Henshaw slammed those criticizing Ngozi Ezeonu for scolding the girls, noting that an audition is an interview for a role, and people cannot just dress like they are on the street.
She further listed some respectable people in the Nollywood industry to illustrate that it is not an ordinary profession, stressing that industry experts should be blamed for making entries easy.
As if responding to Yeni’s dislike for public criticism of the girls, Kate Henshaw said “people who refused to be trained at home would be trained outside”
Xparte@your_Favxparte joined the debate saying “When you’re not auditioning for the role of a stripper…?There’s an outfit for different occasion…in the corporate world an audition is equivalent to an interview…these baddies should learn to carry themselves with poise and grace….it is more dignifying”
Ragnarok 🔱🇨🇦🇳🇬 @SimoncoleB backed Ezeonu on this saying “Very well said, we need more from women like this to drill some sense of morals into some of the new generation of young girls .The decadence in the society amongst Gen z baddies is ludicrous to say the least”
Deborah😇😍@DebbySimon69 equally rose in support of the veteran actress saying “Ngozi Ezeonu is absolutely right 💯 👌 this useless generation doesn’t think 🤔 before they dressed rubbish in public. Some of these girls don’t put pants or bra…. Which man will take them serious? Half naked 🙄🙄
Future Of The Industry
nwanneka Chimamanda🌸🥀@greatnwanneo chose to make a prediction concerning the future of the industry saying “After Aunty Ngoo and her mates retires from Nollywood. Genzee will turn Nollywood to hookups channels. Very soon the men and women who built the industry will retire. They sexualize everything now. Very soon they will be coming only with G-string. All in the name of entertainment”
When any society gets to a point where parents, teachers, elders and institutions became quiet incapable of identifying the difference between moral uprightness and moral decadence, it is only a matter of time before taboos become tradition.
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Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
