15th January, 2013
National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Ibinabo Fiberesima, was a year older yesterday. She started the celebration with a church thanksgiving service before hosting a few friends and colleagues later in the day.
A source close to the first female President of AGN said she would have celebrated the birthday in a big way but for the death of Pete Eneh and Enebeli Elebuwa.
The late Elebuwa was buried on Friday in Lagos, while Eneh’s burial will come up later this year. “And as a leader, she decided to give honour to the late icons by suspending her birthday party,” the source added.
Since Ibinabo was elected President of AGN some months ago, she has received kudos for fostering unity among members of the guild, the A-list ones in particular. Veteran actor, Hakeem Rahman, while speaking with Nollywood Reel recently said within a very short period of time, Ibinabo has surpassed most people’s expectations with her leadership skills.
Rahman therefore called for all actors and stakeholders in the industry to pledge their continual support to her. “For the first time in the history of AGN, we have a large turnout of A-list actors who came out to honour the late Elebuwa during the Tributes Night. Ibinabo should be given credit for that.”
One of the high points of the Tributes Night was when Joseph Benjamin lifted up Ibinabo Fiberesima. According to him, she did a good job in uniting the crème de la crème of the movie industry for the night.
Benjamin said what the industry needs to move forward is unity and he is optimistic that with the steps taken by Ibinabo so far, there will be progress.
Some even alleged that Ibinabo funded the ceremony from her pocket, because she met an empty purse when she took over the leadership of the guild a few months back.