The Elegant Stallion, “Onyeka Onwenu” Honoured By Nollywood Actor, Joseph Okechukwu.

Nollywood actor and producer Joseph Okechukwu has suspended the premiere of his new movie for a night of tribute to honour the late Onyeka Onwenu and other cast members of the movie who passed during the course of the production.

His movie, titled “The Properties of the Gods," was set to premiere on the 4th of September, but that celebratory premiere has now been suspended in order to honor actors whom, according to Mr. Okechukwu, who contributed to the production, including Nigerian musical icon and veteran actor Onyeka Onwenu.  

Information reaching “News PlatformNG” has it that Joseph Okechukwu said during a private screening of the movie that the decision was informed by the deaths of two actors who featured in the film and the ongoing recovery of another actor still recuperating from double brain surgery. 

In his own words, two actors who featured in the movie are dead, and one more is still recuperating from that surgery.  

He said it would be morally inappropriate to organize a major celebratory premiere while some members of the cast and their families are still grieving.

He explained that the planned premiere would instead be replaced with a series of activities, including visits to traditional rulers in the South East and condolence visits to the families of the deceased artists. 

According to him, the entire project will now be dedicated to Onyeka Onwenu, with the 4th of September, the film's original release date, redesignated as Onyeka Onwenu Day.  

Now these activities would culminate in a night of tributes in her honor on the 3rd of September.

“The Properties of the Gods” according to him was inspired by his longstanding personal campaign against the Osu caste system in Igboland, a practice he described as divisive, one that has subjected generations of people to discrimination and stigma.  

He recalled that his activism eventually led to an abolition exercise at the Agukwu Nri Palace in Anambra State back in 2018, after which, according to him, more than 75 communities began taking their own steps to abolish the practice.  

For him, the film does not answer every question raised by the Osu caste system, but it does form part of an ongoing conversation, one he hopes will continue shifting perception. 

He also acknowledged that cultural practices rooted in fear and long-held belief cannot be dismantled overnight. 

We should all encourage this.

I recall earlier this month, Nollywood actor Omotola Jalade Ekeinde also made a generous decision, donating almost all of her profit from her film, Mother's Love, to charity.