Crisis is brewing in the ranks of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, by Ken Osunwa – THISAGE

Crisis is brewing in the Actors Guild of Nigeria rankings following the recent Edo State leadership election.

There is a hidden truth in Nigerian politics and Nollywood: when the stakes are highest, all roads pass through Edo. The soil of the ancient kingdom of Benin has become a crucible where loyalties are tested, where rulers emerge, and where betrayals strike most deeply. Nowhere is this symbiosis more evident than in the unfolding story of the Actors Guild of Nigeria.

This followed the election of Joel Opute as president despite not having the support of former president Dr. Emeka Rollas.

AGN Rivers State Chairman, Dr. Ken Osunwa, berated Dr. Rollas for not supporting Opute despite working for his election and for always supporting AGN national executives during elections.

He said: “Edo is the delivery center of every major Actors Guild of Nigeria presidential election for example Chief Dr. Emeka Rollas, MON and Chief Alhaji Abubakar Yakubu and now the host state president himself Joel Opute is running for re-election. The powers that be say cannot become state AGN president at first attempt after serving as state secretary, it became difficult for the then president to endorse him and now after helping the AGN and former President, Chief Emeka Rollas to ensure his ambition to the max, refused to support the re-election of Mr. Joel, after several attempts by Mr. Opute to get Emeka’s attention proved impossible, against all odds, this young emerging leader and serious stakeholder in the entertainment industry and AGN survived the plots to prevent him from being re-elected.

This is the paradox of power. Edo delivers. Edo sacrifices himself. Edo builds the bridge and watches the others cross it first. Mr. Joel Opute has served diligently as secretary of state. When the rules of the game said “not yet” for his presidential bid, he didn’t burn the house down. It remained. He built. It became the instrument through which Chief Emeka Rollas’ national presidency of the AGN was best secured. Loyalty, in its crudest form, is service without guarantee.

Yet loyalty, when met with silence, becomes a lesson for us all.

Today, no congratulatory message from the former President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria who has served very well, although I am yet to know the reasons why Joel Opute has to suffer this annoying betrayal. I’m worried because what happens comes back. AGN is our collective initiative that we should not let individuals destroy it without us knowing.

What we are witnessing is not just an election. It’s a mirror. It reflects how institutions treat the men who support them when the roof shakes. He asks us: Is the Guild greater than one man’s gratitude? Does the service end when the ambition is met?

History remembers Edo not for those who crowned it, but for those who refused to let it fall. From the presidential victory of Emeka Rollas to the era of Alhaji Abu Yakubu, Edo has been the delivery hub. Edo State, Mr. Joel and some of us did not ask for monuments. We asked for respect.

And so, against the conspiracies, against the silence, against the coldness of the denied support, Joel Opute is re-elected. A young, emerging leader who understands that the entertainment industry is not built on handshakes but on hard ground. A stakeholder who knows AGN is not a personal asset but a collective initiative.

Surviving betrayal is about demonstrating leadership. To win without the blessing of the powers that be is to demonstrate that legitimacy comes from the people you serve, not the men you served.

Congratulations to Mr. Opute, my dearest friend.

May this chapter remind AGN that symbiosis means mutual survival. When Edo and anyone else delivers for the center, the center must not forget them when it matters most. Because what goes around, in fact, comes back. And the Guild we protect today is the refuge we will need tomorrow.

May no individual, no matter how high up, destroy what we all have built in the dark.

Edo spoke. Once again, this time for himself and I witness it.

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