Exclusive! Hard Times: Nollywood Star Actress Turns Hawker
When those who are honest among our movie stars divulge the rot in the movie industry, most people find it very difficult to believe. Some of them who are man or woman enough have at different times reveal that, unless an actor, producer or director gets involved in unholy businesses like prostitution, drug trafficking, gigolo, pimping, fraud among other illegalities they cannot afford to live the celebrity life expected of them.
However, one of the few actors who have decided not to be involved in any of these acts is Bukola Moshola. The screen diva better known as Aminat Eleha when she stared in a blockbuster movie in the 90s of the same title has taken the ‘bull by the horn’ despite the fact that she has been hit by the hard times.
Bukola whose stage name glued to her as a result of her sterling performance in the movie titled, ‘Amina Eleha’ after ruling the industry for close to two decades has decided to make a living by selling movies on the popular Mass Transit Train, MTT in Lagos. Bukola was sighted by our eagle eyed correspondent penultimate Thursday selling movies to train commuters.
The train which moves daily from Ijoko in Ogun state down to the Ebute-meta Junction, EBJ axis of Lagos saw Bukola among other hawkers struggling to woo buyers for their products. Bukola’s products include some of her self produced movies and others produced by her colleagues but starring the actress.
Her sudden appearance on the train in the midst of hundreds of commuters attracted attention as the shout of ‘Amina Eleha’ rented the air. The suave actress did not waste time before swinging into action like a professional Lagos Molue hawker. She begged her fans who appeared disappointed to see her face on the train not as a commuter on the first class coach but as a hawker in the midst of others which include pure water sellers, drug sellers and preachers.
In her words, “I don’t know if you are happy to see me here or you are disappointed. Anyway, if you are happy to see me, I am happy to see you too. If you are disappointed; I am sorry. But, I must say that, you will be more disappointed if you hear that, I sleep with more than 20 men in a week to survive. I am here to sell these movies because the marketers don’t want us (filmmakers) to live and I cannot carry drugs. I beg you to buy my movies because this is what I do for a living and you all know. The reason why I cannot give it to a marketer is because they will not give me the money”.
Expectedly, the actress got high patronage as people bombarded her with loads of hundred naira notes which is the price for each of the movies.
Some of the movies she brought for sales include: ‘Ayanbinrin’ written by Adedayo Adewoyin and directed by Saliu Gbolagade. Another one is ‘Maseka’ written by the actress herself and directed by Saliu Gbolagade.
