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” Why I reconciled with Kemi Afolabi “- Actress, SheBaby reveals
Seyi Ariyo popularly known as SheBaby is an actress cum singer. In this exclusive chat with Sahara Weekly Magazine , the delectable actress opened up on new single, Champion and why she reconciled with Kemi Afolabi
Q –You just released a musical video trending now; can you tell us what inspired it?
R – I was inspired to write that song just for positive vibes, for the masses. I just wanted to write something inspiring. I did it for the masses, for the young ones because nowadays, what we hear in songs is nothing to write home about. So we can still have our groove and still have some meaningful songs because in recent times, what we have now is out of it – we enjoy the music, we dance to it, but talk about the lyrics, its a NO. It’s something I came up with that you can still dance to, yet the music will make a whole lot of meaning.
What informed the title of the song ‘Champion’?
You know, I was there, I left for so long and for me to face it back, it’s champions that do that. It’s not easy when you go to the battle frontline and after everything, you are still standing, you can still do things. So many people we started together have dropped, we can’t place them again. It’s not easy to come back; so coming back, you are a champion. It has its own message. Even if it’s not giving you the positive outcome, but for the fact that you’ve taken that bold step, you are a champion.
You were off the entertainment radar for 5 years; what were you doing?
At a time, I was married. Normally, I had to settle down, have my baby in London before I came back to Nigeria. Though I was acting alongside, I wasn’t taking it as full-time work. But I felt I was being deprived of what I had passion for, so I had to put something together and come back.
It is usually not easy for women that are married in the industry to make it back in the industry because they have added responsibility. How do you intend to manage your family along with your career?
I’ll like to put it out that normally, I don’t spend 24hrs with my child. I could do that when she was still an infant but my baby is 6 years now. She goes to school , and during that period she’s somewhere else, I’m somewhere else. And during the time, I would have done one or two things, and when she comes back, I can leave her with my mum or sister and do other things. So, because I’m married doesn’t make me not to be responsible, for the fact that I have to work. There are a lot of career ladies that their homes are intact –family, the church, they combine it and their marriage is still intact, and even works. They are doing fantastically well, so I see no reason why I can’t do such. Acting isn’t an everyday thing; music, I don’t go to studio every day. So when you plan well, God will give you the grace to scale through.
So what would you say about the industry you left four years ago. There have been so much changes. What is your opinion about these changes and what are you doing to make an impact with the current trend of things?
Yeah, a whole lot of changes. Before I left the industry, after doing a song you could go to a presenter, they fix you up, do interviews without even thinking of collecting anything from you, they promote your job at length. But it’s so alarming that the kind of industry we had then is nothing close to what we have now. After the music, it’s supposed to be enjoying airplay but it’s not. Because even if your song is as sweet as honey, you can’t play it yourself. You can’t just keep them, you have to tip them to play your song; that’s the way it is. And to people, it’s as if it’s normal: if you don’t tip them, nobody is going to play it. No matter how beautiful your job is, they won’t play it. Corruption is everywhere. Gone are those days you went to the studio and they even wanted to beg to interview you, make you feel important. But nowadays, you will beg them, not even with mouth but you have to add some cash to it. And to me, you have to join them because I want people to view my job. I can’t shoot my video and want only a particular area to listen to it, so you have to join the trend. I’m already in the system, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Your video ‘Champion’, knowing the current situation of things in the country, how were you able to churn out such clear picture, good concept video? Knowing full well that you’d been off the industry for some time, and practically not been making money in the industry, what gave you the confidence to drop such amount for the video? And talking about money for promotion, how do you intend to get that money?
Initially I was supposed to introduce myself as an entrepreneur – I have a fashion house and I tell you that the little money I generate from it, it might sound crazy, but most of the money I generate, I put it back into movie and my music. I left the industry but I wasn’t idle, I was training people on fashion. So the money I get there, I packed it, went to Dre San’s studio and thought I could feature Ortishefemi. I’ve known him for over 15 years, so when I called him, I didn’t pay him and he didn’t even ask. Though it might be difficult to get them, eventually they will deliver because they know I’m not that kind of person they will ask of money from. Even when I featured Pasuma back in those days, I didn’t drop any money for him; I was up-and-coming but he supported me because I was a lady who wanted to do something positive. After we recorded ‘Champion’ with Oritshefemi, I called the director and explained things to him, we planned, and it was a success.
For every glory, there’s always a story to tell. What has been the greatest challenge so far in making this musical video?
It’s marketing. Let me relate it back to our marketers out there, I don’t know how they will curb this piracy of a thing; it’s like a monster that needs to be lynched. After shooting a video of a million naira, I’m talking about movie now. The marketer would want to buy it for N700,000. I have a story like that: I shot a movie in four countries, it was with me for like 8 months and when I kept going to marketers – you know they have an association – since they knew I’d been taking it to marketers, they started beating down the price, from N1 million to N800,000, to N600,000. And I didn’t only go to Ghana to shoot it, I took Oga Bello, Kelvin Ikeduba, others to Ghana to shoot it, because we had Arik Airline as our sponsors. So imagine after all this and the marketer to tell me he wants to pay 600,000. I was like I would rather keep it, and I did. For like 8 months it was with me, and someone said I’ll beg to sell it if I didn’t do so on time. In tears, I sold it for 600,000, something worth over N2 million. And I premiered it, people came and supported me. Apparently, we will get money from movie launch, premiere, then marketer gets it back and they tell you it’s pirated. Thats the greatest challenge any actor or musician can have. Marketing, piracy, I don’t know how it can be curbed. Imagine, government said if someone is caught, he will pay N200,000. They have to make it tighter. If someone is caught, millions has to be paid for his or her bail. Someone that has made millions will easily pay N200,000. These are the challenges we have, so we are not growing. I just pray that I get endorsements, and I won’t relent. There’s another track already which we will be promoting in the next few weeks so they will know I’m back fully in the industry. And this time, I want to give it to them. I have to make it because it’s not easy.
Interestingly, you are also a known face in the movie industry. Does it mean we should be expecting a comeback from you in the movie industry?
I already did that last year. I did Aye Alaye. I did the premier, it featured about 16 known faces in the entertainment industry, cutting across musicians and actors.
A few weeks ago we learnt you and Kemi Afolabi have settled your issue. Do you want to talk about it? What’s the situation like now?
You know, when that thing happened, it was a big, dirty fight on the social media and I regretted it, because she actually made the post known to everybody. My own was just a display picture on my BBM and few people were like I had to take it off. After the whole thing she just went on Instagram and posted, to which I didn’t reply her. After the whole thing, we stopped talking; whenever we saw, we didn’t greet for several months. Last month, April, made it one year that the incident happened. So on her birthday, I wanted to do something weird. Because she was on the receiving end, so to say, she felt so bad about the whole thing. On her birthday, I just put up my instagram page and I was like, ‘Kemi Afolabi, I was wrong, you were wrong, even the media and the fans exaggerated everything but at the end of the day, we are still one family, we are still friends. Happy birthday, Kemi Afolabi, I wish you all the best.’ She saw it and was shocked. It was her publicist, Yomi Fabiyi, that saw it and was like, for She Baby to have swallowed her pride, she should let it go. And I wrote there that I take back my words. That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever done because it still hurts me, but for peace to reign.
She commended and appreciated. I saw her at an event recently and a whole lot of people were looking at us, so I was watching her because I didn’t want to receive a cold reception. And I’m sure she was reading my attitude too, because she might come to me and I give her a cold reception. So she was reading me but I was calm. She was close by and wasn’t smiling but I’m sure she looked around and saw people looking at us and I was like, if I choose to hug her and she gives me a cold reception, it would be documented that I greeted her but I’ll do my part. So interestingly, she read me and I read her; I was reading her and I was lost in thought. Before I knew it, she was in front of me. To her, it was like I didn’t want to greet her. But to me, I wanted to see that connection coming. Then we hugged and I said ‘I’m sorry’ and she said, ‘It’s over,’ so we sat close to each other.
Are we looking at more songs from you anytime from now?
Yes, I already recorded 6 tracks but because of funds I have to do this for now. I recorded Mr DJ Featuring JayWon and Oritshefemi; it’s dropping in a few weeks.
What is your advice to upcoming ones?
Firstly, I would love to let them know that it’s not until you sleep with big actors or a marketer before you get there. Apparently, what these marketers do is sleep with all these young girls, promising them to put them on the poster, and because they don’t have much experience, they agree and they keep passing them around. Marketers will not make you, it’s only God that can make you a star; you already have the talent, nobody can collect it from you. Discover yourself and work on it. I don’t have vacation. Even when I go abroad, I work – I do launching, shoot movie – I work from sunrise to sunset because most of this upcoming are kind of lazy; once they knock on a door and it’s not opening, they don’t want to knock another door. I’ve pushed several doors because you can’t keep doing something you are good at for years and someone won’t recognise you. That’s where the breakthrough starts from. Education is everything, you will be needing it because you will be widely exposed. It cuts across the globe. If you are educated, you can stand anywhere, you will have value. You can’t compare an uneducated tomato seller to an educated one – the packaging that one will give it will be different. Just make sure one way or the other, you are educated
Zacch Adedeji: And The Revenue Keeps Increasing By Rabiu Usman
By Rabiu Usman
It was President Bola Tinubu that declared that in the first half of this year, the revenue of Nigeria soared to over N9.1 trillion, compared to the first half of 2023.
For instance, N5.2 Trillion accrued into the Federation Account for the period January to June 2023, while a total of N7.3 Trillion accrued into the account for the period July to December, 2023.
However, for June this year, accruals into the Federation Account rose to N2.483 trillion in June 2024. It was N2.324.792 trillion in May, meaning for the two months of May and June this year alone, about N4.8 trillion accrued into the Federation Account while N5.2 trillion accrued into the account for the first six months of last year.
The President attributed the revenue increase to the government’s efforts in blocking leakages, introducing automation, and mobilizing funding creatively, all without placing an additional burden on the people.
A few days after the President spoke glowingly of the considerable increase in the revenue of the country, a process being powered by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), under the Chairmanship of Dr Zacch Adedeji, the Nigeria’s Zaccheus the Tax Collector, the World Bank also confirmed the progress being made in the area of revenue generation.
The World Bank projected that following the recent increase in government revenue, Nigeria’s revenue-to-GDP ratio could rise to over 10.5 percent by the end of 2024.
Ndiamé Diop, World Bank country director for Nigeria shared the forecast during an interactive session on ‘Fiscal Reforms for a More Secure Future’ at the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit, held in Abuja last month.
Also, according to data released in September by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue increased by 99.82% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2024.
During this period, total VAT revenue reached N1.56 trillion, a 9.11% increase compared to the previous quarter.
The NBS report highlighted that the revenue growth was driven primarily by local payments, which brought in about $484 million, while foreign payments contributed $242 million. VAT on imports generated $228 million.
However, despite the level of progress already made, the FIRS under Dr Zacch Adedeji is not done yet.
Various innovations are daily being introduced to ensure seamless payment of taxes by Nigerians.
Last week, the Taxpayer Services Department of the FIRS launched the new USSD code *829#, aimed at revolutionizing taxpayer engagement and access to essential tax services.
According to the FIRS, the initiative was aimed at “simplifying tax processes and providing a seamless, efficient service experience.”
With the *829# USSD code, taxpayers can now effortlessly access a range of services, including TIN retrieval, Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) verification, and general inquiries all from the convenience of their mobile phones and with no need for internet access.
Also, Zacch Adedeji is everywhere, explaining the four tax bills currently before the National Assembly, assuring that it will not reduce the funding or operational efficiency of government agencies.
Last week Wednesday, Adedeji addressed the heads of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) at the Revenue House in Abuja. He allayed concerns surrounding the proposal to rename the FIRS as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), clarifying that the change is intended to streamline and improve agency efficiency.
He said the main goal was to align government revenue practices with current fiscal demands to ensure all agencies are well-funded and effective.
Adedeji further highlighted that the proposed legislation would enable government agencies to concentrate on their core responsibilities without the added task of revenue collection.
“The bills, once enacted, will allow agencies to focus on their primary functions instead of managing tax collection duties,” he explained.
Adedeji, who appears to have taken up the job of an Explainer concerning the new tax bills, further pointed out that the bills were the aftermath of President Tinubu’s administration recognition of the need for a unified tax code to reduce complexity and stimulate economic growth.
Perhaps, by the time this is being read, Dr Zacch Adedeji, will be standing before another audience to explain the ideas behind the new tax bills and their capability to further sore up the revenue base of the country, because for him, the revenue must keep increasing.
Usman, a public affairs commentator lives in Abuja.
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