Muna Obiekwe.
First time i saw Muna Obiekwe was in a movie entitled "Not Man Enough". He was in the movie along side Genevieve Nnaji (his crush) Emeka Ike (his cousin) and Lillian Bach (Spoiled rich brat)
He was the good but shy guy who was in love with Genevieve, she didnt care about him but liked his cousin, the serial womaniser played by Emeka Ike. The story line seemed to be directly drawn from the 1980s American flick "The Last American Virgin".
Seeing Muna as the good guy, deserate for love and yet getting rebuffed was the moment that sealed my love for him. He gave a stellar performance and i remember talking about him to everyone who cared to listen. Then i discovered a girl i knew had the same love for Miuna and we would talk aqbout him for hours. She recommended i see "He lives in Me" (alongside Genevieve NNaji, Emeka Enyiocha, Vitalis Ndubisi)
This time he played a man who may or may not be a ghost, and is trapped between realms. The chemistry with Genevieve was so intense, i stikk watch that movie till date. (i have it on one of my laptops) This double sealed the love i had for Muna and his amazing acting skills. Infact i remember having a chat with a girl who lived in Enugu, i immediately asked her if she knew Muna. She probably thought i was crazy.
Eagles bride, another wonderful movie he did. I would look out for his face on a movie poster before i would bother to watchj it. And then there was a decline....
After Muna starred in a movie with a questionable story line entitled "Dirty secrets", i began to wonder why he would take on such a role that could potentially affect his career negatively.. indeed it did. He starte appearing in stereotyped movie roles as either gay, or a dupe or frolicking with aristo girls. those are my least fav kind of movies and in fact with "Dirty secrets", i stopped watching after the first scene.
I remember seeing Muna Obiekwe's twitter handle years ago and i tweeted at him telling him how much i lived him in he Lives in Me. i was so thrilled when he RT it. fact i often tweeted how i missed Muna Obiekwe pre dirty secrets. Years later we all realised it was an impostor and sadly Muna Obiekwe was gone.
Muna Obiekwe was such a refined actor. i always saw him as the good guy next door, the calm guy, the perfect gentleman. the dude with the sleepy eye but very strong voice. A great actor who got boxed in due to Nollywood stereotyping him in a negative way. I hear his voice right now in my head. Muna Obiekwe, so young, so talented. so much to give to the world.
I will not bother talking about the circumstances that led to his sad demise, as this is a tribute from a fan. a fan who loved him and watched him grow over the years. A fan who appreciated his craft. The major challenge i faced writting this was getting a picture of Muna, lets just say there are very unpleasant pictures all over the web. I will keep the image of Muna i like best in my head. It's from "Not Man Enough" and he tilts his head to the side and says to Lillian Bach "what' cha looking at?"
I;ll sign off with my favorite Muna Obiekwe line from a movie. It's from "He Lives In Me". He tells Genevieve at the book store, "My first name is Greg, my middle name is Victor. I call myself Victor because i believe i am Victorious".
Yes Muna, you are victorious. Over pain, illness, and indeed over death.
You are indeed a Victor!
Twitter : @ZibbyJ @zibbyshow
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thezibbyshow
Youtube: www.youtube.com/zibbyshow