Ashiwaju Bisi Alimi has thrown some serious shade at Nigerian actors, stating that there are no actors in the country that are talented enough to have been on the cast of new Disney/Marvel blockbuster, 'Black Panther.'
The popular Nigerian LGBT activist stated this in a tweet he shared on Sunday, February 25.
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According to him, even the thought of including a Nigerian actor is ludicrous.
See his post below:
He, however, noted that the industry can do better but they are yet to get there and to achieve that, they need to accept that they still have a lot to learn.
He wrote: "The industry can be better, but they also need to know and accept they are rubbish at the moment and then go for training, I mean like quality training.
"In a country that gave us Nollywood to think we don’t have a specialist drama school? It’s sad."
A slap on Nollywood's face
To think that Funke Akindele was initially included in the cast of Avengers: Infinity War, makes it clear that Alimi's words hit too close to home.
You will recall that On Saturday, January 13, 2017, it was discovered that the Nollywood veteran actor's name no longer appeared on the Marvel Comics movie's IMDb page. Avengers: Infinity War also does not appear on the actress' IMDb page as well.
This sudden development came up a few days after the Internet went wild after Nigerians 'discovered' that the Nollywood actress was listed among the full cast of the movie on IMDb.
The actress was listed as a member of Dora Milaje, the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther, recruited from every tribe of Wakanda. Her IMDb page had also listed the movie as one of the films the actress has appeared in.
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Pulse reached out to Akindele and her publicist for a statement on the trending story but got no response. Also, the actress neither confirmed or denied the story via any of her social media platforms.
Akindele was initially listed alongside other cast of the movies, including Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlet Johannson among others.
"Avengers: Infinity War" is the most anticipated film of 2018, and assembles all superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe.
The 1st trailer for the movie became the most-viewed trailer debut ever, with over 230 million views in its first 24 hours.
Considering the reactions Nigerians had to the removal of Akindele's name from the cast list, we can agree that we do have talented actors even though there is a lot of room for improvement.
Bisi Alimi
Bisi Alimi, 41, who is one of Nigeria's most foremost LGBT rights activist and has had his fair share of controversies, but as he would like to note that he is an angelic troublemaker.
The activist got married to his boyfriend, Davies in 2016 after they met three years ago.
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Alimi has had to develop a thick skin as a gay Nigerian. Bisi Alimi holds the record for being the first openly gay man to come out on Nigerian TV. His act of boldness, however, came with a price.
On October 6, 2004, the host of "New Dawn" Funmi Iyanda brought Bisi Alimi on her show. New Dawn was a popular talk show in Nigeria at the time. On the show, Bisi Alimi came out as a gay man on national television.
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