Mike Ezuruonye, a Nollywood actor, has slammed the apology issued by Kunle Afolayan, his colleague, describing it as an “epistle with very underlined pride”.
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“A sincere Apology has Three Parts.
“I’m sorry.
“It’s my fault.
“What can we do to make this work.
“NOT an EPISTLE with Very UNDERLINED PRIDE,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
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Ezuruonye had accused Afolayan of being tribalistic after the latter posted a message allegedly sent to him by a random Instagram follower accusing Ezuruonye of scamming women and lying about it.
“The small respect I had for you is gone, yes I wrote u that in your sick DM. U touched the wrong guy by posting this on your twitter and Instagram stories…Guy, U buy wrong Market!!
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“U now acting like u don’t know impersonators are using Actors/Musicians/politicians /celebs fake profiles and videos to Defraud people world over????
“Or haven’t u seen the ones caught in my respect and even jailed for impersonating me by @officialefcc ????.
“Why am I surprised, you’ve always HATED IGBOS?” Mike stated in an outburst on Instagram,” he had said.
However, Kunle Afolayan tendered an apology and noted that he had no intention of tarnishing his colleague’s image.
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“While I did not see my innocent reaction to an indicting post by a random IG follower as capable of further hurting my friend and colleague, Mike Ezuruonye, to be labeled a tribalist in retaliation is very unfortunate,” Kunle Afolayan stated.
“Honestly, I was misunderstood.
“My reaction, which was rather spontaneous, was to chide the IG follower who appeared to be reporting the actor to me. And I merely asked (in Yoruba) how all of that was my business. It was like saying ‘when did I become an officer of the law’. Obviously, my colleague took the context of my post wrongly, and angrily accused me of tribalism.
“I do not know what gave birth to such misrepresentation. However, while I am famous for living and promoting everything that my tradition stands for as a Yoruba man, I have maintained a mutual friendship with people of other extractions, Igbos especially. It is therefore not in the interest of both of us (Mike Ezuruonye and I) to politicise our emotion with tribal colouration. For me, this is undeserving of our other friends, and goes to offend the sensibility of genuine relationships we have each cultivated with people of other tribes.”
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On how he has been promoting inter-tribal relationships through his works, Afolayan says the facts are there for all to see.
“The ideals are reflected in the themes and plots of my movies, some of which include; The Figurine, The Bridge, Phone Swap, Omugwo, and Roti.”
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The moviemaker further said he has offered an olive branch on the matter. “I have told Mike ‘I’m sorry’ since he found my post offensive. I am also apologizing to anyone who also may have seen things from his point of view. Ire o,” he wrote.
