Ethel Ekpe Died Of Cancer – Shaibu Husseini

Veteran Nollywood actress, Ethel Ekpe is dead.

The moviestar was famous for her role in the now-rested NTA sitcom ‘Basi and Company’, and she died recently in Lagos State.

According to the Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Shaibu Husseini, Ekpe reportedly died of cancer yesterday, February 7.

Ethel added that the deceased was a screen beauty who delighted fans with her inimitable interpretation of the role of Segi in the “Basi and Company” sitcom.

His words, “I have been reliably informed that Ethel Ekpe, (Ethel Aderemi nee Ekpe), the screen beauty that delighted fans with her inimitable interpretation of the role of Segi in the defunct sitcom on Nigerian Television Authority by Ken Saro Wiwa titled ‘Basi and Company’ has passed on.

The actress, pastor and star of Amaka Igwe’s ‘Forever’ and most recently ‘Sons of the Caliphate” reportedly died of cancer today in Lagos. She will be sorely missed.”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.