Regina Daniels and Naira Marley, two of Nigeria’s current controversial personalities are set to feature in a movie, ‘The Enemy I Know’, produced by Rita Daniels and Nigerians are here for it!
The month of April, 2019, was really buzzing as two major controversies were unleashed on Nigerians at the same time. Almost at the same time, Regina Daniels and Naira Marley were on the lips of almost every Nigerian who had access to the internet and gossip tabloids.
Nigerian rapper, Naira Marley, sparked a controversy after he stated that internet fraud aka Yahoo Yahoo, is not a crime. The singer in his post, wrote; ”If you know about slavery, you go know say Yahoo no be crime” His statement got the attention of many who condemned him including rapper and #ENDSARS campaign advocate, Ruggedman, who called him out to caution him not to mislead people on social media.
Nigerians were still chewing on this hard bit of news and trying to digest it when another brouhaha unfolded. This time, it was the news the beautiful young Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels was getting involved with a 59-year-old politician named Ned Nwoko, Nigerians went gaga. Their marriage stirred quite a lot of controversy. As a young budding actress, many expected her to date series of young handsome men and then, finally ‘settle down’ with one of them. This was not the case and for this reason, many Nigerians condemned Regina Daniels’ marriage to Ned Nwoko.
Regina Daniels has faced a lot of bashing from Nigerians and even her supposed new family. The actress, however, has continued to shrug all these criticisms away as she is still living her best life. Nigerians were excited for Regina because most of the time, Nollywood actresses stop acting after their marriage. Only a few actresses would be able to make a comeback. Now, this may be due to family pressure or the husband’s unwillingness. On Thursday, June 13, 2019, after Regina’s official marriage to Ned, she took to her Instagram page to announce a new movie she would be acting in. However, she conveniently left out the name of the producer of the movie which turned out to be her mother.
Now, for Naira Marley, many Nigerians who had absolutely no idea who he was started hearing his name tossed here and there. The ”Issa Goal” crooner had dished out social media posts in support of internet fraud popularly known as ”Yahoo” and the lyrics of his song also promotes the act. Naira Marley during a Instagram live session, urged Nigerians to pray for internet fraudsters (Yahoo boys) saying they are the reason money circulates to the common man. The video immediately stirred reactions from Nigerians who described Marley as a disgrace and bad example to young Nigerians. However, a few Nigerians have supported Marley, saying that Yahoo boys are the reason some Nigerians can eat and survive.
His fame all came to an abrupt end when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested him on his birthday. Not surprisingly, his arrest had to do with his support for Naira Marley. After 35 days of his arrest by EFCC and his court hearing/judgement, Naira Marley was finally released.
His fans, Marlians were thrilled and many took to their social media pages to celebrate the release of their icon. Many started wondering what the singer’s next step would be, little did Nigerians know his next step had already been determined by the ‘almighty’ Rita Daniels.
In what at first looked like a PR stunt, Naira Marley was spotted receiving a warm reception after making an appearance on the set of a new movie. Surprisingly, the movie set turned out to be none other than Rita Daniels’ upcoming movie,’The Enemy I Know’. Renowned Nollywood stars like Regina Daniels, Desmond Elliot, Bolanle Ninalowo, amongst others were spotted.
The ‘Am I A Yahoo Boy’ singer landed his first movie role exactly seven days after his release from incarceration over alleged fraud charges. Without wasting so much time on the attention, Naira Marley found his way to the set to shoot his scenes in the movie alongside Bolanle Ninalowo and Regina Daniels. The movie scenes saw the singer and some other Nigerian actors chilling on a private jet with models clad in bikinis.
As all things are bound to happen at a point, Regina Daniels’ marriage has gone round and round the news and has eventually become stale news. However, as an entertainer, it is relevant for her to remain in the news, and what other way than to be featured in an highly anticipated movie alongside with the ‘ogas’ of Marlians himself?
Regina’s mother, Rita, knows her onions, and seems to be a very astute business woman. She timed the production of this movie alongside the controversies surrounding her daughter and dragged another controversial entity, Naira Marley into it. Naira Marley’s debut in Nollywood is as a result of Regina Daniels and her mum’s plan to make a top-grossing movie. The Daniels are currently shooting their movie with locations in Abuja and notable Nollywood stars locked on the set.
There are unconfirmed speculations that Rita Daniels’ wealthy son-in-law, Hon Ned Nwoko, will be taking the seat of an executive producer as he’s bankrolling the movie project.
To further gather awareness and publicity for the movie, Rita Daniels had strategically written Naira Marley into it to compliment the fame of rising actress, Regina Daniels. With the fame Regina Daniels is currently enjoying in the media and Nigerian entertainment space and the controversy surrounding the career and personality of Naira Marley, it’s easy to gamble on a movie featuring both celebs.
The move to feature Naira Marley also could be to create anticipation ahead of the movie release while riding on his controversial personality. This strategic move by Rita Daniels will see the movie, ‘The Enemy Within’ winning over some of the fans of the now famous singer to the cinema. According to sources close to Daniels, the movie is scheduled to be a straight to cinema movie before it will be released on CDs and sold to the general public.
I, however, have some questions for Rita Daniels. Since Naira Marley is an ardent supporter of internet fraud popularly referred to as ‘Yahoo-yahoo’, what is the aim of including him in the movie? Is she going to support ‘Yahoo-yahoo’ in the movie or speak againt the arrest by EFCC? Is Naira Marley’s inclusion just for clout?
Either way, Rita Daniels move has made this movie one of the most anticipated movies of 2019, and Nigerians can hardly wait for it’s release. As they say, publicity is publicity, whether good or bad. This is likely just Rita’s way of ensuring her movie does not fail.
