Ghanaian actress of Nigerian and Ghanaian descent, Yvonne Okoro has expressed concern about how Ghanaians disregard their own celebrities.
The producer said Ghanaians don’t hold their celebrities with utmost respect.
When asked if she was ever compelled to move to Nigeria, Actress Yvonne Okoro answered, “Yeah… A lot of times many producers in Nigeria ask me why am I not in Nigeria. In Nigeria, they hold their celebrities like an egg but in Ghana that celebrity is nothing. I know some Ghanaians will be upset to hear me say this but the truth hurts sometimes.”
According to her, most Ghanaians have developed a preconceived mentality about celebrities who are well to do and label them as dealers in cocaine, gold-diggers and prostitutes.
Narrating her past heart-breaking ordeal when she was spotted in a traffic by hawkers, the ‘Ghana Must Go’ producer recounted how they drew closer and after indentifying her as a movie star, made a sickening comment that she (Yvonne Okoro) perhaps got her car from a cocaine business.
“I was driving when I heard hawkers say ‘come and see her car’ and you feel good but when they got closer only to find out that it’s me, one of them said, oh leave this actress she bought the car from her cocaine business. So when I hear these comments, I ask myself so it can’t be that I worked hard or blessings so it just has to be negative through out and that I feel as if that is something we (Ghanaians) have to do something about,” Yvonne Okoro narrated.
Comparing how Ghanaians and Nigerians support their celebrities, Okoro said Nigerians uphold their own with dignity but Ghanaians disdained their stars.
Speaking with Berla Mundi on the Glitterati Show, the beautiful actress said this notwithstanding, Ghanaians have also developed sudden interest in telenovelas.
The clearly peeved movie star questioned the mindset of the black person, who in her estimation, always look down on themselves but place importance on foreign stuff.
“My problem is that, you say our movies aren’t quality but you don’t patronise our movies for us to make quality movies. You go and patronise Hollywood or Bollywood who are like the first or second biggest film makers in the world but for us is different because we need to make a Hollywood standard movie for you, we can’t do that when you aren’t watching the movies and when we don’t have the funds or resources to do that… so that is to tell you that Ghanaians believe everything black is substandard,” Yvonne Okoro told Berla Mundi.
She has received Ghana Movie Awards Best Actress Award in 2010 and was nominated for Africa Movie Academy Awards Best Actress twice in a row in 2011 and 2012 for her movies Pool Party and Single Six.
She is also a recipient of four Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award and in 2012 was honoured with a Distinguished Achievement Award at the Nigeria Excellence Awards.
