Nollywood At Large | 25 August 2011 03:02 CET

REVEALED; REAL REASONS STAR ACTOR JIM IYKE AND KATE HENSHAW LOST OUT OF GLO DEAL

Source: AKINNAGBE AKINTOMIDE/NIGERIAFILMS.COM

Telecommunications giants,Globacom Ltd recently concluded the annual assessment of its brands faces, otherwise known as Glo Ambassadors and at the end of the day, the name of 2 prominent Nollywood stars in its usual line-up of Ambassadors were conspicuously missing.

Effectively, Kate Henshaw and Jim Iyke have been dropped as Glo Ambassadors.

Though there are multifarious parameters for the assessment of the activities of Glo Ambassadors, including inputs from different departments of the company and public relation experts, we can reveal to you that the dropped Nollywood stars have been found wanting in their roles as Glo Ambassadors, hence the refusal to renew their contracts.

The company is keeping mum on its decision to drop the two stars but while most of the other Glo Ambassadors have represented the company at numerous events, Kate Henshaw seemed to be riding her own waves as she has hardly answered the calls of the company.

From our own tracking, the only Globacom event which Kate Henshaw has honoured for a very long time was the official launch of the company's submarine cable known as Glo 1 in October last year. Apart from her presence in one of the recording of Glo Naija Sings last year as a Glo Ambassador, Kate Henshaw Nuttal has been nowhere to be found, near a Globacom event for a very long time.

At a point,a lot of people have wondered if Kate Henshaw was still a Glo Ambassador.

Jim Iyke on his part, has obviously had to grapple with a lot of image issues for a very long time and it was obvious that the company would decide to do away with his services as a brand face. He has also hardly been present at Globacom events.

One of the few events Jim Iyke can be remembered to have attended for Globacom was the official presentation of P-Square to the media as Glo Ambassadors in August 2010.

Apart from seeing his face in couple of Globacom press commercials, it has been lost on quite a number of people that Jim Iyke was still a Globacom Ambassador for sometime now.

Meanwhile, a lot of Nollywood stars who were retained as Glo Ambassadors have always seized every opportunity to re-affirm their commitment to the company.

Apart from always being there when the company needs them, they constantly remind Nigerians that they are Globacom Ambassadors from their activities as well as promoting the company at every turn.

This was the case when Sammie Okposo took his wife to the altar last year.

Other Glo Ambassadors like Uche Jombo and Funke Akindele are also known to give out Glo souvenirs to people at every opportunity.

Furthermore, this crop of ambassadors and others are always there when the company calls them.A Monalisa Chinda,just like a Desmond Elliot always answers the call of the company which in effect was even part of the deal in the first place.

Our investigations revealed that though the company understands that these stars are always very busy and may not be there sometimes when they are called, when it becomes a pattern to treat the invitation of the company with levity, it becomes repulsive, especially since the Globacom deal has become the mainstay of most of these stars in the last few years as actors and actresses no longer earn the huge sums they used to from acting.

Meanwhile, though Globacom has replaced Jim Iyke and Kate Henshaw-Nuttal with two new movie stars,it has also expanded the portfolio by one.

The newest stars to sign deals with Globacom as Ambassadors are Kunle Afolayan,Odunlade Adekola and Jamila Umar Nagudu.

These stars were picked by Globacom to broaden its reach in the Yoruba and Hausa language movies industries.

The three new stars were picked after a meticulous assessment by the company which reinforced their pivotal position in the entertainment world.

It was also a testimony to how well they have done for themselves.

Being a Globacom Ambassador comes with a lot of perks. Apart from the contract fee, the brand faces are paid when they are invited for Globacom events, especially outside their area of residence.

They are also paid allowances for taking part in Globacom commercials. When a commercial is being shot outside the country, apart from their allowances, they are flown with their managers on first-class to locations outside the country.

These Ambassadors also benefits from the magnanimity of the Chairman of the company, Dr Mike Adenuga Jnr when they impress him with their output in commercials.

However, to remain a Glo Ambassador, you need to continue to be relevant in the industry from which you were picked. For instance, Sunny Nneji who had a different kind of contract with Globacom, unlike the Nollywood stars has been given a long rope by the company as a result of his inactivity in the music industry for sometime now. The company is not impressed that he has not been making waves lately. Same goes for Stereoman Ekwe.

A lot of these stars try their best in order not to put the wrong foot forward and to them, image is everything.Monalisa Chinda was quick to prove that her break-up with her ex-husband was not any fault of hers while Uche Jombo has since done away with her skimpy clothes.

You simply need all the respect and relevance you can get to remain a Glo Ambassadors and staying away from scandals is one sure bet.

Ask Mercy Johnson, who would have been one of the lucky few today if not for the scandalous stories that have tarnished her image, though she nonetheless denies them all.

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