'How My Fiancé Of 8 years Dumped Me For My Uncle'

Popular actor, McSmith Ochendu, talks about his love life, several heartbreaks and career in this exclusive interview.

You are very popular with bad boy role in movies. But you played a different character in ‘House of Bartholomew’.

I am also a bad boy, but this is not the kind of bad boy I used to play. I came back from Jamaica with nothing and I disturbed the entire village with my music. My fans will surely find this movie interesting when it comes out.

McSmith Ochendu has suffered series of heartbreaks.

Being one of the major players in AGN politics, how do you feel about the court order restraining Ibinabo Fiberesima from parading herself as president of the guild?

It was a competent court that gave that judgement. I think it is stupidity on the part of those who think the court made a mistake. Ibinabo Fiberesima was not supposed to be the president of AGN in the first place because section 4(u) of the guild’s amended constitution clearly states who is eligible to vie for such position. Whoever has a court case is not eligible to vie.

In 2012, there was a court order restraining the Board of Trustees from conducting elections because there was a case in court between Emeka Ike and Segun Arinze. But because we have a history of disobeying court orders, they went ahead to conduct an election which is contempt of court to me.

The fact that we are celebrities does not mean we should disobey or flout court orders. We should be law abiding citizens. To me, the March 16, 2015 court ruling restraining Ibinabo is a welcome development, and I urge every member of AGN to queue behind Emeka Ike because he is trusted, tested and humane. I have worked with him for a very long time, so I can vouch for him.

Before the Ibinabo saga, what has really been the bane of AGN?

It has always been from one crisis to the other. This is because you cannot build on illegality. We have one common enemy, the Board of Trustees. They see AGN as their private enterprise. But God has delivered us from their claws.

We have got our victory through the court. These same people didn’t allow Zack Orji pilot the affairs of the guild the good way he would have loved to when he was president. They harassed and sacked him, and brought in Ejike Asiegbu.

Ejike wanted to continue from where Zack Orji stopped, but the BoT didn’t allow him because he was not dancing to their tunes. These men (BoT members) have always been our problem but thank God they have been dissolved. We are now breathing fresh air; the story is no longer the same.

Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has left Egypt and we are now on our way to the promise land.

What are the five things you think people don’t know about you?

People don’t know that I am a shy person. A lot of them see me as a troublesome person, but I am not, although I am an activist. I don’t pretend, and anything I believe in, I work towards.

You will know if I don’t like you because I don’t know how to pretend. I hate injustice, so I champion the course of the oppressed. I’m godly too. I love God, though my looks give me away most times, looks can be deceptive anyway. I’m still single; looking for a wife because good women are not easy to find, but I will do that soon, even though there is no woman in my life now.

How romantic are you?

I am very romantic. Those I have dated in the past can attest to it.

Considering you celebrity status, it is hard to believe you don’t have a girlfriend for now…

But that is the truth; I don’t have a girlfriend. I am not saying that I don’t do what other men do, but I don’t have a girlfriend. Like I said earlier, good women are not easy to find. I have had women in my life in the past; some came for the money, some came for the fame. Good men are also hard to find.

I cannot beat my chest that I am good or bad, but it is left for people who know me to judge.

I guess you have been a victim of heartbreaks

Severally… severally. Maybe because I do not know how to love a woman, I usually love with my life, and women sometimes don’t like men who give them their all. Some of them like men who tell them lies. So I have had many heartbreaks… not once, twice… I have lost count anyway.

Share one of these numerous heartbreaks with us.

I met a girl in 2001, dated her for eight years and took her to my father in the village. We had a feast and a lot of people came around to celebrate with me for finally bringing a woman of my choice home. But before I could say Jack Robinson, the same girl I brought to my people started dating my uncle, who was richer than me. They got married, but the union did not last two years. She had a son for him. Since then, I have it difficult to love any woman.

Has it been an issue of once beaten twice shy?

Hmmm… I have had heartbreaks before that time, but this one really shook me because I had kept it for like eight years. Ending that way was really painful to me.