Jim Iyke steps up big

BY CHUKS NWANNE
FEW weeks after he made it into the list of Globacom Brand Ambassadors from the telecom company; a deal that earned him N50 million for two years endorsement, the Nollywwod actor, Jim Iyke, is on the verge of sealing another multi-million Naira deal with Oceanic bank. Though details of the new deal is yet to be made public, the Anambra State-born actor hinted that he would soon be signing a multi-million Naira partnership deal with Oceanic Bank plc, for his forthcoming nationwide hunt, Supreme Talent. “We’ve gone far with Oceanic bank on this project,” Jim said. The overall winner in the talent hunt will get a two-movie contract from Iyke, a N5m up-front recording deal and a brand new car outside having the opportunity of shooting music videos in the US and UK. However, Supreme Talent is not a winner takes it all affair. “Several other mouth watering prizes await all the runners up,” Iyke, who just breezed in from the US, revealed. The actor turned singer, whose 12 tracker album featured notable artistes such as Tuface Idibia, Sound Sultan, Yinka Davies and a few other foreign acts, informed that the full album will soon hit music shelves in the country. He recently got N20m sign on fee from the marketer of the forthcoming album, Who Am I. “It was recently launched in Ghana with an elaborate ceremony and a lot of his fans in attendance. The event was rounded off with an all night show, sponsored by TV Africa, Ghana.” MEANWHILE, plans are afoot to shoot the video of Born To Do This and Ikenna, featuring Slow Dog. “In fact, we just returned from South Africa, where we completed the video of the former; Wudi directed, while Puffy T produced. Iyk Onwuka, the London based boss of Marginal Records, is in charge of the internet distributions and sales of my album, he paid me handsomely for that,” he admitted. One of the most sought after Nollywood actors, Jim Iyke recently pocketed N5m, for his role in his first comic move. The production, he hinted, will soon be premiered within and outside the country. Aside playing big in the entertainment industry, the actor –– real names James Ikechukwu Esomugha, –– is gradually making an in road into the nation’s Oil and Gas and Auto industry. He teamed up with pals to set up Jimke Oil and Gas, and now imports exotic cars for sales and pleasure from the US. “My 2009 Cadillac Escalade, a customized SUV, will be arriving from the States in few weeks. I buy cars for pleasure as well as business. Globally, super stars diversify, and that is what I am now doing.” IYKE reacted angrily to a story recently posted on the internet, alleging that he was beaten up, arrested and detained by the police on the orders of a female film producer, whom he had a disagreement with on set in Ado Ekiti. “Nothing of such happened; I don’t know where they got that story from. I was only delayed on that set, and I threatened to leave because I was travelling to the US. But when Ejike Asiegbu intervened, I had to stay back and quickly completed my remaining scenes. To have turned the story round… the originators are liars and would soon be hearing from my team of lawyers. There was another ungodly story in one of the soft sell magazines, alleging that I was beaten up in Ghana; it’s not true, but rather a figment of the writer’s imagination. My lawyers have written them. All these false stories are aimed at bringing me and my career into disrepute, but they will never succeed.” For those praying for the actor to settle down; Iyke has finally agreed to do that, having engaged in a serious relation with Keturah Hamilton, a top US model, with Jamaican and Cuban backgrounds. The damsel, we gathered, is the reigning face of Puff Daddy’s mineral water and several other endorsements.