Battleground: Fans Wanted Me To Marry Dima-Okojie, Says Nonzo Bassey

Sharing his most cherished moment as an actor, Bassey narrated how fans were so intense about him getting married to Dima-Okojie, to the extent of creating a love tag and picking ‘Aso Ebi’ for their wedding ceremony.

Bassey played the role of ‘Doctor Emeka’ in the widely followed series, while Dima-Okojie acted as ‘Teni’.

“I remember the event for the viewing of the 100th episode of Battleground. You couldn’t have imagined the response we got. I and Ini Dima-Okojie played a love interest as Doctor Emeka and Teni, and they started calling us TENKA and everybody wanted us to get married in real life because of that show. Some were already doing the Aso Ebi thing! That was an amazing moment for me, ” he said.

Bassey also credited Africa Magic for his rise to stardom. He said: “What Africa Magic does that I really appreciate is when they discover a talent, they circulate the talent within their ecosystem. When they spot that you are good, they put you in other things, which creates opportunities for more people to see you.

“A lot of stars have been born through Tinsel, Battleground and several other shows and series on Africa Magic. They scouted me and put me on Battleground, which has taken me to where I am today. Africa Magic is the standard. They have this huge audience; from the Africa Magic Showcase to Urban, Family, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Epic, all cadres of the audience are catered to.

“I did Battleground which was on AM Showcase, then they brought it down to other packages so that it travels across the ecosystem for more audiences to access. At first, when I started on Battleground, people started identifying me in places like Ikoyi and shopping malls. At the time they dubbed it to Yoruba, the waste disposal workers, LAWMA agents, called me Doctor Emeka. I was in the market in Ogun State and all the women were calling me Doctor Emeka. It was mind-blowing. That’s the power of Africa Magic to me and I want to think it’s the same for some of my colleagues who started around the same time as me.”

Africa Magic, which started as M-net in 2003, is celebrating 20 years of indigenous storytelling in Africa. The platform currently runs a chain of seven channels: Africa Magic Showcase, Urban, Epic, Africa Magic Family, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. All the channels are available on DStv and GOtv.