In DeMood…
MAJID MICHEL Erawack is a Ghanaian actor who found mainstream success following his performance in the movie, ‘Divine Love’ co-starring, Jackie Aygemang (nee Appiah) and Joseph vanVicker, both also of Ghana. He is consistently cited as one of the best up and coming actors in Ghana today, but is also viewed as being overshadowed and overlooked by the media in favour of vanVicker.

The youngest of 10 children, Majid, who turns 30 on September 22, was born in Accra to Michael Michel Erawack, a Lebanese businessman, and Paulina Olympio, a Ghanaian.

In a recent interview, Majid told reporters that the name Erawack was a title won by his father while working in India, but that he chose to drop it professionally.

Along with his other nine siblings, Majid grew up in Accra, attending primary school, and much later, the elite Mfantsipim Boys Secondary, which just so happens to be the alma mater of both vanVicker and former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. At Mfantsipim, Majid was actively involved in theatre, and was a member of the school’s drama club.

His turning ‘pro’ was purely by chance, he says. He was invited by a next door neighbour to join a modeling agency when he was spotted by the director of the institution who invited him to participate in a new TV series titled, ‘Things We Do for Love’. It was on that set that
Majid acquired the nickname, ‘Shaker’.
In ‘Things We Do for Love’, Majid played a Lebanese boy, and on the strength of his performance, was cast in his first movie, ‘Divine Love’ as the male lead.
‘Divine Love’ turned out to be such a huge success, it launched the careers of not only Majid, but Jackie Appiah and vanVicker as well, turning them all into household names across Ghana and to a large extent, Nigeria.
In 2008, Majid starred as the lead role in the film ‘Agony of the Christ’. This film received seven nominations at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009.

Majid is married and has two daughters, Keira, five, and Zara, two.

Filmography:
* Divine Love (2004)
* Royal Battle (2005)
* Passion of the Soul (2005)
* Blood Fight
* Blood Rivals
* Pretty Queen
* The Playboy (2006)
* Tears of Womanhood (2006)
* Crime to Christ (2007)
* The Shepherd (2008)
* Dream maker (2008)
* Agony of the Christ (2008)
* Her excellency (2009)
* Behind a smile (2009)
* Sin of the Soul (2009)
* Shakira (2009)
* Dangerous Mother (2009)
* Gameboy (2009)
* Guilty Pleasures (2009)
* Emerald (2009)
* Bursting out (2009
* The Dons Of Sakawa (2009)
* Friends In Love (2009)
* Heart of Men (2009)

Lagos: A city of two faces
THERE are two things I loathe most about Lagos … its faces.

The problem with this two-faced city is that the few rich live in stupendous wealth, while the majority in this richly endowed country, with crude oil and other mineral resources, wallow in abject poverty.

The lifestyle and Victoria Island mansions we see in the Nigerian movies on Africa Moods are real. While some people live in those mansions, drive exotic cars, eat the best food, and travel extensively, many cannot afford even a simple meal.

The streets of this most populous city in Nigeria, the largest country in Africa, are littered with beggars and traders, young and old, trying to eke out a living by selling just about anything… from clothes to sweets.

With wall-to-wall people, bumper-to-bumper cars, noise and pollution beyond belief, and an electricity utility that is simply incapable of coping with the demands of the huge population, one  would appreciate South Africa.

Getting around can sometimes be a little tough, and it is certainly a challenging destination for first-timers. The rules of the road are not observed; people just push their way through the filthy streets, forcing cars off the road, or squeezing between trucks and oil tankers going in opposite directions.

It is not a rare sight to see a rich person flanked by bodyguards and being fanned, and throwing money on the ground, while the poor follow him around in the uncomfortably hot Lagos.

The country is very expensive. For a good hotel room, you can pay as much as US$300 (about R2300 or N45,000) a night.

Women younger than 18 are a rare sight on the filthy streets, while boys as young as 10 visit the market after school to earn a living for their families.

But it’s not all doom and gloom though. Nigeria has some of the hottest men in Africa. Four in five guys that I saw in Naija were hot, neat and tall, with beautiful bodies.

Things got interesting from the moment I stepped onto an Arik Airways airplane, a Nigerian airline that took over from the former Nigeria Airways.

The usual courteous attitude that is often reserved for white customers here in South Africa was so palpable. The airline staff made me feel special.

In Nigeria, black South Africans are treated like royalty. I felt guilty about the xenophobic behaviour that South Africans have shown towards other Africans. People generally are friendly, and have a giving spirit.At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, an airport that Joburg’s Park Station can easily compete with and get full marks, I was greeted with smiles and treated with dignity while I watched abelungu being searched like criminals. It was nice for once to feel important in your own continent.

We went to Victoria Island, a highbrow neighbourhood, where our South African chain, Protea Hotel, was.

The hotel staff was friendly, and gave me special attention because I was “a sister from the Southy.”

Nigerian food was another highlight. The dishes were delicious, and common foods you can get in hotels include garri, egusi, amala, tuwoo, yam, plantain, akpu, pounded yam, banga soup, gbegiri, edikaekio, and owo soup, to mention but a few.

To really enjoy the country, you must
take lots and lots of money. Money and a little smile speak volumes in Naija.
(Zenoyise Madikwa is a South African columnist and was a guest of honour of M-Net Face of Africa)