{"id":232308,"date":"2025-07-12T14:15:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T14:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abianewscentral.com.ng\/it-is-more-rewarding-to-celebrate-people-while-they-are-alive-gov-otti-as-abia-state-govt-celebrates-the-75th-birthday-of-chief-zebrudaya-okoro-igwe-nwogbo-alia\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T14:15:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T14:15:05","slug":"it-is-more-rewarding-to-celebrate-people-while-they-are-alive-gov-otti-as-abia-state-govt-celebrates-the-75th-birthday-of-chief-zebrudaya-okoro-igwe-nwogbo-alia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/it-is-more-rewarding-to-celebrate-people-while-they-are-alive-gov-otti-as-abia-state-govt-celebrates-the-75th-birthday-of-chief-zebrudaya-okoro-igwe-nwogbo-alia\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201c\u200eIT IS MORE REWARDING TO CELEBRATE PEOPLE WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE\u201d \u2013 GOV. OTTI, AS ABIA STATE GOVT. CELEBRATES THE 75TH BIRTHDAY OF CHIEF ZEBRUDAYA OKORO IGWE NWOGBO ALIAS 4:30"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u200eIT IS MORE REWARDING TO CELEBRATE PEOPLE WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE\u201d \u2013 GOV. OTTI, AS Abia <\/a>STATE GOVT. CELEBRATES THE 75TH BIRTHDAY OF CHIEF ZEBRUDAYA OKORO IGWE NWOGBO ALIAS 4:30
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On the evening of Tuesday, 10th June after commissioning 14 Road Projects earlier in the day across Aba, the \u200eAbia <\/a>State Governor, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, says that, it is more rewarding to celebrate people while they are alive than dead.
\u200e
\u200eGovernor Otti stated this during the 75th birthday celebration of Chika Chukwunonso Okpala, MFR, MON, A.K.A Chief Zebrudaya Okoro Igwe Nwogbo Alias 4:30 by the Abia <\/a>State Government at the banquet hall of the Abia <\/a>State Government House, Umuahia.
\u200e
\u200eChief Chika Okpala is a Nigerian actor, comedian, and veteran in Nigeria\u2019s entertainment industry. He was popularly known as Chief Zebrudaya, a nickname he got from his role in a TV comedy series \u2013 New Masquerade, which aired from the early 1980s to 1990s.
\u200e
\u200eAt the event, Governor Otti described Chief Okpala as an icon who made his mark in the early days, pretending to be an old man.<\/p>\n

\u200e\u201cSo, why are we doing this? This is not the first time that we are celebrating our people. This Government celebrates excellence. We celebrate people who have added value to the society.<\/p>\n

\u200e\u201cIt is in our DNA to celebrate our people\u2026we believe it is more rewarding to celebrate people when they are still alive.
\u200e
\u200eSpeaking about Chief Zebrudaya, the Governor thanked him for the pioneering role he played immediately after the civil war through the New Masquerade TV series, for bringing Igboland to the limelight, and for comically redefining and inventing his own English language, thereby bringing joy and happiness to homes.
\u200e
\u200e\u201cThank you for that pioneering role you played immediately after the civil war. Many people in the room may have been too young at that time, but at least, must have heard. Others may not have been born, but may have heard.<\/p>\n

\u200e\u201cIt is what he and his crew bequeathed to the younger generation that gave rise to the big industry today called Nollywood. A lot of people may not remember that what you have as Nollywood today started in Aba \u2013 Pound Road,\u201d he added, regretting that we have lost most of those things that started from here.
\u200e
\u200eHe stated that it is not too late to restore those things, while announcing a plan by his administration to build an entertainment village.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have in our programme a plan to build an entertainment village. And, by the entertainment village would be the games village, and by the games village would be the new Abia <\/a>Stadium city. Some people said is a big dream, but then we must dream. And, if you don\u2019t dream, you are dead. So, today we have a site for the Abia <\/a>State stadium city. We have a site for the Abia <\/a>Medical Village. We have a site that we have started construction for the Abia <\/a>Airport, the runway is currently being built,\u201d Gov. Otti stated, adding that nothing will stop the realization of the dreams.
\u200e
\u200eThe Governor reechoed his well-established stance that his administration cares less about where anyone comes from or origin of birth, stressing that, so long as you live and work or have anything to do for the State, you are from the State.
\u200e
\u200eGovernor Otti, while declaring that Chief Zebrudaya has been adopted as an Abia <\/a>man, revealed that the \u201cNew Masquerade started from NTA Channel 6 in Aba and was exported to the rest of the world. So, great things happened here.\u201d
\u200e
\u200eDr. Otti explained that the problem of the world is not money but a lack of ideas, stressing that money follows good ideas.
\u200e
\u200eHe thanked everyone who came around to join him in celebrating Chief Zebrudaya Okoro Igwe Nwogbo Alias 4:30.
\u200e
\u200eGovernor Otti stated that he came in contact with Davies Ofor, A.K.A Clarius Mgbojikwe (one of the prominent characters in the New Masquerade), through his daughter, Ola Davies Ofor in 1995\/96, who wrote a script and came to his office in his previous life as a banker. After looking at the script, he decided to sponsor it and produced a movie called \u201cAbused,\u201d which was rated as the most expensive movie in Nigeria at that time, steering famous Nollywood stars like Kenneth Okonkwo and Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, among others.
\u200e
\u200eTo the joy and applauds from the gathering crowd, Governor Otti announced that a friend of his and an Abia <\/a>son who was following the event online and was so excited seeing Clarius and Zebrudaya, said he would be gifting 5 Million Naira to Clarius and 10 Million Naira to Zebrudaya.
\u200e
\u200eThe Governor further disclosed that veteran Musician, Chief Paulson Kalu, who would be turning 80 later this year, Dr. Uma Eleazu, and his wife, who would be turning 95 and 85 years old, respectively, later this year, would also be celebrated.
\u200e
\u200eEarlier in his speech, the celebrant, Chief Zebrudaya Okoro Igwe Nwogbo Alias 4:30, expressed his profound gratitude to Governor Otti and the Abia <\/a>State Government for celebrating him. He disclosed that he reached out to all governments in the Southeast to help him mark his 75th birthday and Governor Otti was the first to respond.
\u200e
\u200eHe disclosed that whatever he realized from his birthday celebration would be used to support fellow artists who are now incapacitated and cannot help themselves, adding that, what Governor Otti has done for him will give other artists hope that one day, they would be celebrated as the Abia <\/a>State Government is celebrating him.
\u200e \"\"
\u200eHe stressed that artists in Nigeria are hardly celebrated and called on other State Governments and Nigerians to emulate what Governor Otti has done by celebrating those who have made impact on the society while they are still living, adding that, if he dies today, he is fulfilled and thank God that he is being celebrated while alive.
\u200e
\u200eChief Zebrudaya Okoro Igwe Nwogbo Alias 4:30 disclosed that the New Masquerade was a creation of the late Mr. Iroha, a.k.a Giringori Akabogu, who hailed from Abia <\/a>State, contrary to believe that he was the creator
\u200e
\u200eThe 75th birthday celebration featured goodwill messages from representatives of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN)\/Nollywood, who commended Governor Otti for leading the way in celebrating artists and those who have impacted the society, special music interlude, book lunch, book unveiling and book review, screening of an episode of the New Masquerade, cutting of Birthday Cake and other activities marking the event.
\u200e
\u200eThe event was attended by people from all walks of life.<\/p>\n

Ctz. UKOHA NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia <\/a>State.
11-06-2025.
\u200e<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c\u200eIT IS MORE REWARDING TO CELEBRATE PEOPLE WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE\u201d \u2013 GOV. OTTI, AS Abia STATE GOVT. CELEBRATES THE 75TH BIRTHDAY OF CHIEF ZEBRUDAYA OKORO IGWE NWOGBO ALIAS 4:30 On the evening of Tuesday, 10th June after commissioning 14 Road Projects earlier in the day across Aba, the \u200eAbia State Governor, His Excellency, Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}