‘Bourdillon ordered my removal’ — Sandra Eze speaks on leaving TVC’s ‘Your View’

 

Sandra Eze, an on-air personality (OAP), has finally shared details of the incidents that led to her exit from ‘Your View’, a programme on Television Continental (TVC).

 

In a lengthy post on her Instagram page on Friday, Eze said her ordeal began during the build-up to the 2015 general election when she expressed reservations about the threat against Igbos in Lagos by Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos.

 

She claimed that the show’s producer told her not to comment on the issue during the programme which held a day after the monarch’s controversial remark.

 

The TV host explained that sensing she could not stomach the urge to speak on the issue, she decided to walk out of the live show to put herself together.

 

The media personality said after the show, she was informed that a “call came from Bourdillon” ordering that she be suspended indefinitely.

 

According to her, all attempts to appeal the suspension did not yield desired results and she later received a call asking her to resume again.

 

Eze, however, said barely two weeks after resuming the show, another call from Bourdillon “asking that, that Igbo girl be removed. And why did she come back…”

 

The broadcaster dismissed claims that she left the show because of disciplinary actions, noting that she was not the first of such to be suspended but later reinstated.

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PART 1. No, I did not leave #YourViewTVC because I was disciplined and I couldn't take it. I did not leave because I had attitude issues, or i was headstrong and refusing to take advise (really? Wow.) Nor did I leave because I wanted to focus solely on acting. Your View had a very flexible schedule... that was a cover up. I walked out during a Live show, a call came from bourdillon and asked that I be suspended indefinitely. That's the Summary, Now, the news in detail: I had never done anything like #YourView, so when Morayo agreed to hire me with Ajifa's side approval, I was elated. I was clueless about the show, i had never watched the international sister shows. I only knew Oprah and Amanpour. I went to google and started reading everything I could on #TheTalk and #TheView. I believed in her vision and I was going to invest all of me in it. One of my excitement being I finally had a female boss, no more sexual harassment. So the Show premiered, and I grew. I struggled with 2 things, I don't talk a lot, I forget a lot, so I wrote a lot. I hated politics but i read papers every day, i was always researching because, no one wanted to hear that I was too young or that the only political figures I knew was the President and my eastern governors 🤭. My Office was, as the spokes person for young adults/singles and the Igbo community. Some months later, we had a new Producer Debisi. One day in the canteen, I was having breakfast, she walked in and gave me a pep talk that changed everything. "...Sanzye, look them in the eye and make your point, ignore your age. You are beautiful and brilliant, show it!" Then she danced away. I silently chewed my kpomo... literally. I was having moi-moi and stewed kpomo 😁. Continued on next post... Meanwhile #EndSARS #EndSARS is a slogan for everything wrong in Nigeria... SARS is dissolved, now is a Slogan! #WeMove!

A post shared by Sandra Eze (@sanzye) on Oct 15, 2020 at 11:12pm PDT

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PART 8 Meanwhile, I was Filming #EveryDayPeople in Lekki. This is to show you I was juggling both careers well. After a while, it wasn't good enough for people... actors get breaks even if its 2 days or 3days...I hadn't shown up in months. They switched to she decided to get into acting, while I stepped up by telling people I couldn't handle Live TV and acting, what a lie. Almost all the privileges I had died with my exit. The only thing that lived was the constant question on why I left. They wanted to film Sanzye. SANZYE HAD VALUE, SANDRA EZE HAD LITTLE OR NONE. So I rebuilt with Sandra Eze, even though Sanzye stuck with every one. I had used it for too long from radio days, it was too late to change it. I lived my lie faithfully. I went back to acting and started building from ground up, again...10,000 naira,, then 30,000, 50,000, 100... Can I just say how good God has been to me? I never quite understood what it was I did, who did I insult unconsciously, I never got a memo, never faced HR... what did I do wrong? Put me before a panel...anything. Just tell me what it was plainly, no assumptions. I wasn't the first to be suspended. There was Tope and then Jumoke, why was mine different? Why would someone sit in bourdillon (as I was told) and play my life, my career, my emotions like badminton. I may not know anyone in high places but I am a respectful young woman and I will be respected. I waved the show goodbye and patiently waited for my face to leave that montage. Seeing my face on that tune made me sick. It took a painful long wait but a new montage was made and I rested. It was Official. Goodbye Your View and TVC. I took my time because I wanted to be sure I had flushed yesterday's anger. Writing with anger would ruin my purpose. I don't know what will happen after this but I feel free and light. #MISSIONACCOMPLISHED Dearest Holy Spirit, We did it! Thank you for the boldness! Hi5 buddy! 🤗❤❤🤗 Thank you everyone who genuinely cared and encouraged me, may God provide people who would urge you on in love, and stand by you when you need it the most. You are priceless! 🤗 This picture was taken before the show that morning, little did I know...

A post shared by Sandra Eze (@sanzye) on Oct 16, 2020 at 2:12am PDT

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PART 3 My 24 year old brain could not understand why politics was such a big deal and I had to restrict my views because of where I worked. WHY!? So, eventually Buhari won, I wasn't happy but welp, show goes on. Governorship elections... this is it. The Oba of Lagos made an inciting statement about drowning Igbos in the Lagoon (some of y'all might remember it) The next day, it was the headline in almost all the dailies. At this point, Debisi wasn't the producer anymore, Emem was. I believe she could have switched me given how sensitive the topic was and considering that this concerned a people I represented. During makeup, she asked me to ensure I said nothing about it, just ignore the story. I wasn't ok, but well, I don't want to be the person who tells my producer NO. So we went LIVE! Intro, banter, paper review, hot topic, let's talk...I said nothing about it, we were almost there. 9:50am, a guy call Hassan calls in and drags us back to paper review on what the Oba said, his comments HURT,... I waited for Morayo to cut him, it was taking forever, I started hoping someone in MCR would end the call. I was sweating. I wanted to say something, I wasn't going to be a sell out. Everything in me screamed that this was not right. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I couldn't talk, I wasn't sure what would come out of my mouth, (NBC rules: when in doubt, stay silent).. if NBC writes us, that might be a problem for the show. I cant afford that. The show was Morayo's baby but I loved that child. So i remembered, previously during one of our post production meetings, we talked about a strategy to increase ratings and trend on twitter (Your view is big on Twitter, ya'll know that.). I cant remember who came up with the idea to walk out on the show.. citing examples with Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View. We all loved it. It sounded great. But there was no instruction as to what kind of topic that applies to...we agreed it would be most natural if it shocked everyone for real.

A post shared by Sandra Eze (@sanzye) on Oct 15, 2020 at 11:53pm PDT