There is no adult Nigerian who has not marvelled at this screen goddess’s beauty and talent
She held Nigerians captive that year with her divine beauty, carriage and elegance
Every Sunday, between 8 and 9, we all sat in front of our TV sets praying that NEPA would allow us feast on her heavenly endowed beauty
She was a National treasure, and every young girl wanted to be Liz Benson, and our fathers had a huge crush on her, and we young boys just stared with our mouths open at this goddess as she grabbed the screen
Then all of a sudden, she disappeared. Oh my God, we could not find her on the screen, and she left a vacuum nobody has filled to date
Present-day actresses prance on our screen like antelopes, failing to fill that gap and leaving us cringing and wondering what was happening on screen
Liz was our own Elizabeth Taylor, our own goddess, the one that walked through our lives like a brilliant gazelle, making us all lie prostrate as she stepped on our backs with those pristine, pedicured feet, gliding through our lives with us all thanking God that Liz Benson stepped on our backs as she trudged through life
Fast forward almost 20 years later, I walk into Eno’s brilliant apartment somewhere in Victoria Island in Lagos
Eno is Nma’s granddaughter and sister of former Minister of Budget and Chairman of giant SEPLAT, the well-respected Senator Udoma Udo Udoma
Nma was the courageous woman who stood face to face with the colonial misfit and grabbed his gun in protest against the stiff policy and broke his gun on her knee
For her effort. She was shot at close range and killed instantly. She didn’t die alone; a lot of women jumped into the huge River Imo to their untimely death, triggering one of the biggest female-led protests in African history
The Aba women’s riot of 1929 has been widely documented.
It spread from Ikot Abasi, where Nma was killed, to Aba and from there hit Abeokuta, where Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti grabbed it and scattered it around.
It also hit Kenya and England, amongst others
Eno had just served me dry Afang, my favourite. The afang came with dry fish and well-made yellow gari
Just as I was about to sink in, she walked in
My morsel of eba dropped.
Ohh, my God!!! I looked at Eno, looked at her husband, and looked back at this beautiful apparition that just walked past me
She sat down, crossed her beautiful legs and stared at me
Mbok, mkpa – I died.
Liz Benson? Liz Benson? Liz Benson? The same one my papa knocked me very ferociously cos I walked past the TV as she came on screen
Where have you been? I asked after catching my breath
She spoke, she acted, she cooed, she flowed- her voice, velvety and floating towards me, giving me goose pimples and making my legs tremble
It was Angelina Joli that last had this kind of effect on me when she was kissing Brad Pitt the other day
Mbok, will you be Makamba? I asked
She smiled and said I don’t know o
Eno was looking, her husband was looking, and I asked again, and she said Let me think about it and Eno looked away in small disappointment
A few days later, I called her again, and she slammed me
I don’t have the energy anymore. I want to concentrate on God’s work, the timing, etc
I dropped the phone in depression but never gave up
Went on my knees and reeled out MFM prayers
This one is not House on the Rock Psychedelic prayer o, this one na hard, head modding, sweat pouring supplication to Jehovah
Ohhhh, God, I screamed!!!! Jehovah, you know you have promised me that you will never let me fast in this my life
Please don’t let me do fasting on this Liz Benson matter
Ohh Lord, I am but an Orphan born in Shomolu, but from Anyiam Nsit in Nsit Ibom LG of Akwa Ibom. I command you to go to Liz now and make her change her mind and call me
I put a bribe inside – God, if you do this, I will not watxh Porn for one day, I swear
This afternoon, my phone rang, and it was Ediye Awan, Uyai, my everlasting beauty, my adiagha awan, my pudding with the smooth skin, my….
Edgar send me the details.
Ohh Lord of Jonah, the God of Israel, the God that gave the whale diarrhoea and made it vomit Jonah has not failed me
He has delivered Ediye Liz Benson to me to make history as the only person that has brought her back….
Makamba is playing the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Centre in Lagos on December 25th, and only two shows
Make I cancel the show? I fit craze ooo
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: November 7, 2026
