Tribalists Have Hijacked NollywoodBy Ernest Omoarelojie - The News
Published: August 29, 2006
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Q: At some point, you played a prominent part in the home video business. But gradually, you went out of circulation. What happened?
A: I have not gone out of it as you put it. You didn’t get that right because I have always been on TV. The only thing is that I have been on the soap opera side. But I have had problems with home video producers. I was schemed out because they were not casting me. They were always casting Igbo people. I was in it at the beginning in Black Powder and a couple of other prominent ones really. In fact, if you look at the very first productions, I was there as lead actor. I featured in Living Dead, Living In Bondage, etc, but after that, I went into soap opera, featuring in Village Headmaster, For Better For Worse, Mirror In The Sun, Adio Family etc. Right now, I am on Living For Tomorrow and Heaven’s Gate. In the last 20 years I don’t think I’ve been out of TV.
Q: People may not readily accept that you were schemed out because producers want an all-Igbo cast. After all, there are some of your contemporaries who are not Igbo but are still in it. Could it be that your ideals and philosophy run counter to those of the producers?
A: That is not quite so. It’s just that they have not been calling or giving me roles to play. They used to give me Babalawo role and I played it convincingly. Again and again, I came up with the same role but I said no. That cannot be the only thing I am good at doing. I knew that they were just using it as an excuse. But after about four such roles, it was clear that they wanted to stereotype me. I said no. At some point they thought I was only good with Shakespeare roles. But I am a trained actor and I wanted to prove to them that I can play any role. Beyond that, I did a lot of jobs for which I was not paid. In The Sojourn, I was not paid my full money. Unfortunately, the guy died without paying me my money. There was another one called Decreed By God. The producer did not pay me at all. It was a case of come today, come tomorrow. I was not paid for my role in the Rat Race – not a dime. I can count so many others films I appeared in but never got paid. I got tired of all of them.
Q: Like the theatre in Nigeria, your generation of actors appears to be an endangered specie. Why is it so?
A: Yes o. We are endangered and it is so because we are not making money. For me, I took theatre as my number one thing. But what is happening to theatre is equally happening to me, as you can see. My theatre interests took me from here to virtually every town and city in Nigeria. I carried my small theatre group all over the country – Enugu, Aba, Calabar, among other areas. I also featured even in Fela’s Africa Shrine. I opened the Open Theatre thing with a play called Awero and ended it with one titled Ajegunle. I have not stopped performing except that for obvious reasons, I have not been very visible as people expect. That, I suppose, is the case with my contemporaries. And of course, we do not have the money which the new generation of actors appears to have in abundance.
Q: People still look at the performances of your generation with nostalgia. Is there any way you can bring back those moments to re-awaken people’s interest in the theatre?
A: Yes we can, if the condition is right. People of the generation you refer to will not just come back for the sake of acting. They have so many things to contend with right now even though they have the wherewithal to bring back the glory of the theatre. You cannot call them now to act or to revamp theatre without paying them good money. That is why it is going to be difficult to call them come back with the zeal that may be required to revamp the Nigerian theatre. Taiwo Ajai-Lycett is a good friend of mine and she is one woman who can go on the stage anyday if the process and remuneration are right. You need to pay her her worth. Ibidun Allison (Amebo) is another person – a dependable actress.
In fact, I am talking with her right now about how I could possibly include her in my new soap opera. I have equally got in touch with Lai Ashadele. He is my good friend and a damn good actor anyday. I am in touch with Alex Osifo, my ex-student, and they are ready to perform with me. I am working on a project in that respect. As you know, I have an acting school and I have just written a book, which will be launched soon. I am planning to invite all my contemporaries to come and enjoy with me, or rather, celebrate with me, not only to launch this book, but also my new album.
Q: Are you a singer?
A: I am a musician.
Q: That’s interesting. Will you tell us about it?
A: I went to a mission school and I was a choir boy. While there as a choir boy, I had a couple of choir masters who taught me how to play the piano. Fortunately, I went to CMS Grammar School. Art Alade was my classmate and we did quite a lot of music together way back in the school, where we had to, compulsorily, learn music. That was the background. I didn’t go to any special school for music to learn music like geography or other subjects.
Q: And now you have an album from that experience. Tell us about it.
A: This album has taken about 25 years to see the light. I started it when I was a student in America. I am releasing it now because I want to use it as part of the celebration of my 35th year in theatre. Thirty-five years ago, I did my first personal production, a play called Kolanut Junction.
The play featured people like Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Olu Jacobs, Femi Fadugba, Taiwo Jegede, Jennifer Enwonwu, the first Joy Girl and a host of good actors and actresses. They all lived in England at the time. That was exactly 35 years ago. It would be a dream come true if it was possible for all of them to be around one more time. I’d love to have all of them around.
Q: Has the theatre been good to you?
A: Em! Well, here in Nigeria, we measure everything by the amount of money one makes. On that score I cannot say yes. The reason is that I cannot say I have made money at all, even though I am a pioneer member in the industry. Thank God for home video. I am saying this for the second time. If not for home video, I don’t think anyone would be able to buy a car from acting here in Nigeria. Is there any such possibility? I don’t think so. Home video brought money into acting, even though it has now been narrowed down into an Igbo affair. I was the first elected President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN. But if you go to their office now, you will find Ifeanyi Dike named as the body’s first president. Ifeanyi Dike was the group’s co-ordinator before we had an election. During the election, they unanimously put me forward and voted for me as the first elected president. But that is not what the situation reflects in AGN’s office today. That goes a long way to tell you the situation of things. They put his picture there as the first elected president. I don’t even know what position I occupy under the arrangement. But the truth is that Ifeanyi was the group’s coordinator, not an elected president. I am a Nigerian and I don’t believe in this kind of tribal sentiments. But as it is, one cannot help but talk about it because of the way it is so blatantly displayed.
Q: If you were richer, would things have been different generally?
A: Oh yes. If I were richer, and I probably make my money from some other ventures, I would have been able to do a lot of things. I would have been able to do something about the decadence that has visited theatre. Everything appears helpless now, but it would not have been so if the money was availabe for one to provide the needed changes. It is not as if one would be able to do everything but it would help a lot.
Q: Do you have any regret?
A: No. I don’t think I have any regret in the real sense of the word. It is tempting to say, yes, there are regrets. But I don’t have any as such. The only regret I may say I have is that I have not had the opportunity to exploit my knowledge enough. You know, I could only attend Standford on scholarship. For that, and all that I have put into the profession, it is tempting to say yes, I have regrets. But I love theatre so much that words like regret don’t make sense to me. I like theatre like nothing else. There is just no room for regrets.
You know, people came from Italy and everywhere else to train in Stanford. It was very expensive. I was the only black man in the school in the early 70s. For all the knowledge and training I acquired, I would have loved to have a lot more opportunities to showcase what I have. No such opportunity came my way because of the misfortune that visited acting and indeed, the National Theatre.
Q: What is the highest point of your career?
A: My highest point? I would not say I’ve had or reached my highest point yet. I am still working towards that. One of which would be the day I am able to gather my colleagues, people of my generation, call them back again, so that we can work together once more.
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