Bemigho Awala is a specialist in communications. Awala who is Storywoxs54’s Chief Story Teller tells
SEGUN KASALI about his life.
Looking back at your life what experience would you have loved to handle differently?
They say hindsight is 20/20. One incident that I believe I should have handled differently occurred during my time at university. The school officials had written to the head of the Faculty of Arts students’ organisation about an exercise they planned to carry out that would have made life more difficult for the students, particularly in terms of access to photocopying services and book sales. We had attempted to reason with them but failed.
So, despite the fact that talks had stagnated, they came to the faculty to make good on their threats. I was so furious at the bad faith behavior that I quickly mobilised some students and stampeded them out of the building; 24 hours later, I was summoned to the Dean’s office, where I received a harsh reprimand on the vice-chancellor’s orders Unfortunately, the authorities swooped in and carried out their machinations as soon as we returned home for the holidays, leaving me bitter.
Does that indicate a determined personality?
I won’t call myself tough, but if tough means being able to weather the vicissitudes of life or keeping the course in any worthy fight for the human person’s rights and dignity, I’ll gladly embrace this label. I’ll never forget that for the first three years of my secondary school years, I was a boarding house student. My house was conveniently located near our school, CMS Grammar School in Bariga, Lagos. You learned survival skills and grew up quickly in a boarding home. After that, I became a Day student in my senior year and had to go from Victoria Island to Bariga and back every day. Many leaders have the trait of being determined on any given subject; after all, why waste time debating? Being decisive comes naturally when you know your business and have overcome your fears.
That isn’t to say you didn’t have time for pranks.
My parents were strict, so I didn’t have much room to perform pranks. My mother was the strict, no-nonsense parent. Interestingly, she used to say that a child’s heart is full of stupidity, and that the rod of correction will drive that foolishness out and save the child. But it was clear that the penalties were motivated by love and served as a corrective mechanism to ensure compliance. Attending the Sun Beam Bible club at UNILAG as a kid also extinguished any prankish tendencies that might have existed in a fun and energetic me as a child, while keeping me on the straight and narrow path. However, because every child has a mischievous streak, my pranks were restricted to hiding my siblings’ belongings about the house, but growing up was a blast.
How much fun did you have?
I had a wonderful childhood full of beautiful memories. I remember attending a book launch at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies as a primary school student and member of the school choir and playing some melodious tunes like Ojurere ati emimo and Omo mi seun rere which made the late Chief MKO Abiola, who was the chief launcher at the event, smile and applaud our efforts. Or the time I lit the boarding house on fire during a social night just a month into my secondary school experience as a boarding house student with my thunderous performance of the song Shepherd of my Soul.
Really?
Yes. It was enthralling. My hostel friends hauled me shoulder-high that night, dubbing me Awala the celebrity. As a JSS 1 student, I was also challenging the Senior Perfect in the molue bus on the way to the Cathedral Church of Christ in Marina for our Founders’ Day celebration on June 6th.
Why?
Senior students, of course, are always looking for ways to humiliate the younger pupils. But mine was different since I fought it in every way possible. Yes, I recall like current events as a kid because I was a member of the Press Club in elementary school. As a result, it was not uncommon for me to represent my set in quiz competitions during my junior school years. Clearly, our parents went to great lengths to ensure that we had a balanced childhood in which we could learn, make mistakes, and revel in the innocence of the era.
You had nicknames?
I have not had too many nicknames except for certain creative usages of my surname. I recall that in primary school, teachers often reduplicated my surname especially when they were looking to hail me, and so they would say AwalaAwala, or my friends in secondary school re-christening me as Awaly Moore. And then at the University of Lagos where I was heavily involved with the student union government as a member of parliament and had very good oratorical skills. Whenever I launched into some exciting and probably a show-off demonstration of my verbal dexterity during debates, some honorable members would teasingly refer to me as Hon Awala Wahala, to which I would retort and say that I only give people with skeletons to hide, wahala (problems).
How much did dad’s life influence yours?
As a child, my default answer for the time-tested question around what do you want to be when you grow up? was simple, a theatre artist. And my response was basically based on my early aculturalisation to the dramatic arts, given that my dad worked in the audio-visual space as a producer and director and I had been privileged to attend theatrical productions and visited the set of some of his TV projects as well. My dad has worked in the theatre, television and film industry for over five decades. He left NTA as Head of Drama in 1980 with so many projects under his belt that include Village Headmaster and Artiste Showcase. He would team up with the late Jab Adu to direct Adio Family, Turning Wheel, and the Young Ones. Other projects he worked on include an adaptation of Cyprian Ekwensi’s Jagua Nana’s Daughter, Tight Rope, an advocacy TV series and MNet’s Doctors Quarters. He also worked on Bisi, Daughter of the River as an assistant director and then directed Prince of the Savannah, a feature film. He was one of those at the vanguard of deepening the practice of independent TV production in Nigeria and served as the pioneer Secretary General of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria, ITPAN. From what I have reeled out, you see where my creative genes probably come from. I sort of fell in love with the lime-light. My grandfather, the legendary Pa. L.O Antonio made me fall in love with the books as my birthday gift growing up would always be a copy of Readers’ Digest, so it is therefore understandable that the arts would be my first true love. And to be fair, I then began to act in church plays and wrote a few scripts as well, growing up.
Do you have any regret not practicing?
Well, there is a nexus of some sorts with what I currently do as a communications professional but then I have no regrets, considering that I have worked across the whole spectrum – in theatre as an actor, director, and writer and production manager. In film and television, I started off as a production assistant, worked as an assistant director, and moved on to directing live shows and documentary film projects, where I have several awards to show for my efforts. I worked in radio as a news editor before I segued into public relations, marketing and other related matters. The common denominator in all of these expressions has got to do with that strong element of story-telling. Thinking about it one of the favourite roles in which I was often type-cast during my stage acting days was that of the narrator. As such, it won’t be far seek to say that I was born to tell stories.
What are the traits in you from your parents?
I picked up several traits from my parents. On my dad’s side, being able to put in the long hours on the creative grind, standing up for what you love and believe in and maybe love for the Afro. I recall when someone had demanded a bribe from my dad in order to secure an admission to one of the Unity schools for me, he flatly refused to deal and that episode left an indelible impression on my young, impressionable self. My mum is intentional and very deliberate, more like decisive. Action mama, they used to call her back then. I think I got her boldness and irrepressibility. She’s quite indefatigable. She is also fair, kind and always willing to help out to the best of her ability. Those were values I picked up while growing up. My parents love to curate materials, so you’d find my mom’s NYSC ID card lurking in some corner of her well-arranged shelf or my dad’s proposal for some project which he wrote in the nineties neatly tucked away in some file in a suitcase. The past is prologue they say but evidently it is very revelatory in terms of the epistolary.
How did you meet your wife?
I met my wife at an academic conference on Nollywood which was held at the Afe Babalola auditorium in UNILAG. I was billed to present a paper around representations of political corruption in select Nigerian videos, which essentially was a condensation of my Master’s thesis, and she was a journalist at one of the fast-rising media houses at that time. I think after my paper, she wanted some comments from me for the piece she was writing and I asked for her card when she was done. The rest as they say is history.
What are the turnaround events in your life?
This is a really tough one with so many fierce contestants. From when I gave my life to Christ to when I got married, or when I won the first-place prize at the inaugural Afrinolly film competition for best documentary or when I had my son. Truth be told, I am a blessed man and a grateful beneficiary of God’s munificence.
What are your philosophies?
My life’s philosophies are premised on scriptural teachings from the infallible words of the Almighty as inscribed in the Holy Bible. This is because, of all the books I have encountered, I have had the most engagement and interaction with the Bible. The Books of Proverbs for example is perhaps one of the best MBAs you can get on life. I believe that all things work together for my good and trust me when I say that this has become my manifest reality. I am unapologetically pro-Bible and I believe that it contains basic instructions for winning in all areas of one’s life. That said, I am also a firm believer in the dignity of the human person and so, I have a strong aversion for anything that debases our personhood. “Love all, bear no ill-will towards others and in all your doings, strive for your inner peace”, are some of my favourite sayings.
What are your relaxation techniques?
I relax watching football games, as a Chelsea fan and playing basketball. I find playing with my kids also very therapeutic. We must never get to the point where we lose that childlikeness. I believe that at some level, it helps us keep our sanity and preserves our sense of worth and aspiration. As a filmmaker, watching documentary film, series.
Guess you are giving back.
I have been giving back via mentoring and volunteering activities. Once a year, I have some young people in UNILAG that I help prepare for a drama festival. Help them with the basics around acting, directing, stage management, lighting and set design. I also volunteer at an annual teenagers’ camp meeting, having benefited from such an initiative, as a young teen. I am also actively involved with a few alumni initiatives hoping that we can deepen the culture of alumni engagement and endowment. It is my desire very soon to institutionalize something that will make my giving back more structured and scalable.
IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Revealed! Details Of South-West APC Leaders Meeting With Presidential Aspirants
- Supreme Court Has Cleared Civil Servants To Participate In Politics, Falana Tells FG
- Battle For New Alaafin Begins As Ruling Houses Insist On Producing Next Oba
- Court Admits More Evidence Against Alleged Fake Army General, Bolarinwa
- I’m Every Man’s Choice Now, My DM Is Crazy —Eniola Badmustribuneonlineng.com/revealed-details-of-south-west-apc-leaders-meeting-with-presidential-aspirants
- It Is Now Bye To Decency: Crazy Fashion Trends At Owambe Parties