There was an issue recently concerning you and Tunde Kelani, what actually happened?
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to say anything about myself and Tunde Kelani again. A man came to me for an interview, he asked me a question where he said ‘you have become a millionaire as far as ‘Ti Oluwa Ni Ile’ is concerned’ and I told him it’s not like that because the man we teamed up to do the movie with is the only person who is selling it.
That was exactly what I said but I read it in the paper that I said I wanted to sue the Chairman of Mainframe, Tunde Kelani, who is a good friend of mine. Kelani and I started on a friendship basis and it’s only when it becomes a matter of money that we don’t understand ourselves again. That’s why I don’t want to say anything concerning the issue again. I told someone that I’m not in any position to sue Kelani, he is my friend.
Does that mean there is no matter in court concerning you and Mainframe?
How can the matter between two friends become the matter of a court?
You claim you and Kelani are friends, but when your interview was published, did he get in touch with you?
Instead of him calling me, he said in the papers that I am a poor man and that is why I was saying nonsense.
Are you a poor man?
I’m a poor man as you can see, I don’t have money (laughs).
We noticed you have become selective in movies you appear in, is that deliberate?
Let me tell you the fact about that. Lately, I have stopped appearing in some films and the reason is this. There is an issue among our artistes, there is ANTP and TANPAN, the TANPAN and marketers are working hand in hand and they had a meeting where they stated that anybody who is a member of ANTP should not be invited to any of their sponsored films and that is why they stopped us from being given roles in some movies and we are okay. We will not beg them, I will not beg them, I will stay alone because God is always with me.
Will this segregation not create problem between actors and actresses? Won’t it affect the peace and friendship in the industry?
It is happening, they have not been inviting us for their movies, it is only Oga Bello who is my friend that has been inviting me to his movies.
This year you clocked 80…
(cuts in) Aha, don’t say 80. Who said I am 80?
How old are you sir?
Do you know when I was born? I am just above 70
Do you feel your age?
Even a young man feels his age, how much more an old man. If you are young, you must feel your age and engage in things that show you have power, but when you are old all these will go down. So, I feel my age.
But ordinarily at 8o you should be wearing more of agbada and other native clothes.
This is what I like.
Looking back are you fulfilled with what you have achieved in your career and private life?
I thank God. What else? I just returned from America, they invited me for an award, I have not appeared in movies in recent times and still they didn’t forget me. I thank God.
I’ve never regretted being an artiste. If I come back to the world again, I would come as an artiste.
Can we go back to the early days, how did you come into acting?
When I was in elementary school, Pa Oyin Adejobi used to come to our school to teach us plays that we performed for the Ansar U Deen Society, the money they collected there, they used it to pay Mallim, then government had not started paying Mallim. Then we did Joseph and his brethren, Abraham’s play and the rest.
We staged it for the society and through that I developed an interest in acting. When I left school, I went to Duro Ladipo, I was there for 6 months, then I went back to my former master, Oyin Adejobi and we were involved in what we called travelling theatre, we went from one place to another, Lagos, Ibadan, Ikirun, Iragbiji, we were all over the place and that was how I started my acting career.
I was with Baba Adejobi for 25 years, I was his manager. Baba was working at the council, so that gave me the power to be a writer, a director and an actor because Baba was always away at work before he finally retired to come back into full time acting.
I also heard you were at a time a tailor?
Yes, my father was a tailor, so I knew the trade, my father was also an Alfa, so I know how to read and recite the Qur’an.
Why did you choose acting over being a tailor or an Islamic scholar?
By the time I started acting, it overshadowed all the other interests. It took away my knowledge of tailoring and other things.
Can you remember the movie that gave you the big break in your acting career?
Before the advent of films, there was a stage play ‘Kuye’, then ‘Orogun Adedigba’, later ‘Ekuro Oloja’, these were before the movies came . Later there was a television programme, ‘Kootu Asipa; it was in ‘Ile Ti A Fi Ito Mo’ that I became Baba Wande.
Do you miss stage plays?
It is challenging. Movies stopped the stress. Can you imagine moving from place to place, carrying equipment here and there? We thank God for the invention of the movies, it stopped all the stress.
Can you compare acting when you started to what obtains now in the industry?
There are some out there that are trying, and I must also confess to you and sorry to say that some are nonsense. I like to sit down and relax by watching movies every night. I pick some that I like while some are just what I can’t call movies.
Do you think artistes now have the same passion you had when you started?
We never knew acting would become what it is now, we just liked it. We enjoyed the popularity that came from our work, when you are walking on the streets and people would recognise you. But now, everything is money, if you don’t have money in the industry you will have problem. When you go outside, the people will mob you and ask for money, and this is why many people are pursuing the money more than the passion.
Seems comedy is taking a larger part in the movies, is this good for the industry?
It is good. Life is full of sorrow and when you see something that makes you happy, you will laugh away your sorrow. I have started doing three minutes skit that I put on social media and people like it.
You have the mind of a youth, many of your contemporaries have retired and you are here making skits, when do you plan to retire?
I am still young and I have to follow the trend. An actor does not retire, I can never retire.
Most of your contemporaries are either sick, poor or in need of help. Looking at you one can see a man that is comfortable and enjoying his life. Did you save for a time like this?
It is God. Anything you see around me, anything you know and think about me is all about God. My advice for young actors and actresses is to be patient, don’t go after popularity through diabolical means.
You don’t drink, you don’t smoke. What about women?
Don’t you love women? I love women, a woman gave birth to me.
You said you like watching movies every night, who are the people you enjoy their acting?
I love all of them, I will criticise, I will enjoy, I love an actor, Okele. I love watching him a lot, there’s a guy in Abeokuta, they call him ‘Portable’, I think his name is Olu Olugemo, I enjoy watching him a lot. Odunlade too. I think they took after me, I love comedy.
What about music?
Ebenezer Obey is my favourite. I also listen to Pasuma and Saheed Osupa.
Is any of your children an actor?
None of them has taken up the profession, one is a banker, another one is a teacher, one works with MTN. In any of my plays if I ask them to feature, they’ll come, do it and go back to their profession, but if they want to come into acting, I will give them my total support.
What do you think the government can do to help the movie industry in Nigeria?
I have said it many times, the government knows us, they know where to find us and how to help us. They know we don’t have money and that they are supposed to help us. Some years ago they said they kept some millions for us, we don’t know who has benefitted from that since. I don’t want to talk about that.
When should we expect a movie from you?
Every day I think of writing plays, I have one entitled, ‘Iwa’, I’ve recorded about 26 episodes and I want it to go as far as 100 episodes. So, I’ve recorded that, it’s a television series.
and then