Nollywood actor, filmmaker, and international writer, Amala Charles Mmaduka, popularly known as Pitakwa, has explained how his poor and humble background made him rich.
The last child in a family of six and a Geology graduate of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, he began his acting career eight years ago and has featured in over 50 movies.
He explained that his father was not rich at the time he was born and that while growing up there were days he went on empty stomach.
He said he did not have many options back then, but he read everything he could lay his hands on, adding that he also learnt how to do menial jobs and to save.
“I did odd jobs as a child and in my undergraduate days,” he said. “Poverty disciplined me. I became an adult as a child.”
He noted that the way one chooses to handle ugly situations may lead to salvation and succour, and may bring solutions from the unlikeliest of actions. He added that it starts with not giving up.
“The Pitakwa you see today didn’t jump down from the sky marking faces and killing the shows,” he said. “I’ve my own scars which shows that I’ve had my fair share of a rough life. I only chose to make the best out of my ugly situations.”
He said he was able to publish his book in the United Kingdom as an undergraduate and earned good money when reading was practised and appreciated.
He noted that he may not have arrived at the level he wants to financially, but having wallowed in penury, he feels a certain level of financial freedom that was only achievable through hard work and personal development which was fuelled by fear of failure and the horrors of poverty.
He encouraged people and his fans to forget about their poor background and be motivated to achieve greatness for themselves so their children would not blame them the same way they blamed their parents.
“And if you fall and decide to stay down, I’ll find you, and ‘I go mark your face’,” he joked.
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