Wale Adenuga is a Nigerian cartoonist/publisher and a television series producer. He is best known for the publication of Ikebe Super, Papa Ajasco, Binta and Super Story magazines. These were later made TV series through his own production company, Wale Adenuga Production (WAP). In this interview by SEGUN KASALI, he assesses the Nigerian comedy industry, WAP TV and Nigerian film industry in general. Excerpts:
What are your plans for WAP TV?
We have to look at the function of a television house and if you look at the industry now with an instance of Channels TV, they specialise in news. So, we want to focus more on entertainment which includes good drama and good comedy.
Why the choice of comedy?
Comedy has been our focus since we started business over 40 years ago. That is where we have our natural endowment. Our talent is in the area of comedy. That is why we started Papa Ajasco before Super Story. Drama, comedy and entertainment generally are what WAP TV stands for.
What is your assessment of the comedy industry?
Nigerians are highly-talented. We are naturally funny and acting comes to us naturally. Most Nigerians just go to acting school to improve their skills. We are all born actors,ter musicians and comedians. Comedy can be broken down into TV comedy, stand-up comedy and comedy acting. In the area of comedy acting, we have so many good actors. Regarding standup comedy, we all know that we have hundreds of them these days. We have so many comedians and they are really good. They are international materials. We have comedy in music and there are some music productions that can be clarified as comedy. Nigerians are into comedy music and comedy acting. In Africa, we are outstanding. That is what we want to project to the world. In the future, we are going to publish books.
Does the book publication means a return of Ikebe Super?
‘Ikebe Super’ was a magazine. So, it was that same publication that got transferred into Papa Ajasco comedy in 1997. All the characters of Ikebe Super were given flesh and blood in the Papa Ajasco comedy. In other words, Papa Ajasco was promoting the ideals of the magazine in television programmes. As a magazine, Ikebe Super would not be making returns because if you look at the trend nowadays, everything has gone to social media. You turn your magazine ideas to skits and TV dramas. We may not go back into magazine production and that is the truth because according to research, it is not as good as when we were into publishing. The vendors are no longer reliable and I did a very long research on it last year. The magazine business has been ruined and that is why I have discovered that only one or two magazines are in circulation now. Most of them have gone online because hard copies are no longer sellable.
You are an adherent of professional ethics, how far have you gone in entrenching this?
What that means is that you want to do everything right. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. We are into TV programming and production. We make sure that we do not just produce anything worth watching. Our stories go through a lot of stages before we shoot them. We have a group of six professional writers who write the stories. We have top-rated producers and directors. So, we want to do everything well. For instance, you want to find out why people like Kunle Afolayan and others are doing well.
He makes use of the best writers in the country. He makes use of the best set designers in the country. He makes use of the best cinematographers. By the time you have the best hands in all these departments, the product has to be the best. The product is a function of people that have worked on it. Same with Superstory, I do not criticise but sometimes when you watch some programmes, you would not even know when you fall asleep. But, we make sure ours is full of suspense so that you cannot fall asleep. It does not come easy. Good stories do not come cheap and we spend so much on stories. Our directors are among the best in the country. And then, the set that we use, go and check it out. In essence, by the time you combine the best of this and the best of that, you would realise a good product. For instance, you want to produce a film or TV programme, number one is story and story is a department. Casting is another department and if you get your casting wrong, the whole thing would crumble.
The locations that you use, do they match the story? You are calling somebody a billionaire and you are showing only one bungalow, how does that correlate with your story? So, you have to make sure that your set and everything is perfect. Then, are the actors and actresses top notch? The music you have to pick must be good for it. Also, you have to get the best costumier that knows about costumes more than anything. You need to have a knowledgeable costumier. At the end of the day, you would need very good editors. If you have a bad editor, it can mess up all the good jobs you have been recording. All these various departments, about twenty of them, you have to make sure that you engage professionals to handle each department. So, if you are able to get the best for each department, the result would come out to be the best. But, if you want to cut corners and you are managing inexperienced hands in all these departments, the results would be bad. That is why our organisation said from day one that we would embrace professionalism because that is the only way you can excel and that is the only way you can attract the sponsors. This is because the sponsors are looking for the best programmes.
What are your projections for the film industry?
If you want to be number one and keep being at the top, you have to make sure there is professionalism in all departments. The Nigerian film industry is doing well at least when you compare it with other African countries. Nigeria is the best and in the world we are part of the top five. We are naturally funny and talented. And that is reflecting in us. For example, look at Netflix, most Nigerian movies are being streamed by a lot of people all over the world. So, my projection is that Nigeria will remain number one and in some time to come, we will be rivalling Hollywood. Hollywood is still better than us in terms of equipment. Poverty in Africa is not a new topic. Also speaking on budget, the Nigerian budget is not up to one over hundred that is used for Hollywood films. So, we can’t compare our films in terms of a few things. American movies spend millions on production. In the future, we would be better and then be able to rival with them. In terms of content, our content is really good. We thank God for the attention on us Africans at the moment. All we need is more money to improve the quality.
Where do you see PEFTI Institute in the next five years?
I see PEFTI having branches all over Nigeria. In the next five years, I see us in Abuja, Port Harcourt and the whole of Niger Delta because the film industry is developing and there is need for more training. That is the only way we can achieve better results. Modern technologies are happening every day. It is only in a formal institution like PEFTI that you can spend like three months to learn the latest development in the industry. There is a saying that “A man that stops training or educating himself will soon become an illiterate”. So, you need to keep on learning because learning does not stop.
You are hardly found in the media space. Why?
That has to do with my own personal philosophy. Right from day one, about fifty years ago, when I started business, I made up my mind that I was going to be projecting my services and not my face. My attention has always been projecting the magazines, the film and TV productions because these are the things I am selling. I am not selling my face or my private life. They are not necessary. It is not what you wear on your body that matters, it is what is in your brain that matters. That is why we always say we are nothing but pencil in the hand of the creator. At WAP, we want to project what is in our brain and not what we are putting on. As the Yoruba would say, “Big cloth does not make a big man“. So, if you want people to see you as a big man, the product of your brain would determine if you are big or small. If you look at this life, it is either you concentrate on your profession or you leave your business and then project yourself to become a celebrity. You have to choose between fame or whether you want to produce things because producing is not easy. The work you do behind the scenes is very hard.
You have ceded your company to Wale Adenuga jnr. What is your view?
It is our prayer that our children should carry on the good work that we have been doing. So, I have about three of them working with us and all of their lives they have been working with the company. The Managing Director of PEFTI INSTITUTE is my daughter. The Managing Director of WAP TV is my son . Since the time they were in school, they had been working for me and each of them has spent the minimum of twenty years in the company. It is a natural progression. We all want our children to survive and to carry on the good things we have been doing. Naturally, they developed the interest at an early age.
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