Veteran actor, Jide Kosoko is a Prince of the Kosoko Royal Family in Lagos Island and a household name in the Nigerian movie industry. With over half a century on stage, he recounts his career experiences and also talks about some burning issues in the Nigerian movie industry in this interview by FEMI OGUNTAYO. Excerpts:
It is international women’s month. How would you describe the impact women have on the development of Nollywood?
Without women, there is no Nollywood, just get that clear. Even if you look at the financial gains, it is like it favours the women the more. The women cannot be sidelined, how do we even do it? Am I the one who will play the roles belonging to the women? The women are actually doing better in the industry now unlike in our days. We now have women who are fantastic directors and we have more women in the technical crew now than it was before. Someone once talked to me about Funke Akindele and said she seems like a very tough woman, when she appears, everyone becomes humble. I just laughed, Funke has always been like that all along, and she doesn’t play with her job at all even when she was producing small jobs. Is it not now that she has become a big name that she will not insert discipline into what she does? So, when we are at work, let us know we are at work.
What is new with Prince Jide Kosoko?
Outside entertainment, I just delved into the crisis within the King Kosoko Royal Family in Lagos and there have been wars, rift over the family’s chieftaincy, but I am happy I looked into it and reconciled all the factions. They also made me the official ambassador of the family. Within the entertainment industry, I think I am not doing too badly actually. I have realised that the demand for my service has actually increased and is still increasing and I owe everything to God because I am surprised that when I am becoming older, things are really coming and I just have to appreciate God for his mercy and grace.
It has been a long way coming for you in the industry, how would you describe your experience so far?
I started acting at the age of 10 and I am 65 years now. So, I have been in the industry professionally now for over 50 years. I started with the Ifelodun travelling theater in 1964 in a production titled, ‘Makanjuola’. I have faced a lot of challenges, when I say I started that young, then you must know I have gone through a lot, doing what my parents were initially not in support of. In those days, no parent would want his or her child to go join theatre groups and all that.
I joined the Ifelodun theatre via Uncle Dele Toyinbo, who was one of our neighbours then, they wanted to do a production called, ‘Makanjuola’ and they needed a boy of my age to play a lead role. The production was meant to be aired on NTA and also on stage. I got the role and wowed every one and that was how everything started. Everyone watched me and when I was coming back home, they told me, oh, they saw me on TV and all that, I was happy, feeling like a hero, until I got home and got the best beating of my life. So, so-far-so-good, it has been great. I must say this profession has shaped my life to be more discipline because before my parents could give me the permission then, they said, you must not miss lesson, you must not miss church, etc. Sticking to all these conditions, because I didn’t want to miss rehearsals, really helped me.
Have you ever, at any point in time, thought of quitting acting?
It has never occurred to me. Do you know I don’t know how to do any other business? All my attempts to delve into some other businesses were not really working because all my attention was on acting. It was just recently that I was advised to just set up businesses and put people in charge and that I don’t necessarily have to be managing the businesses myself.
How have you managed to stay relevant and consistent all these years?
Firstly, I give all glory to God and I must also say, it requires a lot of dedication to what one does. Acting requires a lot of dedication and focus; it is not easy combining any other thing with acting, especially when you are relevant. At the initial stage, a lot of our colleagues diversified to go try some other things and when they came back, the industry had changed. The idea of training, un-training and retraining on the job was there, it is all about continuous training. Even up till now, I learn from even the young chaps in the industry. I study some of the things they do, and I get some new techniques from them on set and improve of them. But, give and take, it is the grace of God.
What would you say about ailing veterans who have died recently in the movie industry, mostly because some of them couldn’t get financial assistance whether from the association or the government, especially in terms of health insurances etc?
You see, the thing is, the moment you start getting old; there are some things you need to start noticing in your body, don’t overlook it, take care of yourself and do a regular check-up. People are bound to die, we are humans too, and it is just because we are in the face of the public, people say, oh, another actor has just died. On the financial assistance issue, is it the lawyers or Doctors Association that cater for their members’ healthcare? Is it? Personally, one needs to be interested in his health and well-being. Anybody can get sick anytime and die, I don’t pray I just die like that, and I don’t want to blame God for not helping my colleagues and I am not blaming my colleagues for not doing it right, that is not what I am saying.
But, let us look at it critically, I am an actor, and when I am acting, I always get drunk and high on cigarette every time before I go on set, because I want to perform well to people’s admiration and they hail you. Then, there is your colleague who warns you that this thing is not good if eventually, you did all these to the extent that you got sick and they are now blaming the person that has been warning you to look after your health, then that is not right. Our people won’t even take advantage of or patronise medical programmes introduced to them by the association and would blame the same association later for not caring for them.
Even though the Nigerian movie industry has developed technically compared to your days, what are the things you think should be improved on?
If I have an opportunity to give an award, I would give it to our people because we face quite a lot of challenges, no funds, no government support etc, yet we still have some rugged ones among us who would still go on even when they weren’t getting any tangible profit back. You can see what is happening now, look at ‘Omo Getto’ for instance, and look at how it became a big bang, it gives others motivation. Netflix and other platforms also came at the right time, they are enjoying us, and the world is seeing us now more than before.
What are the projects you have in mind or you are working on?
I plan to shoot at least one cinema movie this year. My determination to shoot the ‘Boiling Battle’, that is the one I staged for Lagos at 50, I couldn’t go on with it because that would not take less than a 100 million to shoot and I don’t have such power or partner that can do that for me now. Also, I am beginning to realise that in one’s effort to contribute his quota to the societal correction, or correcting the societal ills, one is bound to do something else too, maybe just owning an online television, but I don’t really love it because they have so much bastardised it. So, many people now have online TVs and when you see what they put in there, nothing really. But I sat and look at the country as a whole, the problems facing us in this country, from the EndSARS, how it was hijacked by hoodlums, the herdsmen issue, the inter-tribal beating of war drums and several issues.
I sat and so many things came to my head, but that is not within my constituency because I am an actor, an entertainer and as much as possible we avoid delving into politics. Unfortunately, we cannot completely detach ourselves from politics because it affects every one of us in one way or the other. But I just sum all of these things together and I came up with something which I called general sickness. Already, I am putting up as a series or soap, or even giving it to a television station or putting it on my online TV, if I eventually have one.
I just need to start passing my own message across to the people. This became imperative because we are in an era of social media where when you don’t toil the line of some particular people, they start abusing you and start calling you names. So, you will eventually find out that the moral consciousness is no more in existence. People can just look up to anyone and say ‘you are mad’ ‘your father’ and all those abusive languages and they believe they can do that and go free. Yes, fine then why do we go to churches and mosques if we believe we can just behave wrongly and misquote or talk anyhow to people and strongly believe you can go free all in the name of freedom of speech.
I cannot say I know it all; I can only voice my own opinion. My own opinion may not mean anything to some people and I care less, I am only interested in what I feel is right. Even people who claim to represent us represent one tribe or the other, the leadership of the Yoruba in particular, those who say they are the leaders of the Yoruba. Well, I don’t know the criteria in which they used in making themselves leaders, who selected them? Did anybody vote for them to be leaders? There are some utterances of some of these leaders that I am not okay with, utterances that are not helping matters. EndSARS for instance, in as much as I agree with some of the things the youths agitated for, I disagree absolutely with the support of some elders and religious leaders.
When the youths are supporting the youths, I also supported the youths, but after the third day, I was no longer comfortable. Honestly, I started seeing what may happen, that hoodlums would hijack it and spoil the good intention of these chaps and it happened. Now, when it happened and we had all these damages here and there, yet, some so-called elders and religious leaders were still busy injecting statements that are capable of further provoking people. Instead of us to first of all sit and look at that fantastic agitation by the youths and look at the problems the country faced during that period and the way forward.
On the herdsmen issue, only a mad man will be happy that they are killing our people. At the same time, I believe we are Yorubas first before being Nigerians. We just have to apply wisdom. We have our own way of fighting our war, Sunday Igboho’s effort is beautiful and it came at the right time. It gave them the fear that, we are not that easy to come by, but some leaders have started failing again by expecting strong extension of that action. If we are going to start our own nation, there are better ways to go about it. In as much as I also believe having a Yoruba nation is not a bad idea, but not being disrespectful to any other tribe, look at the set of people we want to quarrel with, death doesn’t mean anything to these people, but we seem to value lives more here. Our leaders should think aright and think of how best we can approach this issue without fighting. If it is restructuring we want to go for, they should let the other people know that if this goes well, it is for the betterment of all, including them. So, let us go back to the drawing board and fight for restructuring.
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