I ‘ve never earned more than N100,000 in my career as an actor — Olumide Bakare
Written by Fred Iwenjora
Saturday, January 5, 2008

He was a popular face on the famous sitcom, Koko Close when he played the role of the quarrelsome landlord ( Chief Oluwalambe), in this interview with Jide Ajani and Olaolu Oladipo, he speaks on the epic programme, the movie industry where he reveals that he had never been paid more than N100,000. excerpts;


We want to know how your transition from employment in the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) to being a key player in the home video industry has been.

My former president in the ANTP, I am a member of the ANTP, though we have a number bodies now in the theater art industry. The former president,Adebayo Salami (Oga Bello) who is a close friend and associate brought me into the system. After my rehabilitation, I went to him and he encouraged me telling me I could still be very active, asking me if I could join them in the home video industry. Before I knew it, this popular guy, Muyiwa Ademola and one other producer approached me in my house in Ibadan. They said they wanted me to come and play a role in their movie.


I asked them to tell me how much they were going to pay me and they said they were going to pay me 3,500 Naira. I was shocked and I asked him what kind of money was that, I wanted to know if that was the kind of money they paid to artists then. He encouraged me, telling me that it was just the starting point. He told me that my consent would do the two of us a lot of good. I introduced the idea to my mother, my mum is somebody that is very close to me. So, I told my mum and she also encouraged me, telling me that God was behind me and I went. You won’t believe it that before the end of the month, a was in about three, four other locations, raking in little money, here and there. That was my entry into the home video industry.


What was the title of the film?


I think the title was Aderounke. That must have been that guy’s (Muyiwa Ademola’s) first or second film. When we were shooting the film, we carried cameras from one house to the other on our heads, there was no vehicles to move us but I thank God for the guy today, he rides on a jeep now that tells you how lucrative the industry is.


You have featured in many films since then, what was the highest amount of money you’ve ever been paid to feature in a movie?


Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I have been paid the sum of 100,000 Naira, the only time I was paid the sum of 120,000 was when I featured as Agboniregun in the epic Yoruba film Oduduwa, since then, I can’t remember having been paid over 100,000 Naira.

Some Nollywood actors are paid up to 1 million


There are so many groups in the Nollywood industry. If you look back at your participation , what gains has been achieved so far in the industry and where do you think attention should be focused on to move it forward?


If I understand your question very well, I will say we need to make improvement in all areas. I want to say that the question of Nollywood being the term to describe the industry is faulty. Probably because we have Hollywood in America, Bollywood in India and some people believe that the best term to describe the industry is Nollywood. Who is Nolly? Who is Wood? Let’s assume that the name Nollywood has come to stay to describe the Nigerian movie industry, is Nollywood being fair to the movie industry in Nigeria?


Then, do you suggest any name?


No, I can not. It only pains that the name has been hijacked by one ethnic group


Does that signifies a dichotomy in the industry?

Yes.


How serious is the dichotomy?


My brother, the dichotomy is very terrible.


Then, what suggestions do you to remedy the situation both in the long and short term as the industry is beginning to attract attention from all directions?

The way forward is that all stakeholders in the Nigerian movie industry come together to form a common body. There so many bodies or groups now.


A veteran like you, Chief Chike Okpala (aka Zebrudaya) said he decided not to be part of the home video industry because those in the industry are not well grounded?


Yes, I think he is right because, some of us doing it (home video) are in it because of our love for the profession. You need to see the kind of insults we get from some of these our younger colleagues on locations. Anybody can just accost you on the road, telling you he or she wants you to help facilitate her/his emergence as an actor just like that.


When we look at our brothers in the Igbo category of Nollywood, one would conclude that they area better organised than you people in the Yoruba category. Why so?


The average Igbo executive producer is first, a businessman. He has a very a strong network of marketing. Being used to trading, they (the executive producer) will go all the way to sell their films.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/jan/5/304.html

arent the ones that get paid so much, banned most of the time for inappropriate behavior? I don't remember actors from back in the day ever getting banned, Bob Manuel, Kanayo, Franca Brown and such

Btw what does that article have to do with the original question?

I think what she is trying to say is that using our local languages in movies helps us more express ourselves in the best way possible knowing that when we use the language, the tendency is that we portray our traditional background better than trying to portray the English culture.

I will give you an example.

Tourists come to nigeria to see our culture and our way of life but if when they come every starts to copy european culture, they can only run away, reason
1. it may be ridiculous because you are not able to copy well
2. if you copied well, they already know that and they wanted to see new things.
They will never come back
But if u portray ur culture, no matter how inaccurate, they will never fault you. all mistakes will be icing in the cake
Igbo kwenu
Having said that, i want them both in Igbo and english.

While not wanting to be drawn into the cesspit of nairaland tribalism, it seems apparent from the newspaper report above that native movie actors -these are mostly Yorubas- are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with their english movie counterparts. Lesson: people are doing what they can make the most money from. Na culture man go chop?

The frustration expressed by the interviewee above may also indicate that less and less people are watching native Yoruba movies, otherwise simple economics dictates that there should be a boom in Yoruba movies if people are really patronising them like English movies.

Germannig:

While not wanting to be drawn into the cesspit of nairaland tribalism,

Dude stop fooling yourself. You just added to it with your irrelevant article and the dumb comments that followed

as for "na culture people wan chop", it's mentality like this that is killing Nigeria. Very soon you'll be changing your surnames to "White" because an English surname is "easier to pronounce"

D-reloaded:

Dude stop fooling yourself. You just added to it with your irrelevant article and the dumb comments that followed

/quote]

.

So for expressing my God-given opinion, I get an insult from you? Is that what nairaland is all about? Insulting people who do not share your opinion? Is this what this culture thing all about, a ''culture'' of insult and abuse?

I would be glad if you kindly refrain from responding to any of my posts again. I beg of you

Germannig:

.

So for expressing my God-given opinion, I get an insult from you? Is that what nairaland is all about? Insulting people who do not share your opinion? Is this what this culture thing all about, a ''culture'' of insult and abuse?

I would be glad if you kindly refrain from responding to any of my posts again. I beg of you

Sorry bruv,

That is the price to pay when you interact with prostitutes and ignoramuses such as TOH. As you can see, she is a cheap LovePeddler. All her Yoruba culture is abuse and abuse, and more abuse; and people like me are out to pay her back in her own coin.

Apparently you were raised around prostitutes, olydimwitted which is why you know so much about them

Now I see why you are so angry and frustrated with your life 

All shall be well, just remember even though no one else loves you, Jesus does 



As for you germannig, the whole "I am a victim" act doesnt work on me. How about you explain what that article has to do with the topic at hand.

faketan:

I think what she is trying to say is that using our local languages in movies helps us more express ourselves in the best way possible knowing that when we use the language, the tendency is that we portray our traditional background better than trying to portray the English culture.

Im glad you know how to read and understand. Hopefully your brothers will learn to do the same without whining about "ngbatism"

Those Ibos that think so highly of themselves (especially that "olydim" guy) need to check this out:

http://www.chatafrikarticles.com/articles/1111/1/BIAFRA-INTERNET-TERRORISTS-AND-I/Page1.html

Good to see this thread is now completely off topic

Good job you guys.

.

The article from the Germannig fellow adequately answers the question of the first poster. Nigerian movies are private sector driven, and so they have to go for options that bring the highest profit for them. Will Igbo language movies do that. Answer is No. Apparently Yoruba movie makers still live in the Oduduwa century, hence their difficulty in adapting and competing with the far more business-oriented Igbos. As with their dependence on oil from the East (south south and south east) they want govt to come and fund movies for them. Lazy idiots.

Moreover, no Igbo culture will be lost by not making many movies in Igbo. Culture transcends language and movies, apart from the fact that you can express your culture in any Language. Indeed, English is a Nigerian culture having been spoken for more than a century now.

@ thief of hearts

stop being jealous of the igbos.the japanese wear western suits, and yet they are more

cultured than your family.in the same way, the igbos have been able to put their culture

into their 'english' films.or have you not noticed the red caps[okpu mme mme] worn by the

actors.tell me is that english or yoruba culture? no, it is 110% ibgo culture.so shut your

ignorant mouth if you aint got nothin to say.one more thing: the igbos dont need to win

'film awards' and then have the film rot in one european archive.according to CNN,we make

Billions of Dollar$ from nollywood.according to them also nollywood is fas catching up to

hollywood.so we dont need you ignorant brat to tell us what to do.we got the billions [of

dollar$ ]to show for it .what have you got to show for yaself?tribal bitch.

85percent of African Countries admire Nigeria films ,while we Nigerians are here blabbing .

I like the film in English ,99percent igbo culture .


In Africa we are in 3 position am proud .

Remember we are ONE Nigeria

cris ninge, when you decide to write in English AND make sense at the same time, maybe I'll read your trash.

TOH and olydim
both of us are so loaded and fit for tribal argument
We guys should go ahead

plz has anyone watched movies like ,charm ,king kong ,or those animal films i would rather watch those films rather than watching so called nollywood films dat you can predict wats going to happen at the end of it , i do really suggest dat nigerian producers should be sensitive and creative to develop a films like those i mentioned .why can we do animals movies ?

cris-ngige:

@ thief of hearts

stop being jealous of the igbos.the japanese wear western suits, and yet they are more

cultured than your family.in the same way, the igbos have been able to put their culture

into their 'english' films.or have you not noticed the red caps[okpu mme mme] worn by the

actors.tell me is that english or yoruba culture? no, it is 110% ibgo culture.so shut your

ignorant mouth if you aint got nothin to say.one more thing: the igbos don't need to win

'film awards' and then have the film rot in one european archive.according to CNN,we make

Billions of Dollar$ from nollywood.according to them also nollywood is fas catching up to

hollywood.so we don't need you ignorant brat to tell us what to do.we got the billions [of

dollar$ ]to show for it .what have you got to show for yaself?tribal bitch.

Who's jealous of you Ibo palm tappers? Oh, my God! Everytime I hear this nonsense, I feel awfully sorry for you people. Look at what that Osuji guy wrote about you backward people in his essay, "Biafra Internet Terrorist And I," -- at least, coming from a fellow Ibo who was obviously tired of your boastful vanity and empty vainglory. You Ibos should be ashamed of yourselves. And you wonder why you're hated all over the world. Yes! Not only in Nigeria; Ibos are hated all over the world! I met a Cameronian lady the other day. I told her she looked like an Ibo female. Man, you needed to see how she quickly rejected that comparison by rebuking it severally and animatedly as if Ibos were a plague she was wont to avoid. When I asked why she felt that way about Ibo people, she said: "Of all the tribes in Africa, that [Ibo's] is one tribe that I am not proud of." Also, your people are all over the globe making a mess of your tribe. For instance, check this out: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/07/cake.irpt/index.html

ajisafe, please dont add to the idiocy in this thread. Let them say whatever they wish. I personally dont care about their hatred or frustration for the "ngabti" people, this is about films.

@ Combrazor:

Are you kidding me?

You need to read the comments (100's of them) coming from people all over the world. 98% of those comments are negative!

Having a full size image of a human being moulded into one ugly cake that was meant for human consumption reminds one of nothing but CANNIBALISM!

Talking about how people envy your culture -- WTF! We all remembered what the Ibos did to dead bodies of their fallen fellow rebels during the lost cause that was Biafra!

Ibos are the ones destabilizing the polity known as Nigeria. They are quick to insult other tribes, yet they cry foul when they are punished for their stupidity. You all need to grow up. Oloriburuku gbogbo! "De a yin!" Your forefathers first peddled palmwine in the back of their rickety Raleigh bicycles in and around Ibadan before they graduated to selling fake electronics and antibiotic capsules. Dealers in death! Oponu ayirada!

Check this out:
http://www.chatafrikarticles.com/articles/1080/1/WHY-IGBOS-SEE-THEMSELVES-AS-VICTIMS/Page1.html

@combrazor:

Ah, no wonder! Anyway, you're Ibo. Cannibalism is nothing to you people. What a shame!

seun, you should also delete the last 5 posts.

good job sha

Some idiots have gone so far here. This is one of the reasons people should be allowed to choose whether to be Nigerians or not.

@topic

Profit maximization is the soul purpose of making movies all over the world, any other thing can come next.
With this, why would nollywood be different, especially if it's not getting much support from the government.

Complaining about lack of Igbo movies may be worth it, but how do you convince these business men who are trying to feed their families to start making Igbo movies when they make far much money making English movies.

If we must blame anybody for lack of Igbo movies, it would have to be the wider audience, home and abroad who have accepted the nollywood movies.

I personally don't enjoy Nigerian movies, but i always get moved seeing my friends from other nationalities patronize nollywood movies. My Hausa friends here always remind me of how much I'm missing for not watching nollywood movies.

Finally, in as much as TOH and co may have genuine intention on the question raised above, i don't believe that making more movies in Igbo language is the only way to showcase Igbo culture.

The last post was precisely my point (the economics of movie business and the fact that language is not the only aspect of culture). The koko of the whole thing I have tried to make some dumbhead understand, to no avail.

I think olydimwitted should be banned. After all he's still writing tribalistic rubbish despite the fact that the thread was cleaned up

nuzo:

Complaining about lack of Igbo movies may be worth it, but how do you convince these business men who are trying to feed their families to start making Igbo movies when they make far much money making English movies.

If we must blame anybody for lack of Igbo movies, it would have to be the wider audience, home and abroad who have accepted the nollywood movies.

.

First off nuzo, I want to thank you for bringing the thread back to the topic despite the psychotic rants of ajisafe, olydmiwitted and the other imbeciles

Now I understand that English Nollywood makes more money for the industry. That's fine. No ONE is saying that they should stop. Infact I don't think you can quote anyone saying such a thing on this thread. My question is why can't they do both? Both WILL sell. Maybe one more than the other but they will both sell either way and that way everyone who likes both kind of movies can have easy access. People shouldnt have to go to the East to watch such movies. It wasnt like that before else I wouldnt have the ones that I have at home.

So the audience can't be blamed, it's the industry that should get the criticism for completely cutting off one for the other. They can make both accessible to everyone. Let us have the option to pick and choose.

Also I don't believe anyone said that such movies is the only way to show Igbo culture. Language however is a big part of one's culture though esp in Africa so why eradicate it just to gain favor from people outside? I think the excuse of "well English is an universal language" is pitiful since that hasnt stopped Bollywood from making it big in the world of film nor has it stopped them from gaining international awards.

D-reloaded:

I think olydim should be banned. After all he's still writing tribalistic rubbish despite the fact that the thread was cleaned up

D-reloaded alias Thief of hearts.

Has the thread really been cleaned up? You are such as blatant hypocrite. You can advocate for a ban of Olydim, but he will resurrect soon after. So do not even waste your time, ok.

*yawns*

D-reloaded:

I think olydimwitted should be banned. After all he's still writing tribalistic rubbish despite the fact that the thread was cleaned up
.

First off nuzo, I want to thank you for bringing the thread back to the topic despite the psychotic rants of ajisafe, olydmiwitted and the other imbeciles

Now I understand that English Nollywood makes more money for the industry. That's fine. No ONE is saying that they should stop. Infact I don't think you can quote anyone saying such a thing on this thread. My question is why can't they do both? Both WILL sell. Maybe one more than the other but they will both sell either way and that way everyone who likes both kind of movies can have easy access. People shouldn't have to go to the East to watch such movies. It wasnt like that before else I wouldnt have the ones that I have at home.

So the audience can't be blamed, it's the industry that should get the criticism for completely cutting off one for the other. They can make both accessible to everyone. Let us have the option to pick and choose.

Also I don't believe anyone said that such movies is the only way to show Igbo culture. Language however is a big part of one's culture though esp in Africa so why eradicate it just to gain favor from people outside? I think the excuse of "well English is an universal language" is pitiful since that hasnt stopped Bollywood from making it big in the world of film nor has it stopped them from gaining international awards.

There are some movies made in Igbo Language but the marketers are not really keen on pushing them, so they end up in Pound road and Iweka road. I believe it was an experiment that got out of hand and it will be impossible to reverse it. Perhaps if they were persistent with the the production of Igbo language films just like Living in Bondage, Rattle Snake, Missing Mask and co, we wouldn't have that problem now (I think it is a problem). On the other hand, if one is to watch a crappy movie and read subtitles, that's double catastrophe right in your face, because let's face it, most of these fellas are not here to give us quality, sure they can if they are bent on it but who the heck makes a good feature film in two weeks? Seriously, that's gotta be a big joke. They apply the principles of buying and selling with QUICK turnaround, therefore there is no time to cut out that man wearing Sean John shorts in a movie that is supposedly set in 1818, the shrill blood curding audio that kills whatever excitement left in the movie or the microphone sticking into the scene. I can only sit down and read subtitles if the movie is really good, otherwise I will either look for the English dub or ditch the damn thing. I am sure a whole lot of people think this way.

One thing I can say is these marketers are smarter than we envisaged (not that the smartness does us much good). Seeing that they wouldn't bother spending months shooting movie and some other months polishing things in post production, they figured they could get away with making 'pop corn' movies in English language, after all it is one less punishment, far better than getting their Igbo language films vehemently snubbed due to lack of substance and the additional hassle of reading subtitles.

grafikdon:

. I believe it was an experiment that got out of hand and it will be impossible to reverse it. Perhaps if they were persistent with the the production of Igbo language films just like Living in Bondage, Rattle Snake, Missing Mask and co, we wouldn't have that problem now (I think it is a problem).

I'm glad there are some people that see it as a problem

On the other hand, if one is to watch a crappy movie and read subtitles, that's double catastrophe right in your face, because let's face it, most of these fellas are not here to give us quality,  I can only sit down and read subtitles if the movie is really good, otherwise I will either look for the English dub or ditch the damn thing. I am sure a whole lot of people think this way.

I actually have Living In Bondage & Rattle Snake. Never seen Missing Mask though. 

Anyway I agree with you about subtitles and quality filming but see if you were to ask anyone to compare the plots/stories and acting of Nollywood to that of the indigeous igbo movies.  Very high percentage will pick the latter. Many people like to delude themselves and say Nollywood movies are Igbo films spoken in English. Not true.

One thing I can say is these marketers are smarter than we envisaged (not that the smartness does us much good). Seeing that they wouldn't bother spending months shooting movie and some other months polishing things in post production, they figured they could get away with making 'pop corn' movies in English language, after all it is one less punishment, far better than getting their Igbo language films vehemently snubbed due to lack of substance and the additional hassle of reading subtitles.

Only morons find reading subtitles a "hassle" or "chore" in my opinion and I suppose they are being "smart" but in a greedy way. A smart producer/director will put their mind in making quality not just mass quantity of the same ol' bullshit.

, I'm still searching for the Igbo films though. Any answers?