POWERFUL : Can I meet you

LATEEF: My names are Abdul lateef Oladimeji Adetola, but recently, a whole lot of people call me Osuolale and some will say Kabiyesi Oni miliki of Miliki express, that’s the name of my T.V programme that runs on Orisun T.V everyday.

POWERFUL: I know you as a very good actor but never knew you are into T.V presenting too?

LATEEF: Basically, I was trained by an NGO, Community Life Project, basically they talk about sexuality issues and HIV AIDS, fighting for human right etc, but what they really use in getting message to people is theatre, dance, acting and singing, so they mould me and they trained me into what I am, script writing and so on. When UNICEF came for a radio drama, they requested for their best script writer and I was chosen for the conference and was lucky to present the radio drama then, title OMO CATCH UP on radio Lagos every Sunday morning around 7:30 to 8:00am. It was run for like a year on a contract base. I shot a soap opera for Bimbo Ogunsanya titled SABABI then I was spotted by the CEO of ORISUN TV to start running a TV programme. But for the fact that I had the background of wht media presentation entails, my radio presentation idea and for the fact that I studied mass communication in school, it was not actually a bed of rose thing on that faithful day. But he love it that day and told me to start a TV programme the following week and that was how I became a TV presenter for over 2 years.

POWERFUL: Your academic background?

LATEEF: I finished from Olabisi Onabanjo University, mass communication, 2007/2008 graduating set.

POWERFUL : Actually when we first met at the International Airport in Ikeja, you told me your name is Lateef but I was sincerely expecting you to tell me Lateef Odunlade or Lateef Adekola, because seeing you on TV screen, seeing you everywhere, you just look exactly like him, most of your fans were even like: Is he his brother, what’s their relationship, self, or is he his master or should I say do you train under him?

LATEEF: NO, NO and NO… This is it, I don’t even know who Odunlade Adekola is before too not until 2006 when we were shooting a movie titled AFUWAPE, we went for the auditioning in ijebu ode as a student and I was casted to play the lead role alongside uncle Peter Fatomilola, Ogun majeek, and the rest of them. So uncle Peter called my attention that “do you know who they call Odun”, and I’m not even a fan of Yoruba movie then because I was primarily trained on stage, my whole life is stage, dance and all of that. He was like, you two look alike and recommended few movies for me to go and watch so that I can see him, I was amazed and he called Odun on phone that night letting him know that he met someone that just look exactly like him, he later gave me the phone to talk to him and he was like, “hello, they said we look like, ok, we will see one of this days”. So, I met him 3 years after in a location and we exchange pleasantry and we greeted, gist and laugh together. Not late when I started hearing that I’m his brother, NO, we are not family, it’s just God doing his unquestionable hand work, creating two different people with same look and still putting them in the same movie industry. Odun is from Ekiti and I am from Abeokuta, though Odun is based in Abeokuta but I am from Abeokuta, that’s my hoem town. Though, no problem between us, he’s a boss, he’s a senior colleague in the industry but I wasn’t trained by him, I’m with the likes of Adebayo Tijani, Afeez Eniola, Muyiwa Ademola clique, they are my boss..

POWERFUL: How do you cope with your female fans?

LATEEF: Waow, female fans…. Normally, we all have to cope, it’s all about when you do something and you are lucky for people to see you and admire you, just thank your start because a whole of other people re doing the same thing you are doing and nobody will appreciate them. I see every appreciation as a drum for me to dance to a rhythm. It now depends on me to chose how I want to dance to that rhythm, the right way or the wrong way, because every statement made by any fan be it male or female gives me a challenge. If you tell me I’m good today, I need to keep working so that you won’t tell me tomorrow that “you are stupid”. That’s what I call stardom, because we have a lot of stars but what is the true meaning of you being a star and what’s the true meaning if you now be a star and that startdom comes. How are you expected to stand the test of time? It’s just by what you do, how much you do and how much you keep working on yourself on a daily bases. So, I train myself on a daily bases via reading, taxing my brain and thinking a lot.

POWERFUL: What’s the advice you want to give to up and coming stars on the kind of books to read and those that you have read that motivated you.

LATEEF: I learn a lot from “the seven habits of highly effective people” because my father is a man that invest a lot in motivational books and I do go to his shelf and pick books and read. I believe when they say “actors”, I don’t know how some people interpret that word, but God is one actor I respect a lot and I look up to, because for crying out loud, he will just sit on his throne, he has created me and you and decided to give everybody different characters to display and he will now sit on his throne to direct the movie of our life. Most of us still have to run to him to ask him what to do next and when to do it.

POWERFUL : Who do you give kudos to in Nigeria movie industry?

LATEEF: I give kudos to a lot of people I look up to, that when they are acting, I will sit, be quite, read their lips, and study how they deliver their lines because there is this thing we call modeling shot, it’s not all about line delivery, there’s a whole lot of thing to do when you are on set. You have to interprets your lines to yourself first and now mould it with actions with modulation. I got that from uncle Olu Jacobs and Antar Laniyan, when those people deliver their lines on their long shot, they will deliver it just the same way on their close shot. I look up to Olu Jabobs, Antar Laniyan, Ibraheem Chattah, Muyiwa Ademola, Femi Adebayo, Odunlade Adekola himself and a whole lot of other people. I pick from all of them and add it up to myself.

POWERFUL : What do you do in your leisure time?

LATEEF: I’m an indoor person tho, I’m a very shy person, so I need to go out, I must go out with somebody that will accompany me in case there’s any funny scene, I will just face him and keep gisting with him even if I don’t have anything to say. But I love to put smile to someone face at least once every day even if I did not have money to offer. So, my leisure times are mostly spent with young ones around me, I love to do motivational talks, inspirational talk and do go out with friends. Though, anywhere I go, I still act and read.

POWERFUL: I can actually see it in you that you love talking and motivating with this interview session, because you are not really prepared for this interview and you deliver your answers perfectly. Which movie should we expect from you very soon?

LATEEF: I’m working on my own movie titled “THE FINAL YEAR”. It’s about complete theatre, dance, music, acting. Half of the people in the movie are going to be dancers.

COMPILED BY: Babafemi Oyedeji
for JUST POWERFUL MEDIA © 2014
justpowerful24@gmail.com