₦airaland Forum

Nigeriamovies.net: How rich are you?
Efe: I’m rich enough to pick up the bills of my children and my grand children, my nephews and my nieces and friends who are less privileged. I was a victim of poverty. I spent almost ten years in Primary School due to lack of money. I went through hell. Even when I later gained a two year scholarship in college, it was a lot of struggle. So, these days, when I see somebody genuinely in need, from the little I have, I offer support. I’ve told people that, anytime I die, in my epithat, just write something there: this man lived so well, that even in death, the undertaker is very sad.
Written by Anthony Akaeze

Nigeriamovies.net: The Nollywood industry has been lamenting that government hasn’t been assisting them. Suddenly, we hear that government has facilitated a N200 million fund for the industry. How do you feel about it ?
Efe: I feel very defeated. I feel damn sad. I feel insulted. I feel assaulted. 200 million Naira is not even up to the budget of a good film in the US. So, what are we talking about? And the money is not only for the film industry. Mind you, it’s for the entertainment industry. Divide it and subdivide, how much will come to the actors guild. However, I have always maintained that government has nothing to do with the industry.
Nigeriamovies.net: But many of your colleagues have always argued for government support.
Efe: That’s their own opinion. The support we need is for the government to stamp out piracy. They have the wherewithal to do that. If you jail two Idumota based guys, this thing will stop. A man who is 49 years and you jail him for 60 years, he will not come out anymore. Others will take caution. Does it, for instance, not prick your conscience that a country of about 140 million cannot sell ten thousand copies in their own country. Ten thousand is like Ogui area of Enugu or Aguda of Lagos. In a country of 140 million population, why can’t we sell 4 million?
Nigeriamovies.net: Do you ever hope to quit acting someday?
Efe: It is difficult to quit acting because, all over the world you don’t quit acting except you are dead. If you are playing a man of 80, then you need an old man to act the role of an 80-year-old. You can’t take a young man and make him look 80; it’s difficult because your voice or acting style may betray you. So, acting is a place where everybody has a role to play along the line. But, because I personally have been around consistently since 1960, I’m now planning to build a farm in Abakaliki where I cut my teeth, where I hope to go into aquaculture, teleculture, grasscutter farming, piggery, poultry and fishery. Although I’m from Udeni, in Uhumwode local government area of Edo State, I lived my early years in Abakaliki. By this time next year, I would have gone into semi retirement. That’s to say I would now become a passive actor, not an active one. Once in a while, I will just come out and share ideas with the younger ones.

Nigeriamovies.net: There has been this lingering crisis in the actors guild. You hear of different groups here and there. What’s really the situation?
Efe: The AGN, Actors Guild of Nigeria, is like PDP. It’s a big party, so there must be crisis, you know (laughs). PDP is still in crisis even today that the party’s flagbearer Goodluck Jonathan, has emerged as presidential candidate. So, I think it’s the same thing that’s happening to AGN. And unfortunately, we the senior stakeholders are either discouraged, or we don’t have the will power to wade into these problems. But there’s also a generational shift which brings about change. But we must be very careful as we seek a solution to the crisis. Part of the problem was that the AGN wanted a paradign shift. Along the line, the young boys came in and these young boys have a problem; they are over exuberant. It’s unfortunate. When they come, they say, “oh, we are the youths.” But give them a chance, they go and mess up the whole thing. If the younger ones cannot even sit down and dialogue as one, then something is wrong.

His family lives in the United States and they will be shocked this money.

ENGLISH COULD BE THIS HARD

Breaking News-sam Loco Efe Is Dead Yesterday 6th Aug In His Hotel Room At Owerri

Efe: I wouldn’t know, to be honest. I’m not a producer. I can only hazard a guess. Some Nigerian businessmen believe that the end justifies the means. They don’t care how that end comes. I think they want to widen their tentacles. Nigerian market is getting narrow and unsafe due to piracy. So, if you want to sell both in Nigeria and Ghana, you go and bring Ghana artistes to supplement. Now, some have even started going as far as Sierra Leone. Some even induce musicians to come and act. So that when you sell only five thousand copies in Nigeria, you may even sell ten thousand copies in Freetown. It’s not too healthy but that’s what they’ve been doing.
Nigeriamovies.net: But they invariably put our own people out of job, and that concept ‘‘wholy Nigerian’’ is perhaps being eroded.
Efe: That’s right. The whole thing is now a chemistry of sorts. And it’s all money driven.

Nigeriamovies.net: You didn’t solicit for it?
Efe: I didn’t even know until I received a letter saying come, we will make you a special guest of honour. When I got there, I said well, I’ve just taken my pride of place. I thank them.
Nigeriamovies.net: Did you set out to become an actor?
Efe: From the beginning, yes. But that question has a two pronged approach. In primary school, I was fascinated by the word, Political Science. But I found that in my quest for excellence in Political Science, I probably, inadvertently, went into acting. I was in standard six when I did my first show on stage. I was the first Nigerian, I think, who produced, directed and acted a live show in Nigeria. That was in 1960 when I did Julius Ceaser. The district officer for Abakaliki province was in attendance. But it was a competition meant for higher institutions. We inadvertently put in for it. We came last.
Nigeriamovies.net: There’s a noticeable trend about Nigerian films these days. Ghanaians now feature in Nigerian films. Why is that so?

Efe: At long last, NLNG paid me back for what the federal government of Nigeria did not do. Because if you look at what the NLNG said, they said they went back to the archives and found that this was the man who did Nigeria proud thirty something years ago. So, when I read what they wrote about me – I didn’t write that about myself, I felt so proud and I shed tears of joy. I’ve received awards several times but this was the first where I thought excellence was put at the front, first and foremost, and it was a unanimous decision by their judges.

Efe: Not only part of it but I was the lead character in Nigeria’s own lead drama entry called Langbodo. I think the guys at NLNG found that this man has done this several years back. If it were footballers, after just one small silver or bronze medal, government would offer them houses, buy cars for them and give them dollars and pounds and so on and so forth. But that was a world festival of arts and culture, not only Nigerian or African; it was a world black arts festival and we came out first in drama entry and I played the lead role. And it was very well competed for.
The federal government at that time invited all the so-called best actors from the Federal Republic of Nigeria to come to Ibadan, which, at the time, was the home of theatre arts, for audition. There was no godfatherism. Just go in and do your show. We were doing audition almost three times a day. That was some 34 years ago. But it’s a shame that those of us who conquered Festac were not even given houses in Festac. It’s a big shame. But boxers attend commonwealth games and come back to receive duplexes, footballers got theirs, including the 1980 team that won the Nations Cup. People came from nowhere and got buildings in Festac but those who actually made Nigeria proud in 1977, who worked to uplift the image of this country were not even considered for such. It’s a pity. I had thought of going to court over this issue, but on a second thought, I said well, our country is not too bad anyway, it’s just that we are too slow at arriving at certain decisions. But it is on record that we did FESTAC 77. Nigeria had only one drama entry which did the nation proud. To the point that the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo, who did not come for our premiere, when he learnt of our feat, decreed that Langbodo must be shown every morning before the news broadcast and on every public holiday. That went on for a long time. The whole world knows about Langbodo-written by Wale Ogunyemi.
Nigeriamovies.net: So at long last………….

In this interview with Nigeriamovies.net, in Enugu, Efe spoke about his early years as an actor.
Nigeriamovies.net: You were made the special guest of honour at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG Science and Literature prize last year. How did that make you feel?
Efe: It came to me not just as a surprise but as a very pleasant one. Some of us have actually paid our dues, you know. But the part of the world we belong to probably has not gotten to that level of appreciating such effort. More than 30 years back, I played the lead role for this country in FESTAC 77. This is January 2011. You can imagine how long it has been……….
Nigeriamovies.net: You were part of FESTAC 77?

Sam Loco Efe is well known for his ability to make people laugh. On Friday, January 15, just before the “30-minute interview” began, Efe told the Nigeriamovies.net reporter of the need to go to a more quiet place – away from the noisy bar where he and his friends had been enjoying a drink. That made sense. As they both stood up to leave, Efe told one of the men: “Umuota, if you don’t see me in 30 minutes, call the police.” Everyone burst into laughter. That was vintage Sam Loco Efe. But the man does not like being called a comedian because he believes he has a whole lot to offer beyond humour.
In this interview with Nigeriamov

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Breaking News-veteran nollywood actor sam Loco Efe Is Dead Yesterday 6th Aug In His Hotel Room At Owerri, the 66yrs old actor died in imo state

i m an actor, we had shootings yesterday morning, he died late night in his room

Breaking News-sam Loco Efe Is Dead Yesterday 6th Aug In His Hotel Room At Owerri

Nigeriamovies.net: How rich are you?
Efe: I’m rich enough to pick up the bills of my children and my grand children, my nephews and my nieces and friends who are less privileged. I was a victim of poverty. I spent almost ten years in Primary School due to lack of money. I went through hell. Even when I later gained a two year scholarship in college, it was a lot of struggle. So, these days, when I see somebody genuinely in need, from the little I have, I offer support. I’ve told people that, anytime I die, in my epithat, just write something there: this man lived so well, that even in death, the undertaker is very sad.
Written by Anthony Akaeze

Sam Loco Efe

Sam Loco Efe is one of the most talented actors of contemporary Nigerian theatre. He has for many years distinguished himself as a rare talent for both Television (TV) and stage drama. I am Sam Loco from Benin in Edo State. Many people misplace my surname for a Delta man. Efe is a Benin name although the Urhobo people popularised it. Efe means Wealth in Benin as it also means in Urhobo but it means Cloth in Ibo. My surname is fully pronounced
Efeeimwonkiyeke, meaning ‘wealth has no time limit.’ One can be wealthy at 90 when people must have lost hope. What actually happened was that my grandmother was having only female children and after so many years, she gave birth to my father at an old age and when he arrived, the name given to him is "you see now my wealth has finally arrived." I later inherited this from my father as I was the last of my parents’ children and the only male child.

The beginning
I was born here in Enugu, but I spent my childhood in Abakaliki and a modest attempt at becoming an actor was what triggered my passion for the stage. There was a time, Government College, Umuahia came to Abakaliki with a production. We all got so excited and I said to myself that if these men can stay on stage before a large audience and render their lines without looking into any book or script, there must be something magical about it.
A few bold ones among us asked them some questions after the production and they said it was a matter of training and perseverance. So, when they left, I attempted a play that was larger than our collegiate level. I decided to produce William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I acted Caesar and also directed it without any formal training.

A different Ceasar
Finally, when my own Julius Ceasar was ready, I registered it for the provincial festival of arts. I was aware that other contestants came from institutions of higher learning like the Teachers Training Colleges. We participated as primary school pupils and took the last position in the competition but I was adjudged the best actor.
We were deeply influenced by the Roman films such that we presented how Caesar was stabbed by Brutus severally instead of one single fatal stab. We ended ours with a sword fight between Caesar and Brutus which lasted for about 20 minutes, Before Caesar eventually died, all the judges were laughing throughout the fight because they knew that we have gone beyond what Shakespeare wrote. From that point, I never looked back; having been launched into the theatre since 1960.
Education
Going to school in the East then was tough. It was not like the Western Region where students got everything free. It was tough for us, so my nephew and I alternated street trading on a yearly basis to enable the other acquire education. But because of the staccato arrangement, I must confess that I had to attend so many primary schools.
I was a very good footballer and so I went to almost ten secondary schools playing football and getting scholarships here and there and I was stubborn as well. As I was being admitted into one, I was being expelled from another.

Popularity
I would say that my popularity started in Benin around 1968 because when I arrived there, I formed the Overamwem National Theatre Group (ONTG). My group represented Mid-West (Area 2 division) in most National Arts festivals and we were into so many other things. I’ve already made my name before getting into the University of Ibadan. I just wanted to go and receive more training. My group won a lot of laurels and in 1969, I joined Michelin at Ijora and just as I’ve have always had it in schools, I was sacked from Michelin and I moved to Dunlop.

Hotel De Jordan
I was still in Dunlop when Hotel De Jordan series started (1970). I played one of the lead characters called Picado Suberu. From there, I was drafted into playing the only Ibo (Chief Ukata Biribiri) character in the play . Hotel De Jordan was never recorded, it was a live show and if we made mistakes, it would go into to the homes directly.

At that time, some few minutes before we take off, people would troop to NTA Benin to see us Live, while others stay glued to their television sets. Even when some Germans came to see us on set, they were baffled by the production of the serial. I remember the day they increased our fees to N15 - there was great joy among the cast. Hotel De Jordan was totally creative.

Village Headmaster Vs Hotel De Jordan
The powers that be did not allow Hotel De Jordan to enjoy national airtime because they felt it would open the eyes of the ordinary citizens. They kept promising us that it would go network and that promise lasted until the production was rested.

The play had entertainment value and all that. Even people on transit through Benin that saw the play wondered why it was not on the network belt of the NTA. But that is Nigeria because those who created their own programmes did not want other programmes to compete with theirs.
Lead role in Langbodo, FESTAC ’77
There was an order by the federal government that all the states of the federation should bring their best actors to Ibadan for audition. I was not a staff of the then Bendel Art Council, but I received an invitation. However, on the day we were to make the trip, I got to the council’s office and one of them started calling names. I listened but I did not hear my name. So, I approached the man and lodged my complaint. He replied, " Oga abi you no see say your name no dey inside?".

The then Director of the Bendel Art Council, Aig Imoru saw me storming out and asked me what was going on. I showed him the the letter they sent to me and asked him why my name was dropped.

The man did not offer any tangible explanation. Fortunately, two of the people whose names were in the list did not show up, so the director said to me, " Sam Loco take your load in and find a seat." He therefore made a philosophical statement, which I would never forget as long as I live. He said, " this is a rejected stone but he will surprise you." We went to Ibadan and returned. Thereafter, we received a formal letter to report to camp.

Picking a role in Langbodo
The personalities and the quality of actors in the camp were so intimidating. In the likes of Jimi Solanke, Femi Osofisan (Now Professor), Dr. Seinde Arigbede among others. So, I was on the look out for a role in which I would have few competitors. First, I started with the role of the Obong of Calabar. I read the lines on the first day and the Director was impressed. But during the second and final reading, I was told that I hadn’t the nuances of the Efiks. So, I lost the role.
I moved on to try the role of the Ostrich, which had only four lines. I read the script well but I was told that my neck was too stiff. I did not know that a small boy in Hotel De Jordan got that role. As soon as I lost the role, members of the Bendel Art Council were sarcastically re-echoing what their Oga said about me earlier. "See the man wey oga say na rejected stone oh (he is been rejected up and down)." So, I went to play the role of a tree but I was not flexible enough. After that, I went for beads making. We were making beads and from time to time, if any Artiste failed to show up, Professor Adelugba would shout, " Sam Loco, go and read those lines. At a point, he started calling me Roving Ambassador. One day, Jimi Solanke failed to show up. While I was busy making beads, I was called upon to read out the part which I did.

Trouble in Langbodo
Out of the seven lead characters in the play six of them came from the old Bendel State. Then others started grumbling and protesting aloud. Some people felt that the best way to end the crisis was to drop Sam Loco. The production team went and brought somebody back from his study leave in England to play Akarogun (the role I won by merit). They toiled all night to make him play the role but at the end, he kept on fumbling and wobbling. John Ikwere asked sarcastically, if there is any other person from Germany?" I beg let Sam Loco play his role. That is how I ended up playing the role, which almost cost me my life. On the night of the performance I was attacked spiritually I would prefer to describe it as slightly. My legs suddenly swelled up. I couldn’t even perform but late Wale Ogunyemi who wrote the script threatened that he would withdraw his script if I did not play that role.
Competition for roles
Remember that all the states of the federation were represented. The drama turned out to be the best drama entry for FESTAC. Secondly, there were more players than positions. it was like having ten Okocha’s for a match, yet only one of them will wear jersey number 10. Nevertheless, it was a nice family and it was almost impossible to uncover the bad eggs in the camp. We thank God nobody died in camp.

Obasanjo did not watch Langbodo live
Nigeria had just two major entries for the Performative Arts in FESTAC. There was a dance, titled Children of Paradise, and Langbodo. OBJ as the Head of State was at the performance of the Dance entry. But as the story went then, at a particular point we learnt that he hissed and walked out. Remember that many African countries came with fantastic dances, but wanted to reflect our cultural diversity and that was what killed the entry. At the end of the day, it was like we had too many ingredients for one soup. So, Obasanjo walked out midway into the performance. So, when he was told that Nigeria was presenting a play, the ghost of the Children of Paradise was still haunting him, so he did not come to see Langbodo. But when he learnt about good impressions generated by the play; even among the Heads of States in attendance, he (OBJ) later came to visit us at our FESTAC Town camp and ordered the NTA to air the play every morning for the duration of the festival.

Why the Langbodo artistes ended up great
The Langbodo artistes are latent world beaters in their individual rights. The play became a medium through, which most of them were able to let out the steam in them and thereafter exploded. The same set of artistes hit the screen with Nigeria’s first serial drama on television Winds Against My Soul. Langbodo changed the focus and attitude of many people that took part in it. Today, many of those people are either alive and waxing stronger or are dead but left indelible marks behind.

Between the stage and screen
Basically, I am a one-man riot squad. Whatever I set my mind on I can accomplish. I have mastered the art of taking one step first and when the stream is not too wide then I take another step. My earlier training whether formal or informal was on the stage. The transition wasn’t what I would describe as difficult. When people were trying to transit from stage to the tube, some found it difficult because the demand was that you should be better off on stage physically but on tube, you need some mental inputs and all that. I was always involved in WNTV programmes. So, I started looking at these things as no more challenges but excitements you know.

Home video
Cinema culture was coming into Nigeria gradually but many people did not realize it. I got to know this long ago. Somehow, I knew that movies would soon overthrow live theatre. I got to know that in Europe that was already happening and that only the true lovers of live theatre are sustaining it.
I took part in some of the first few Nigerian movies shot on celluloid. When the explosion took place I was already home and dry. I can say that I am a stage and screen artiste to the core and my interests had never clashed.

Sam Loco’s influence
I am always pleasantly surprised whenever I read some of the interviews of our young actors and many of them that I have not even met attribute their rise to my influence, I feel so fulfilled knowing that I have influenced so many people so positively.

Challenges in Nollywood
I can say that the movie industry began with genuine theatre and movie people. As soon as things started getting better, charlatans found their ways into it. In their legion now there are a mixture of purpose, some are in Nollywood not because of the urge to be a Thespian nor the willingness to learn but I believe that as time goes on, we shall flush such people out. This is a house I helped to build and it would be madness for me to allow people with no history to rubbish the much that has been achieved.

Marketers and some actors
I don’t buy the idea that he who pays the piper dictates the tune, I can agree half-way that he who pays the piper suggests the tune. If you dictate and I can’t play the exact tune, what then happens? So the marketers came in and started cornering the entire business to themselves by pumping in huge sums of money. When the elites or graduates came in with an alternative market, for four months, they produced four films and made some millions and suddenly became more Catholic than Pope. Before long, that experiment died. If they had succeeded with the alternative market there would have emerged a kind of healthy rivalry. After they failed, the trader-producer re-emerged full-force and now they are in full control and people are shouting. I will not just go and make a statement on the present problems because I want to be quoted as having said whatever I say. You see the marketers have the market, we have the tools, they don’t employ us, we employ ourselves. Nobody employs Sam Loco, no! They employ my services.

Parley with marketers
When I assumed the position of the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, the first thing I set out to do was to establish contacts with the marketers and invite them to a family meeting. The issues involved, I did not spell out but they knew it. “First and foremost, let us realign that word, ‘ban.’ It is no ban because you cannot ban a creative mind. You can say, you want to discontinue their services to you.” We slated a meeting of the AGN for February but because of the various states’ elections it has been impossible for us to meet. You’d remember that the state elections generated a lot of heat that could have ruined the image of the AGN. I believe that before we conduct the national election we must have held the meeting. I believe that the meeting should bring to an end this ugly trend that has done anyone no good. We shall tell ourselves the home truth and if there is any aspect of our behaviours that is not good, I will apologize for that and if there is any on their part I will also demand for an apology on behalf of my members.

Story lines of Nigerian movies
I would not say that I am satisfied but I would rather say that I am happy with the progress made so far. Critics in Nigeria like to jump the gun. How old is Nollywood? We cannot deny that the story lines are getting better, even as we cannot deny that the performers are also helping to make things get better. However, there is a need for continued training by the stakeholders in the industry. But we shouldn’t deny that progress is been made.

Best paid job
I think Langbodo was my first truly well paid job. Being a national production we were well paid. I was being treated like an egg because I played the lead role. On screen, I think it’s my best paid job.

How come you never thought of remarrying? {Oct 2007}

My wives died. I owe them one small honour. My youngest child is about 24. I am not used to old women; and if I go and marry a girl of 24 who will be the same age with my last son, my last son might be tempted to ‘chase’ the girl. It does not pay me at all. There will be no intra or inter family respect any more. You don’t expect my first son, who will be older than my new wife, to call her madam. But as long as she is the wife in the house, she should be respected. So you see, there is nothing I can do unless I want to create explosive situations: your family would be sitting on a powder keg, which requires only a matchstick to it ablaze.

But I have married o. I have six wives. My six children are my wives.

So what is your vision like, what do we expect?

I have told you that I am going back to farming. I am going to be as successful as I am as an actor right there on the farm.

And remember there is a role for everyone. Instead of making up a young boy who is 30 to act the role of a 100-year-old man, I can act that role. Still, we must leave the stage when the ovation is loudest.

Where is home for you now? Is it Enugu or Onitsha or Benin?

I am an actor plenipotentiary. I am the most Nigerian actor. I don’t believe in segmentation. I am from Benin like I told you, but I am one of the few prophets who have not visited home much but who are known in their home.

If I had been younger, if I had thought about it when I was younger, I would have taken wives from all the tribes in the country.

breaking news-sam loco efe is dead yesterday in his hotel room at owerri