My grandfather taught me comedy – Nollywood comedian Ibu

Many people think you are from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi or Imo state. Can you let us into your background briefly? (Laughs) I’m from Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu state. Won’t you like to tell us about your family, the schools you attended and things like that? Yes. I’m from a family of eight […]

Many people think you are from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi or Imo state. Can you let us into your background briefly?

(Laughs) I’m from Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu state.

Won’t you like to tell us about your family, the schools you attended and things like that?

Yes. I’m from a family of eight children. After my father and my mother, the remaining na eight wey we dey. We were supposed to be rich but unfortunately, we were one of the poorest families in my village.

I attended primary school in my place; secondary school in Sapele, Delta State and then the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), here in Enugu.

What did you study at IMT, Enugu?

I studied Mass Communication. I’m communicating through acting (laughs).

Who inspired you into acting?

My grandfather inspired me actually. He taught me what comedy was all about. He could make people laugh from morning till night. During occasions, people would leave their seats and surround him where he was sitting because he was a great story teller. I love him so much; he made me. Even the name I’m answering now, Ibu, is his name.

Though you said your family was very poor people say you’re rich. How do you react to this?

Before this time, my family was one of the poorest families in my place. Take, for instance, in your home town where you’re living with your eight siblings – I lost my father in 1976…

How old were you then?

I was 16 years old. I was 16 when I lost my father and his death gave us a hell of problems because my father tried to make us survive, but in the long run, we suffered so much after his demise.

As a person so close to your father, how did his death affect you?

It affected me so much because all his plans for us were not achieved at the end of the day. We had to start planning again. But we are men and we don’t have to sit back, fold our hands and wait for somebody to come and rescue us from the bondage of poverty.

It was raining very heavily one night and the thatch-roof of our house was blown off by the ferocious wind. There was a hurricane. We were inside eating and the hurricane removed the roof so we were beaten by rain that night. Everywhere was filled with water. The following morning, we became tenants in our place. So that will tell you the level of poverty our family faced that time.

It seems God has used you to bless the family?

I never anticipated the position I am right now. This position I am now was very far from me; I never, never ever thought about it. But we believed there is this hand of God on the family and we were actually pursuing life legitimately, not trying to soil our hands in anything. We respected our dignity. We respected the name of the family.

So I was a martial artist when I enrolled in martial arts. I did karate for 16 good years. I taught martial arts in Federal Government Girls’ College, Onitsha then. It was fun being in that school. At the end of the day, I became a boxer. I suffered one terrible competition in Sapele; somebody beat me up like nama (cow).

Weren’t you prepared before going for the competition?

Prepare wetin? The boy too big for me (laughs)…

Why did you challenge somebody bigger and stronger than you?

The boy is an idiot. There was nothing at stake. The two clubs agreed to do something to maintain our clubs; we were not going to hit our faces. We were going to beat only our body, not on the face in boxing.

All of a sudden, he started beating me even in the presence of my people who brought music to the stadium to herald my entrance. The people were praising me and singing that I was going to win but for where? Going to win, going to win ? I no dey see road again ! Going to win, going to win I don fall for ground! Going to win, going to win …I don jump commot for ring…(laughs) .

But it is life experience. I gathered so many things while growing up. I encountered a lot. I became a very wonderful hairdresser. I was a very wonderful stylist in one hairdressing saloon at Sapele…becuse at a point, I trained myself in school after the death of my father, although my elder brother had actually given me assistance.

While I was doing the hairdressing business, I was also doing photography work. Then Polaroid cameras were in vogue. They called it wait-and-take. We will go to secondary schools, snap pictures and sell to the people. I was also a butcher. I did a butcher work. You receive whatever you want to receive and at the end of the day you go home; work-and-pay kind of job.  I did all kinds of odd jobs. I worked in a create industry when crate was actually wood.

I really worked in a create industry when crates of soft drinks were made from wood. We were assembling the carved wood.

 

Who actually introduced you to the Nollywood industry?

Eeeeehhh… nobdody actually introduced me. When they were shooting the film, “Hotel De Jordan” in Benin; then they did live transmission. So normally, we go there to watch them. So in one of that crowd I was one of those they picked from the huge crowd and said …you come, come and they pushed me to the farm and I didn’t even see my face. I was seeing my back and part of my ear when I watched it on the screen. But only me, me alone knew I was part of it and ever since then, the thing pushed me seriously into the game of acting. That was in 1978.

But the  issue is that while we were growing in the industry,  we had people who loved acting, so many of them who wanted to bring us close to them and we were very close to them. We’ve been working together; somebody like late uncle Sam Loco Efe. He had been so wonderful since I came to Lagos for this  work. He welcomed me very well and he gave me one or two jobs that actually gave way for …that expanded my ideas about acting in Lagos within that time. And he also gave room for many people to know that there are some things that are in me unharnessed. And I decided to take advantage of that call in the industry today.

Is Sam Loco your role model in the industry?

Well, yes . He and some other people because I don’t really have quite a particular people I love so much , you know. I can love you because you do well. And that is just me. There’s this girl, Chinelo Ndigwe. She is married now with two issues; she is not acting again, unfortunately I don’t know why; that was the only person that I can tell you yes…she is my role model,  that is on the side of the women actors in the Nigerian movie industry.

Now, there are some chains of men especially in the department of Stupidity  where all of us belong to now; people like Osuofia (Nkem Owoh), Chinedu Ikedieze and Ossy Iheme; I pushed them into  acting. And I taught Chinedu when he started. Ossy, he refused to act because some children were actually playing with him and I told him don’t go away. But Amayowo Uzor  Phillps now  introduced them with one script they called , “Aki-na-pawpaw”.

About other people in the comedy section, Okay Bakkassi, Victor Osuagwu, and others; they are idiots…we are all idiots…we are in the same category; they love one another and I love them too. We all play like pigeons.

Does your wife feel embarrassed when you act certain roles especially doing very funny things on stage?

She is also an artiste. She acted “Principalities” with me when we had not even come together as husband and wife.

Did you marry her because she is an artiste?

No, no, no, no,no; there is a saying in my place that yam germinates its tendril from where the body is ok. Marriage is all about love. When you find your rib somewhere, you have to follow it up, and that’s what I have to say.

So what actually attracted you to her?

Well….eeeemmm…You know say me I no fine and when I wan marry or when I want to even date any girl, I dey like girls wey fine with good shape…I dey like am. So I watched when she contested Miss Imo State. She took the second position. I was also there when she contested Miss CDGN; she came second, too. And then I was there when she contested the “Adora Ndigbo” during which she took second position again. And after watching all these, I decided to go for her and everything worked according to plans (laughs). I will advice any man who is ugly and wants to marry, to marry a beautiful girl otherwise, any of your productions (children), na you go sell am by yourself (laughs).