‘The Kasimu Yero we knew’

Late Kasimu Yero is the most well-known villain in Nigerian entertainment, but was known among friends and colleagues in the TV and film industry for his big heart, candour and sense of humour. Here, his colleagues talk about who he was to them, and how they remember him.   It didn’t matter how the message […]

Late Kasimu Yero is the most well-known villain in Nigerian entertainment, but was known among friends and colleagues in the TV and film industry for his big heart, candour and sense of humour. Here, his colleagues talk about who he was to them, and how they remember him.

 

It didn’t matter how the message came, whether online or on the covers of newspapers, the message was same and shocking: Actor Kasimu Yero had died, and it happened on Sunday September 3 after a protracted illness.

For many Nigerians, especially those in Northern Nigeria, when the news broke, they would remember ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’, that 1980s television series on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) where he played the lead role of ‘Uncle Gaga’. There’s also Abubakar Imam’s television drama series, ‘Magana Jari Ce’, meaning ‘Wisdom is an Asset’.  

One of Sadiq Daba’s favourite work-related memories of Yero was during the time of ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’. “Kasimu was everybody’s friend,” the veteran actor said, his voice filled with emotion. “I still remember his humour, no matter the situation he finds himself in he believes that tomorrow can always be better.”

“Kasimu Yero had different parts to him,” another veteran actor, Sani Mu’azu said. He explained that people knew Yero as a comedian, but he was a bunch of knowledge, an encyclopaedia of a sort. “For example, we were directing a part in Queen Amina and he was playing the Waziri. We got local swords and I was to direct the action scene and the first question he asked me was if we were doing English fencing or what kind of fight did I have in mind? That was fifteen years ago. He sent me back to school because then I realised that all my life I have been watching fight scenes and I had never thought of how our warriors used to fight. I had to go back and learn in order to direct that fight scene.”

Another memory Mu’azu has was when Yero wore a Hausa royal garb and “you think it’s all about wearing a royal costume, but he would take you to school and let you know why certain things are worn at certain occasions. He had so much knowledge. But more importantly he was a bunch of humour and could crack jokes at every moment,” Mu’azu said.

When ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’ reigned as one of the most watched TV series back in the 1980s, Peter Igho was behind the scene as producer. He described late Yero as a very unique person. “He was the life of the camp. Whenever he was around, he had incredible stories and jokes. Any topic you bring up, he knows something about it,” he said, adding that the deceased was very professional. “Once he’s on set, he delivers the best. Most importantly, he was a very loving and friendly person. He can give his last money to someone in need. 

Film producer and actor, Rabiu Rikadawa met Yero on set of ‘Magana Jari Ce’. He and some other colleagues were younger then and he remembers this: “Though we were not as exposed as they were, yet Late Kasimu Yero related to us as if we were his equals. He never underrated us because we were not in the same hierarchy in acting with him,” he said. Ever since, they maintained that relationship and were together during Yero’s last shooting of a movie, ‘House of Baraka’ in Abuja. “I became so close to him that he confided in me. Our major discussion always revolved around how to build on ‘Magana Jari Ce’.” Yero’s wish was for the series to have a strong sponsorship that will help in projecting it to the world. 

Rikadawa was with the deceased barely a week to his death, and the news devastated him, even though he knew Yero’s condition was seriously deteriorating.

Yero was a role model and mentor to many. Among them is another producer, actor and director, Mikhail Isa Hassan. It was Yero’s life that motivated the latter to go into the movie industry. The same goes for director and actor, Falalu A. Dorayi whose encounter with the late actor propelled him to take the movie industry seriously. To him, the man is simply a legend.

Umar Yahaya Malumfashi met Yero in 1981 when he was a deputy director with ABU Zaria, through Alhaji Danjuma Katsina, popularly known as Kasagi. “In 1982, I visited NTA Kaduna and late Kasimu Yero was there for the shooting of the Hausa drama, ‘Tambari’. “When he saw me he just said to me ‘you are going to play Yaron Malam for us’ and that was how I started featuring in that NTA Kaduna’s well-known drama.”

Roles actors played sometimes remain vivid memories. This is the case with Hajara Usman who starred in ‘Hoddijan’ and Farin Wata’ as wife of Yero. “When I heard of his demise, I remained motionless for a long period of time. Kasimu Yero took me as his daughter, he respected me and I respected him a lot.” She said, adding that the deceased would keep quiet for a long time whenever he sees her on location. He told me I resembled his late wife and such a time he would be teary eyed.”

Testimonies about Yero are many. Hafizu Bello, who is now a film director, remembers how the deceased advised him to be patient and one day his name would be known around the world. Today Bello has received an award for his work as far as in London. 

Its obvious Yero had a way with colleagues. And one thing the producer, director and Managing Director, Iyantama Multimedia, Alhaji Hamisu Lamido Iyantama recalls is how, once the late actor drew him aside to point out a mistake. Iyanmata appreciated the fact that he wasn’t corrected in public and the mistake he made in a scene was quickly corrected.  

The last time Iyantama saw Yero was in Kaduna while on his way from Kano to Abuja. “I saw Yero crossing the road on foot and went to meet him. He didn’t recognize me at first and I reminded him. He laughed before telling me to take him home. I explained to him my commitment, chattered a taxi for him and gave him some money.” 

Daba, Mu’azu, and Igho share views about how men and women who have dedicated their lives to the creative industry should be remembered.

“I was devastated and shocked,” Daba said, narrating how he learned about Yero’s death. “He has been sick and in Zaria. I expected people to come to his aid. He didn’t have to go to the street with a bowl in his hand. He has done so much for his state and the country. 

Daba hardly travels, so the last time he saw his old colleague was about a year and a half ago. “At our age when we meet we talk and pray about our country and wish it well. Several of our friends have died and we look at ourselves like ‘The Last of the Mohicans’,” he said, adding that he is sick and tired of ‘posthumous colours’. “What did we do for him when he was alive, after he has done so much? He doesn’t see people either as Igbo or Yoruba, but as one people. He has friends right across the bridge. 

“There are certain people that a nation should remember. How come Kaduna State had never recommended him for award? If I think of Kasimu I think of myself today. If you want to sing somebody’s ovation, sing it while he’s alive. This government and subsequent governments, who doesn’t know about Kasimu?”

Sani Mu’azu recalled how, weeks before Yero’s death, he was on location in Abuja. “My first reaction to the sad news was to say inalilahi wa inali rajihu, knowing fully well that we are all mortals and one day we will go to our creator. He had been ill for quite a while but has remained strong.

“I have known him for as long as I have known television. I got to know him in person about five years ago. Then I was also working with a TV station. Our relationship became better about twenty years ago when I became an independent producer. We have done quite a number of projects together. Some of them I would refer to as local, some national. With the advent of Home Video Production, we did a number along with him, the most popular being ‘Amina’. There was also ‘Haja’. I have also done a lot of radio productions with him, such as ‘Garin Muna Fata’, which won accolades.” 

Yero meant different things to different people, Mu’azu explained, so he would want all artists to remember him as that person that had total dedication to any job he had. “Artists today lack that kind of value and that’s what people need in order to excel. In a country like Nigeria where artists are hardly recognised or immortalised, I think Kasimu Yero’s case should be different. I think there’s a need to name an edifice after him, like maybe the National Theatre. He has done so much.”

Igho added: “It’s a little sad that creative artists like Kasimu Yero are not as well off as they should be. He deserved a lot more. Wherever you mention his name people remember him with Nostalgia and respect. 

“I would miss his humour and humanity and of course his acting and writing creativity. He’s a man of many talents. There would have been a big vacuum in ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’ without him. Recently we had a drama in Sokoto and he was the one we called to organise the writers workshop. 

‘Cock Crow at Dawn’s’ producer pointed out that Yero would be remembered for all his productions. “We name places after politicians, but creative people are hardly recognised. And some of these creative people make more impact than even the politicians.”  

Yero was born in Zaria in 1947. He moved to Kaduna when he became of school-age to live with his grandfather, Malam Mohammed Sambo. His grandfather was renowned in Zaria and held the traditional title of Magajin Garin Kaduna. Late Yero launched into playwriting and acting early in life. His brilliance shown in the weekly television plays in Hausa which were highly rated in terms of performance and aesthetics. He made his name playing iconic characters, often portrayed in such acts as a villain. Most recently, Yero’s ‘Kasarmu Ce’ was produced by Matthew Rose, an international actor and producer.