Pictorial Glance at Professsor Laz Ekwueme, A man of many part

Professor Laz Ekwueme, 'Eze Ijikala II - Ozioko' Igwe Oko, Anambra State, is a man of many parts. He is an actor, choir conductor, music composer, a teacher and traditional ruler of his community.

We hardly see you in films these days. Do you still act?
Yes I do. I play Igwe roles and I have played many other roles. I act, but recently, they have not been paying me well enough to act. People like to buy you cheap. Though I am not a proud man. People think I am an arrogant bastard, who thinks the world should fall at his feet because he has a degree in music. But people confuse arrogance with pride. People confuse self-confidence with pride. When you do what you know how to do well with confidence, they say you are proud. They want to pay me peanuts and I say to them, where do you see any Ph.D holder on the screen? Where do you see a Professor on the screen? Where do you see an Igwe on the screen? Where do you see a one time university orator on the screen and you want to pay me peanuts? Yet, you are prepared to pay midgets millions. I know they are good; I like them and they are my friends but the Nollywood has suffered misfortune of being piloted by marketers. They are not interested in the quality of speech. The are not interested in the nuances of interpretation, and they don 't notice the difference between this man and that man. Because of it, they have not been calling me so frequently, and I refuse to be belittled beyond a certain level. I am not exorbitant, but some others play politics. Once they ask for me, they tell the people that Prof. Ekwueme is so busy and you can't get him. They are intimidated. They are in apparent competition with me and they want to take the small money since acting is the only thing they do.
You are a composer, an actor, a teacher and a traditional ruler. How do you combine all these? That is a very serious problem I have had to live with in the last 72 years. I 'm a man of multiple interest. I'm so diverse. I have more or less done everything to the point that it was so difficult to choose a career. The career I eventually find myself was at happenstance. I had interest in very many things right from my childhood. I had flare for singing, music, mathematics, English, tradition. I had diverse interest. At school, Government College, Umuahia, I had interest in the arts as well as in the sciences. Back then in school, we were fortunate to have very good teachers. A balanced education meant that you studied virtually everything including Religious Studies and Carpentry. But you took school certificate in subjects at that time, four arts subjects and four science subjects. You could then choose your career in either the arts or sciences. Most of my mates got into the sciences anyway; only a few went into the arts. I was good in drama at Umuahia. I could also play games a lot. Everybody had to play every game. Some of us even went into boxing. I almost went professional in boxing. Later, I changed from boxing to Karate. I am a black belter in Karate, but not at 73. It would be foolhardy for me to break tables with my fists now. But this is to show you the diversity of my interests. It was difficult for me to choose a career and having no money made it more difficult. My English master, P. J. Johnson, wanted me to read English. He took me to St Johns College in Kaduna to help him teach and establish the school in the way of Government College, Umuahia. My Maths teacher wanted me to do Engineering. My principal felt I should be a writer because I wrote for the school magazines. Of all these, I was at loss to choose a carrier. I didnt have money to go abroad at that time. So, I worked in Enugu. I followed my principal 's advice rather than that of my Maths or English teacher. But then, we had what we called festival of arts. The festivals were held in regional centres like Enugu, Ibadan, Zaria. I was good in writing, music and drama and painting. You could take examinations in music, but couldn't take examinations in theatre. I took examination in music and I won a Federal Government schorlaship to study music. That was how I left the country.
Were your parents able to suport your education abroad? 
They couldn't. In fact they couldn't afford to take me to Government College, Umuahia.
So how did you go to Umuahia? 
Don't think I'm being self-centered or that I am blowing my own trumpet. But at the time we went to Umuahia, you had to be very brilliant and lucky. I say that because it is the truth. My primary school headmanster, the late R. O. Iwuagwu, was a very good man. He prepared 12 of us to go to different secondary schools. GCU was the first. The first test was on mental arithmetical. It was used as an elimination process. If you didn't score up to a certain point in that arithmetic, they wouldn't bother to mark your other papers. We did test in English, Mathematics and General Knowledge. Average students could do well in English and General Knowledge, but not in Mathematics. Out of those of us that went for the entrance from Ekwulobia Primary School, we took the eight subjects. About eight among us got seven out of the eight subjects. They did not come to GCU. Three of us remaining went for the interview. There were another four subjects. One of us got three out of the four subjects, he didn't come to Umuahia. Two of us were just the ones taken finally. That was why I said luck had to do with your being accepted in Umuahia. One mistake, you are out. At Umuahia, we had three square meals a day, we had soap, we had iron to iron clothes. I had a scholarship. My late uncle paid the equipment fee. If hadn 't gone to Umuahia, I wouldn't have got scholarship to further my studies. Many of us became doctors, many became engineers and a few went into the arts. Umuahia has produced great number of writers like Chinua Achebe, Gabriel Okara, Saro Wiwa. But many of them didn 't go into the arts. Achebe initially went to study Medicine. I gave up Medicine, because the smell of formaline makes me throw up. When I started my music, I didn't leave drama; I continued studying Drama in England. Also, languages we did in Umuahia, I found them necessary for music studies at the degree level. I had to do a language course in Italian and German.
So how many languages can you speak now?
English and Igbo very well; German and Italian, fairly well; a little Yoruba here, a little Efik there. I am just trying to explain the diverse interest that made me go into different things. While I was in England, I did a lot of acting and modelling. People thought I was good looking when I was young. If you go for ten casting session and you were chosen in all sessions, you don 't need a priest to tell you that you are good looking. I did a lot of modelling and advertising in England. I was very much also into religion. I was a Lay Reader of the Anglican Church at the age of 20. Despite my sins and all, I was pure until at least 24. I had too many interest and that may have obscured my choice of a career. I thank God that things happened that way, other wise I would have ended up as an engineer which I didnt like. I would have been a very unhappy engineer.
How come you decided to come back to Nigeria after your studies abroad? 
That is a million dollar question. When I was studying in England, I was always analysing and thinking, ah, this would work in my home, this would not. I believed that when I come back, I would be the authority in music. Very few people had degree in music. I Have been very lucky to have had the best of education and having the best teachers in the world. All the shortcomings were of my own making. God has given me opportunities that are so rare. One has to be realistic. You may be a good conductor but you can 't imagine the London orchestra being conducted by a black man at that time. I had to come home. There wasn't even a question of not coming home. I came back to University of Nigeria, Nssukka, as a lecturer. I then got another scholarship to go and do a Ph.D at Yale, which obviously is America's number one university though some may say, Havard. The temptation might have come for me to stay back in the U.S. especially during the war in Nigeria. I was there in the U.S., 1966 to 1969. That was the peak of Nigerian civil war. But then, go east go west, home is still the best particularly in 1974 where there was plan to hold FESTAC '75. Prof Ade Ajayi had this vision of making UNILAG the best university in Africa. He invited the best scholars in different parts of the world to come home. I had been in America for eight years and I felt it was time go home. The war had finished in 1970 so I came back in 1974. FESTAC was moved to '77 and I played my part.
How did you adapt, coming home to teach? 
I was the second person in Nigeria to hold a bachelor 's degree in music. Two other people had a bachelor of arts in music, not quite the same as a bachelor in music. Coming back to teach at Nsukka then, I was just a young Nigerian coming back from England to teach in a Nigerian university. I founded the University of Nigeria Choral Society. We became a vibrant department. UNN was the first university to introduce music as a subject. I was one of the pioneer teachers then. It was challenging but I enjoyed it. Thank God I had set my goals in England. I was sorting myself out on what was appropriate to be taught in Nigeria and even when I went to Yale for my Ph.D, I was more careful, selecting and distinguishing what was necessary for our society.
Did your parents support you when you chose to study music? 
I am reminded of a mad man in my town who made a very witty statement though he was mad. A younger nephew of his started being mad, he was at the threshold of madness. The old mad man called his nephew and told him, 'my friend, the thing you are trying to get into is madness. Are you sure you can cope? I have been into it for so many years and look at how I am.' Anybody who watches those of us who have been in music and see how poorly we have fared financially, will not advise his wards to get into it. Nevertheless, popular music is the one that pays and not arts music. Nigerians love arts music anyway, but they are not prepared to pay for it. My father died when I was six and I had three brothers. The first one entered Ibadan when I entered Umuahia. He died early. He didn 't marry before he died. My second brother went to Kings College. He read Architecture, the first vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme. My younger brother had the best West African result in higher school. UAC gave him a scholarship to read Medicine at Ibadan. My mother was a teacher, she didnt have much say in whether we went to Kings College or GCU. There was nobody to tell us what to do or not. If you have a Federal Government scholarship to go and study music abroad, who is there to say you should not go? Will the person pay for you? My younger brother had gone to America and returned before I went to England. He had no qualms in what I was doing. He was even the one that advised me to go to Yale and not Harvard for my Ph.D.
How did you cope without a father figure in the house? 
We all gave our mother big stress. Boys will always be boys. My mother used to tell us, 'All these problems you are giving me, your children will give you more.' But my mother was a fantastic woman. She didn't spare the rod. If I tell you things we went through, you will not believe it. We had uncles who helped us, but I tell you, we had a difficult childhood. There was hardly any term in my primary school that I was not sent away for fees. We would crack kernels to sell and use the money to pay our school fees. It was just God that saw us though. My mother was a widow for 50 years before she passed on at 84.
How come you didn't marry a white woman? 
That is a very difficult question to answer. The relationship one gets in one 's youth with people one lives with, may vary from individual to individual. In England, many Nigerians were not very happy. The standard of living in England was not very high. Many of the homes were not heated. You come back home from school and you use a paraphine heater in your house. Your face will be burning and your back would be freezing. Many could not afford to live in centrally heated houses. Many of our people were not so well-to-do as to mingle with the upper class of the whites. But if you were happy in England as I believe I was, you would mix freely with the best of the society. You date white and black girls. It would be tempting to marry one of them, but if you have come from a fairly good home, even if you are not rich, you will know that it will not be convenient for you to bring a white woman home under the circumstances of your society. We found that many of those marriages didn't quite work. An average white woman would look very beautiful in her teens, but once they clock 35, they age more rapidly. An African woman will keep looking beautiful even in her 60s. I didnt go straight from Umuahia to England, I worked for some time. Even before I left for England, I had friends who were white and I went to their homes. I interacted a lot with them when I went to England. But before I went to England, I had got engaged to a Nigerian. She was my first love and nothing could distract me from marrying her. I was a member of Students Christian Movements and I had my morals. The question of marrying a white woman did not arise. It was not as if I wasn 't tempted but I learnt self-discipline in Umuahia.
Tell us how you met your first love
You must remember that I am 73 and memory fades. Everything cannot be as exact as it might have been then. The girl I was engaged to was my godfather 's daughter. We grew up together, eight years younger, innocent and beautiful. We had same characters and we were naturally attracted to each other. But we parted ways. I was in England and she was in Nigeria. As at the time I came back to Nigeria teaching at UNN, she entered University of Ibadan. There was a war and she came back to Nsukka. For about nine years, we weren't together. By the times we came together, things had changed. Many waters had passed under the bridge on both sides.
So, you eventually married someone else 
Yes.
As a traditional ruler, it is allowed for you to take more than one wife? 
It is not allowed, it is said to be allowed. If you are not a Christian, you can take more than one wife. I am a traditional ruler that can 't afford one wife not to talk of another one. I have enough headaches trying to maintain one wife and three children. I dont have girlfriends.
There is this belief that for you to be a king, you must appease the gods. Did you get to do that? What are gods? When an African Religion practitioner erects a shrine in the name of his forefathers and puts a stature there and he comes to offer libation and make sacrifices there. Is it that he is just using it as a symbol to reach the main God? I believe that is his intention. Since he cannot see God, he has a visible, tangible token which represents, for him, the unseen God. He is not worshiping the idol, he is worshiping God, but using idol as a symbol. To come to your question, I didn't have to go through any ritual other than the Christianity I know. When I was coronated, there was a bishop there. There was an archdeacon. People from different churches were there. But there was the head of the Ozo. I took Ozo title. If there is anything against Christianity in the Ozo title, remove it and take the title. If there is anything wrong in masquerade, remove it and continue with the festival. It is a sport and a culture of the people. No traditional ruler in my town has to go through any pagan rite to be made an Igwe or Oba. But some so called sanctimonious Christains think that you have sinned if you take an Ozo title.
As an Igwe, does your elder brother, former vice president, Alex Ekwueme, prostrate to you?
My niece got married recently and somebody asked me if my brother would stand up when I arrived. I explained this way. He would have been the Igwe but he felt, and I agree with him, that he would be more useful to the town not being the Igwe. There was no need for him to be tied down. Moreover, as at the time my uncle died, he was still in politics vying for the presidency of Nigeria. Because he couldnt be the Igwe, the town decided that they would accept whoever he nominated. It fell on me. I wasn 't prepared for it, but if I didn't accept it, the throne would have left my family. But the constitution has been amended now. The Igweship would be rotated from now on. You see, in Oko, Anambra State, everybody stands up when the Igwe comes, but when the Ide comes (and he is my brother), everybody, including the Igwe, stands up for him.
What do you miss as a teacher? 
I have many things in my head I need to put down on paper, but I dont have time for it because I am called upon every time. After 38 years of teaching, my pension is only about N8,000 a month. It doesnt last one week. Our governor does not pay traditional rulers much. We are paid 75, 000 a month. I have to find a means of surviving. As to what I miss, I miss much, yet nothing. We dont have quality students any longer. We have many illiterate graduates and it upsets me.

I'm reading: Pictorial Glance at Professsor Laz Ekwueme, A man of many part

Who is who at the 2012 Nollywood Movie Award

The year 2012 Nollywood Movie Awards was held on Saturday June 2nd at the Civic Centre, Lagos. Here are who is who at the event.

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Pictorial Glance at Ronke Odusanya - A well trained Actress

You appear to be very fashionable. What defines your style?

When it comes to being fashionable, I would say I took after my mum in that regard. She's a very fashionable woman coupled with the fact that my brother is a designer. He studied fine art in Yaba Tech; he makes all my native attires for me. He just calls me, and says “sister mi there is a new design in town”, and I give him money to make them for me. He is the reason I have a whole lot of native attires in my wardrobe. I wear more of English casuals these days though because people tend to think I'm much older than I am because I wear native attires a lot. 

What is it that you don't like about stardom? 

The one thing I really do not like about stardom is that it makes you pretend to be what you are not. Sometimes, you want to be yourself, you want to go out with a male friend but the fact that the person is a male, people tend to think there has to be something between both of you. Whereas a regular babe on the street is free to have as many male friends as she likes without anyone raising an eyebrow. So basically this makes me kind of laid back. I'm the type of person that likes to be myself. I'm a very natural person. Like today, i went to the saloon without any makeup, with very flat slippers and casuals because that was the way I felt like looking. When I was done making my hair, I got up to leave and the girl at the saloon said to me that she noticed I don't make up most of the time. That is me. But one thing about stardom is that sometimes you have to pretend, you have to make people see you in a certain kind of way that you're just not. Sometimes when I want to go to the market, I might just want to tie a scarf, wear shorts and a T-shirt but if I'm being spotted that way, people will start to insinuate what is not. Naturally any other person can look like that, but because you're a star, you must pretend to always look good. 

How did you come about the name 'Flakky Idi Dowo'? 

It was a movie in 2006 or 2007, I can't remember; it was a movie by Fathia Balogun. She's a sister to me in the industry. She was the one that called me up for the job I played the role of Folake. I got the name 'Flakky Idi Dowo' because the character I played in the movie sleeps around with men. The movie was a blockbuster, it was a hit and people started calling me 'Flakky Idi Dowo'. And professionally I really don't mind because people can understand why I go by that name. 

You are an actress and your brother is a designer. How many more creative people do you have in your family? 

There are just two of us from our parents, my brother and I. 

Do you sometimes miss not having a sister? 

Yes o! I really do miss not having a sister honestly but I have a Personal Assistant who is like a sister to me. She's a good girl. 

How do you relax? 

I watch movies a lot and then I sleep when I have the time. I also love playing games. 

How did acting all start for you? 

I've always liked theatre arts from day one. A lot of people say from birth, but really acting for me started from my secondary school days. I used to be involved in school drama and cultural dance; my principal noticed I was very active in that area and encouraged me. I was made the leader of these groups. Eventually after I left secondary school, I told my father I wanted to study Theatre Arts but he refused and said no way. My uncle and my aunt then said, Asewo lo se film ooo, that my dad should not allow me study Theatre Art. But my father knowing that I liked the course said that I should choose something very close to it and then I chose Mass Communication. While in school, in 2000, I saw Oga Bello with a friend of mine known as Mistura Aturamu; we walked up to him and we started working with his theatre group. We started training in his school, then it was called Awada kerikeri organisation. It was formed by Oga Bello, Iya Awero and Sunday Omobolanle (Aluwe). So finally when I graduated from school, I shot one of two movies. My first movie with my boss, Oga Bello was Baba Ologba. I was the daughter of a gardener. I played the lead role with Femi Adabayo. I later shot another movie produced by Ronke Ojo (Oshodi Oke). She's a sister to me too in the industry; she's a very wonderful woman. The title of the movie was Morolayo or something like that. I played the lead too with Muyiwa Ademola. It was a bit of challenge for me then because I hadn't worked with people like that before. I was a bit nervous but then but it was cool afterall. 

After a long time playing different roles, has it in anyway changed your person? 

I was a very shy person, but this theatre thing can turn one to an Agbero because sometimes you really have to talk If you do not some people will take you for granted, so in the process of expressing yourself , you tend to offend some people. There is this notion that some Yoruba actresses don't see themselves as Nollywood actresses. 

Do you see yourself as Nollywood actress? 

Of course I am, anywhere and everywhere and I'm proud to be a Nollywood actress. Everywhere I go people reckon with me so I really I'm proud of myself and I thank God for that. 

Why does a budding actor need to go through a theatre group? 

I said to you that I'm proud of myself, truly I'm very proud of myself because I went through rigorous training. I came into this industry the proper way; I didn't go through the back door. For people that went through the proper way, I'm sure they will always be proud of themselves. And for people that went through the back door, who feel if they date so, so and so person, then they will become a star, I say good luck to them. I wish them well but I'm sure anyone that watches their movie and ours will always spot the difference. 

What was growing up like for you being the only girl and first child? 

My sister everybody has a story to tell…Mine is…Am I sure I want to tell this story? Well, it was rosy at the beginning. My parents were together. It was a nice family but somewhere along the line they had their issues, they had to separate. I was in boarding school then with my brother when my parents separated. Sometimes coming home was not what I looked forward to because I knew I would have to spend a week here and a week there, it was terrible. Then later my father got married to one woman, and my father insisted that we had to live with him… It was hell. Imagine in my own father's house, somebody will measure Garri in a cup of tin milk and put in a bow for me and my brother to drink. My brother and I would then have to leave the Garri to swell and still we will have to struggle with it. It was really tough. She was like devil. She was really a devil. She later left and my father got married to someone else again but it was the same thing. Later I left the house and took my brother. My father was a good man; I won't take it away from him. He sent me through school, he sent my brother through school. Even in the midst of nothing, he fought for us to be educated. I won't take it away from him. My father is the best in the world even though things happened between us but he's still the best daddy. If I have a second chance to live again, I will still want him to be my dad. But later on he was retired, he couldn't pay my school fees anymore, I had to start doing odd jobs. Two or three years ago, I was on iyabo ojo's set Eromi and the house used as the set in Ikorodu is a building I know too well because I was one of those who worked on the site when it was being constructed. Mo ru Konkere, Mo ru block. Ajo ko ile ti mo ti lo shoot ninu e ni (we built that house with them, that we went to shoot in). And the day I got into that house, I was just crying because I remembered that particular day that I carried that pan, my neck got snitched and I just put it down. I broke two blocks and they didn't pay me, I was crying. My brother had to eat. It was really terrible. My mum by then had already lost her job because my father told her to retire because he was still working then. My mum didn't have anything to fall back on. She was poor. She had drained her bank account so we went back to zero. So it was like fending for brother and my mum. It was tough... 

The story of your life is great one, are you not thinking of doing a movie of it? 

I don't want to because I don't want to remind myself of it again. It's my past and I want to try and put it behind me. When I got into that house, I was shocked. I ran back outside and I looked around. I called my brother and asked him if he remembered the house that we built with the owners, with a friend of mine Ope. It was my friend that introduced me to the job. My friend had three brothers and their mum was a teacher so they were doing that job to help her. She was a music teacher and a choir mistress at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Headquarters. She was one of their choristers. She introduced me to the church. I was a born again then too. I was one of the choristers; the first set of choristers when they first built RCCG camp. We used to stay with my friends mum in her house. She will cook beans for us and from there we would go and do that job with her children. At that time I went back there, two, three years ago, the woman was dead. I cried because I remembered then that she was like a mother to us. 

Looking back from where you are coming from how do you feel? 

Ha! I owe God a whole lot. I owe Him my life. If He wants my life right now, all I will just say to Him is to accept my soul because I feel that I'm fulfilled. My brother is okay, my mum is fine. I'm always marveled when people say, that girl, when did she become an actress now she's riding a jeep. I look at them and smile. That's coupled with the fact that, it's not been easy because in my industry, you need to have a background if you don't want to date a director, a marketer or producer. It is not to say that those people who are dating them are not good people. I'm not saying I cannot do it, if I have a reason to I will but so far I haven't. It has just been God. So I owe God my life and I owe my mother…I don't know. My mum is wonderful. She is born again and she says she doesn't have a reason not to be. My mum used to be an outgoing person, you know I said she's very fashionable but now she's all for God. 

Do you still work for God in church? 

My sister, I work for God but in another way. I'm no more a chorister. I do things in the house of God; I think that is what I can do now because of the nature of my job. But I still go to church and I still know Him as my God and He will always be my God. 

Talking about friendship, you've said wonderful thing about your friend. What is the worst thing a friend has done to you? 

Friends have pierced my heart with a sword countless times but there was this particular one that was very nasty but I always don't like to talk about it because I've promised God that I've left her for him. So I don't want to talk about it. 

Basically who are your friends in the industry? 

Everybody is my friend in the industry but I'm closer to my contemporaries. We have elderly friends too but my contemporaries are my friends. 

What is your take on sexual harassment, speaking about the Yoruba Nollywood industry? 

My sister it is not by force o! I don't believe anyone intimidates anyone. We've all got free will. It is what they want to do… If you know what you have and you trust in God you will get to whatever height you want to get to, it might just be slow but it will be steady. So no one is forcing anyone to sleep with them those who do it, do it out of their free will because they want to become a star in five minutes so I would not blame those who will seize that opportunity to sleep with them. I would not blame anyone. Life is about choices. If you have the inherent talent and trust in God, you will move mountains. I'm not afraid of anyone. No one made me, God made me. Though, through the help of my boss Oga Bello (Adebayo Salami) and a few other friends, God made me. Funke Akindele too is a very wonderful friend. I won't take it away from her. Ronke Oshodi Oke, Fatia Balogun, Dayo Amusa, Adebayo Tijani, Afise Eniola, Femi Adebayo, Kola Odunlade, Abeokuta causus. I have a lot of friends in the industry. Iyabo Ojo is wonderful. I have a lot of them. They're wonderful people because I do not produce but they still take it upon themselves to owe me a role in their movies. That's why I always say thank you to them. 

Have you ever tried your hands on movie production? 

Yes, I produced a movie in 2003 but it was not a pleasant experience. Then, it was the first N2millionaire I had, I ever saved, out my struggle, and then the money went just like that. But I would not say it's a waste because it helped me to learn more but I've not just found a reason to produce movies now because my hands are full. I have jobs to do and I'm happy about that, but that is not to say that I would never produce but right now I'm not cut out for it. 

What is it like being an independent woman? 

I think it is beginning to be a problem because anytime I'm in a relationship, the guy in question most a times gives me an attitude. I'm always the first to take a walk because I tend to tell myself there is really nothing I will miss. It's been a bit of a challenge for me. I'm used to being all by myself. Till date, I hate people barging into my privacy. That is not to say that I'm not a loving person. But the mentality I've always had behind my head since my struggling days is that, I believe that if anyone wants to date me, he wants to take advantage of me. Even when I'm starting a relationship, I'm always very conscious. 

Are you seeing someone at the moment and when do you intend to seal it? 

I'm into a serious relationship I just hope it works out. That's all I can say. 

So far, have you won any awards? 

Yes, I got one in 2008. I won the supporting actress category at the City People Awards. But really I don't believe in awards because I feel they those who organise these awards do not pick people on merit a lot of the time but recently I've been nominated for BON Awards.

I'm reading: Pictorial Glance at Ronke Odusanya - A well trained Actress