How Ohakim made me politically- Okey Bakassi

Okechukwu Anthony Oyegbule is a comedian, movie actor and an entertainer who dabbled in politics and many sectors of human life. Okey, a comedian cum actor has been in the entertainment industry for about twenty years; his name has become a household name. In this interview with UGOCHUKWU FAVOUR-MAYOR, the Senior Special Assistant to the erstwhile Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim, speaks on his political ambition, Ohakim's failure to a second tenure, his comeback movie project with the young people, and other issues. Excerpts:

Quitting politics?
Man is an essential animal, its part of the things we can't get rid of, but right now I'm fully in showbiz that's what I do. I have finished my assignment in Imo State and I am back to my primary constituency, which is showbiz. If a public service calls on me again in form of politics, I will answer.

Shunning movie scripts?
That will not be totally correct, last year I shot a movie. This year I have not shot one. The reason is that you get a point in your career you don't have to be in hundred movies to make a point. At this stage in my career, I want to do movies that my children will be proud to watch in the next ten years. I don't want to jump to scripts that just come my way. You know I love my fans and I want to keep them entertained, but this stage in my career I want to get it right. Presently, I am working on my personal movie; and when we go on location and review it, Nigerians will see it.

Would you assess your achievement as being one of the founding fathers of comedy?

I have dedicated much of my time to standup comedy. For now is more rewarding for me than movies. That is why the less of me in the movies and the more of me in shows. If you ask me, in terms of achievement I see myself as one of the founding fathers of comedy in Nigeria. It is just like when you do road construction, the bulldozers will move in first and clear the bush and also the trees before other equipments will come in and level the road and all that. So what we have done is that we've cleared the bush for the younger generation to come and make their impact. To God be the glory as well, in those years that we have been active, it has been rewarding. I don't measure my achievement in terms of money, but I see success as in the accomplishment of goals. If you set a goal and it's been achieved, then you are successful. That goal might not necessarily have to be money, but you set a target and it is accomplished. In fact, I want to thank God because if you ask me, one of my biggest achievements is being married and having children. It's not everybody that is privileged to that in their life.

Regrets?
Never! Regret is not part of my dictionary. You see most of the things I do in life, be it adventure, be it what ever, I do them consciously and at the end of the day if I don't succeed I would have learnt something from it. But if I succeed, I'm happy. So regret, I decided not to bring it to my vocabulary because I am a firm believer in God, destiny and the fact that you submit yourself to the will of God. And where ever it leads you, it leads you for a purpose.

If not Showbiz, what would have been your career choice?

You know I read Agric Engineering. I love to fix things; that is if I weren't into showbiz. I would have owned a workshop where you can fix cars or machines. To put things together, I will say I love to fix things.

Apart from showbiz, what else are you into?
Apart from being into showbiz, most of the things I do are also showbiz related. I do event management and consultancy services for people who wants to do event, and for people who are desirous of looking at the direction of life. Ultimately, as time goes on I want to do something with the young people, because I have discovered that one of the biggest challenges in the world is what to do with them. In the world today, there are still heroes and mentors but there is no cut plan on how to feature the future generation and be the leaders of tomorrow. We always say that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow, but what are those things they play to ensure we impact those leadership policies in them? Somebody graduates and no job. Somebody is in school but cannot write application. Somebody who is going to be a leader of tomorrow does not know how to talk to a woman politely, even to respect womanhood. The women also do not know how to accord themselves that respect. What kind of language are our young people speaking today? They are so much high about swag without substance. Who is teaching them how to dress appropriately? Everything negative has suddenly become style; and if we don't redirect these things, we will then let them die without mindset. And if they die, who will then lead us when we are old? It means we are in trouble; so if God blesses me I would love to run an NGO that will specifically carter for the young people, putting them on line and letting them understand the suffers of life. It is never their fault; they met a society that is almost falling apart. A society where there are no moral values, where parents are shying away from their responsibilities. A girl is in school and she is the one paying the rent and taking care of her younger ones, what does she work? Parents are happy; the most important thing is survival. Survival, however it comes.

Fame and its challenges?
One of the challenges we are facing is working so hard without earning much, as a result of piracy. Another one is the kind of society we operate in; for example, infrastructural decay, showbiz runs on power. And with epileptic power supply it will be difficult for showbiz to drive well in Nigeria. I mean we produce film that people can't watch because of light. Or even music that they can't listen to because of light, it is a topic. The fans, again, they have been good and very supportive, but their expectation is just too much and we are human beings. In Nigeria where things are difficult, sometime it's hard to stopover to a fast food joint just to get a bottle of water; because you will end up settling everybody around. And just to get a bottle of water for one hundred naira, you end up spending five hundred naira. Now, if you don't do those normal things, people will say you are forming and if you do it, it becomes another problem. Sometimes they make us feel bad becoming celebrities. I know much of my colleagues who are having problems caused for them by people. Managing people is one of the biggest challenges we are facing.

Managing scandal?
My attitude to scandal is to say that if you are in showbiz and they don't talk about you is a problem. All over the world, if there is no news on you it means you are no more. Once in a while many of my friends in the media will remember me, or it is a way to say, “Oh he is still around.” For me, the attitude to it is that, it's only a tree that bears fruit that they will throw stone, but if it doesn't bear you wouldn't see people throwing stones at it. Still on that, I will always advice my friends in the media to investigate properly, because they have damaged a lot of us and let them not use our unwillingness to fight our weakness.

What next?
My dream like I have told you is to be a successful father, responsible husband and somebody who can impact a lot on the younger generation. I have told you about the programme I am going to do with the young people, time helps and resources permits it will become a reality.

Project?
I am working on a movie project; you can say it is my comeback movie. Already, I have produced movies in the past, but I have not produced a comedy movie. I am targeting on the cinema type first before any other thing.

Ohakim's bid for a second tenure and its failure?

Let me put it this way, the former governor was not a failure. He did his best under the circumstances he found himself, and when it was time for him to leave he left just like governors before him. Life is a stage, when your time is up you leave the stage. Your time might come when you don't expect. Your time might come when you think that you are done. For the time Ohakim had, he did his best, and I think posterity and other things will judge him. Having served under his administration I will say I'm proud to serve, because I learnt a lot. In fact, Ohakim made me politically. Today, we have a new governor, my prayer and desire as Imo citizen is that our state will continue to progress. We are all stakeholders, if the state is good we will all benefit. So, governance is a continuous process, you come and you make your own contribution, the next person that comes is meant to make his own addition. One of the mistakes we electorates do sometimes is that whenever a governor comes we will begin to applaud. What was he elected to do? Okay! How many times have we applauded the teachers who work everyday to give good education to the children? But whenever a governor comes in, we will praise him to the high heaven, but if he turns his back he will become a devil to us. Yes the ex-governor lost the election. Failure has no extended family members, but success has too many of them. Whosoever is the new bride is being celebrated, any day he leaves the seat now another new person comes on blog with another bunch of followers and praise-singers. So my brother, that is what politics is all about, you know.

A word for the Nigerian youth?
To the youths of Nigeria, I'm pleading for us not loose the core values of who we are. The media today should get in now and redirect the mindset of our youths. In a quest to copy the early culture, we are beginning to loose who we are. Even the so called civilized world is dealing with issues of true identity and culture, because they lost it at some point. And now they are struggling to get it back, and they are getting it. We should be able to bring back those our lost glories of being respectful, humble and polite, and we shall see what the country will be in the nearest future.