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I found out on
Facebook that our teenage daughter Ominira is in a relationship. I am
not handling it very well. I had always assumed that I would be the
only man in her life. We have a special bond even though she is one of
our four children.

When Ominira was
born, she came to this earth with a stomach the size of that of a
starving pigeon. My wife and lover is the hardest working human being
on earth, bar none. I would not be writing today without the benefit of
her industry; she loves us and will do anything to ensure our welfare
and comfort. Well, anything except lose a second of her sleep. As long
as she is awake, she is good, but once girlfriend goes to sleep she is
genetically incapable of waking up until she is good and ready, which
is usually the next morning. If there is a fire in the neighbourhood, I
have trained myself to simply sling her on my shoulder, grab my
American passport and ask the children to find their way. LOL! Man wen
dey cry dey see road. My wife, me and my American passport are
inseparable, who nor like better ting?

I am a night owl,
my muse wakes up only at night and so most of my literary mischief is
hatched at night. I generally have the kids in the evenings after work
and all weekend when my wife is at work. Sounds like a divorce
settlement but it really is not. This arrangement works for us. I am
actually a househusband, and I enjoy the role. I learnt how to babysit
children when I was a little boy. My mother loved to give me the baby
du jour to hold while she and other women sallied forth on the evils of
men. I learnt to hold on to a baby for hours without complaining.
Complaining was usually unwise because it attracted unnecessary
roughness on my head.

So the babysitting
skills I developed as a child proved to be invaluable in America. I
loved to feed our children at night. Each night, like clockwork a baby
would wake up and demand fillet mignon in a bottle, warmed up to the
right temperature. Babies always prefer to be changed before being fed,
after which they poop and they have to be changed. They also love to be
rocked to sleep. This is stressful after you have been drinking lots of
beer, so I stopped drinking for a while. I owe the survival of my liver
to my kids.

Rocking Ominira
involved walking around our tiny townhouse, listening to neighbors and
insects making loud lusty love. Once Ominira fell asleep, I would go to
sleep until she rings the bell for service which was usually after five
minutes. When Netter_Shoks, our first child came, we were all excited,
we had a room for her, complete with a crib, mattresses, blankets,
teddy bears, chimes, and assorted cute stuff that we got from excited
friends, neighbours and relatives in this primitive American ceremony
called a baby shower. Well, Netter_Shoks hated sleeping in that room
alone; she preferred our bed, which was stressful, if you know what I
mean. My lover had no problem with our baby’s strong preference to be
between me and her. I had serious issues with this arrangement; it has
affected my relationship with Netter_Shoks. We are in counselling.

Being a
househusband is no big deal; the kids don’t know the difference. I had
a great time with them and I bonded quite well with the kids. In the
evenings and on weekends we went everywhere, they wanted to be with me.
Whenever they were cranky, I would put them in the van and drive around
our neighbourhood until they started snoring and then I would carry
them into the house one at a time.

One very cold
winter, doing my Christmas shopping, I bundled Netter_Shoks in a
carrier on my chest, covered both of us in a winter coat and went to
the mall. Two alert and nosy African American females stopped me to
peek into my chest with the memorable words: “Is that YOUR baby in
there?” They probably thought I was a child snatcher. When our son was
born, one weekend there was a snow blizzard and my lover was stuck at
work and could not come home. Night came and our son wanted to breast
feed, and his yeye lips reached for my imaginary breasts, I almost
fainted with shock. It was a long three nights without my lover.

Back to Ominira,
like clockwork every 2:00 am I would take her out of bed, tiptoe
downstairs and feed her. For two years. We became best buddies. I can
still see her two teeth vibrating with joy as I enter the room from
work. To this day, she peeks into rooms looking for me. When I am not
around she calls and texts around every where looking for me. We are
buddies. Now she is in a relationship, how does that work?

South African
director, Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, talks about his first feature, ‘A Small
Town Called Descent’. The movie, starring Hollywood actor John Savage,
and South Africans Vusi Kunene, Fana Mokoena, Lindani Nkosi, Bubu
Mazibuko and Zandile Msutwana, won the Best Visual Effects prize at the
2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards held recently in Yenagoa, Bayelsa
State.

‘A Small Town
Called Descent’ is about xenophobia in South Africa and the three men
from the elite Scorpions who come to solve the case. What’s the
significance of the title, descent into hell?

Yes, kind of.
Essentially, descent is a state of decline and for me, the town itself
is the microcosm of where I thought we were as a nation and as a
continent at that particular time. All these three guys trying to solve
the case were dealing with demons of their own. Nobody is perfect. I am
not interested in one-dimensional characters because we are not
one-dimensional people. Nobody is one-dimensional. No one is overtly
evil and no one is overtly good either. We all have dark shades. So
when I was creating the characters, I wanted to explore that theme:
that our central characters in the film should be characters with multi
dimensions and that really is what the film is about. We didn’t create
a normal police visual drama, though it may seem like one. For me, the
passion was about the fact that the characters had to show their bad
and weak sides, which is very important.

What is the significance of a film like this in today’s South Africa?

In a sense, South
Africa was isolated from the rest of the continent and the world for a
very long time. We only attained our independence in 1994 and for us to
be in a situation where there were xenophobic attacks; where black
people, my country men, were attacking other black people from all over
the continent. Calling them foreigners, telling them to get out of
their country, I had a problem with that. Also in the sense that I felt
theatrically and in the media, normal citizens of South Africa didn’t
have anything to say, we couldn’t have a voice and condemn these
attacks. I am quite fortunate being a filmmaker; it is quite a
privilege to be able to have the tools that you have to communicate
with the world. Basically, I took the tools that I had and used it to
communicate a message: that we are all one people. I think in the
current dispensation, there is no time for such, especially against
people of your own skin.

What’s the mood of South Africans to the disbandment of the Scorpions?

It was quite a
controversial issue. The Scorpions were an elite force; they are South
Africa’s version of the FBI and they had a very successful rate in
terms of conviction ratio. They went after some really powerful people
in my country. The most popular politician they went after was the man
who is currently our president. So, they were always looked on as our
conscience and when they were disbanded, there was huge outcries
throughout the country with the people saying why disband something
that actually works? That is actually defeating corruption and crime?

How was your experience making the movie?

It was fantastic. I
had an all-star cast, I worked with an actor from Hollywood by the name
of John Savage and it was my first feature as a director. I had
produced one before but it was my first feature as a director and wow,
it was a once in a lifetime experience. It was also gratifying in the
sense that you take something from writing it; from print to the screen
and that transition for me is momentous. That’s why I am passionate
about filmmaking, I like going from the pen to the screen. That
transition for me is momentous.

Did you consider bringing in another person to direct the movie since you wrote it?

I feel writing to
directing is an extension of the craft; it’s still telling a story. I
didn’t feel that I was taking on two hats or anything of the sort. I
took my passion from writing the story all the way to my other passion
which is to direct.

What is the film’s budget?

It was a modest budget of about four million South African rands. We made do with the little that we had.

What are your plans for the movie?

It has travelled
quite extensively. It debuted last June at the Durban International
Film Festival back in South Africa. From there it went to the Pusan
Film Festival in Korea, which is the biggest film festival in Asia. It
has been to Dubai, Rotterdam, Belgium. It has travelled already and in
terms of plan distribution wise, it’s going to be released theatrically
in South Africa in the next month or two. From there it will go to DVD.
It will be released in Nigeria theatrically in about two months time.

Was there no other theme you could have treated apart from the xenophobic attacks?

The film doesn’t
just deal with xenophobia; it deals also with corruption. Corruption is
the major issue. And there are also race relations. I think it’s quite
extensive in terms of themes. In fact, I have been criticised that I
deal with too many subject matters but like I said, we are
multi-dimensional people. We are not just one thing and one thing
connects to another.

Are you working on another film now?

Yes. It is called
‘A Good Report’. It’s a psycho thriller about the birth of a serial
killer. It’s a totally different type of story to what I have done in
the past. I like to try and do different kinds of materials.

What’s the cinema culture like in South Africa?

Cinemas are
catering to about three to four percent of the population, which is the
middle class to the whites, unfortunately. They are far away from
majority of the people who live in conditions of poverty. So, it’s not
quite viable for the poor people to leave the township and go watch
movies in cinemas so the DVD market is rising quite steadily.

Are you not afraid of piracy?

Hey man, I’m a filmmaker. My main thing is that people watch and
engage my movie. Obviously, I would like to make money from the film
but I just want people to watch my film.

The author of the
poetry collection ‘I am Memory’ doesn’t fancy being called just a poet.
And though she loves poetry, she wouldn’t say she prefers one genre of
literature to another.

“I think it’s too
early to judge me. I like poetry quite all right, I find it
introspective,” she says but adds that she wants to be judged on her
writings. “I’d rather be a successful writer. You know when they say
writer/poet, I want to be that.”

Born and raised in
Lagos, Verissimo who has worked as a journalist, copywriter and editor,
has made a career of writing. Writing is the one thing she is very
passionate about and she is prepared to give it her all. “Everything I
always wanted to do has been writing. It’s all I know how to do in the
sense of skill.”

Passion for writing

Writing was a habit
the writer cultivated from an early age; she started by copying writers
whose books she read. “As a child, I learnt a lot from reading. I
started to write like the writers whose books I read.”

She grew to have a
passion for the art and decided to act upon it. She resolved to
dedicate her time to writing by resigning from her day job in an
advertising firm and has declined other employment opportunities since
then to concentrate fully on her writing. It was a risk she was willing
to take, leaving behind the regular income of a day job for one she
couldn’t be too sure of.

“When you like
something very passionately, you want to give it your time, watch it
grow and understand it. The reasons things don’t succeed is because we
don’t give it time. Relationships don’t succeed because we don’t give
it time, parents don’t know their children because there’s no time,”
she explains.

Verissimo’s passion
for writing is motivated by qualities, including honesty and integrity,
that she learnt as a child. She believes that writing is one good way
to portray these qualities.

“I’m from a humble
background, from a family where we are taught that the truth is above
all else. We were taught that integrity is above all else and honesty
is very important.”

Reading is another
activity the winner of the Carlos Idize Ahmad Prize (for her first book
of poetry) loves to engage in besides writing and she discloses that it
is a source of inspiration to her. “I enjoy reflecting on what I read
and see.”

She notes, however,
that it is difficult to place a finger on what inspires her given that
she gets inspired by everything around her. She nonetheless loves
listening to people because she learns a lot that way.

Thrills and trials

The writer enjoys
the thrills of writing at her own pace, unlike when she had a day job.
“There’s no definite time for writing. When I had a day job I seemed to
have a definite time but I got fed up with the routine so I don’t have
a definite flow.”

Though she likes
writing at her own pace, she delights in writing at the least expected
moment. “Interestingly, I love to write when I’m tired because your
thoughts clash and when you wake up in the morning, you find that there
is beauty in the ashes,” she discloses.

“Every day comes
with its own challenges,” notes the writer, though she insists that
they are not really challenges. “I don’t know how to talk about the
challenges because to me, they are like the steps to reaching my
destination.”

She believes there
are no challenges when you overcome them and when you do what you love
doing. Her advice to aspiring writers is to believe in themselves.

“There are people
who write because they want to be famous and some genuinely love to
write.” She believes that writing as a career should be borne only out
of love and not because of fame.

The future

When asked about
her future in writing, Verissimo compares herself to characters in a
novel. She explains that writers usually do not know the future of
their characters until the end of the story and she likes to see her
future as something similar. “Knowing your character doesn’t mean
knowing the future of a character. Let your character flow into your
story. So I’m like that character.”

She adds that she
does not have total control over her career. “I’m a protagonist in the
hands of the being writing my own story. I don’t know what that story
is but I’m hoping I’m a protagonist that will excel and I’m working
towards it.”

One fact remains
certain though: she will always be a writer and she intends to work
very hard at it. “I’m going to work very hard, I’m going to improve my
writing and I’m going to read so that I can excel in what I do.” The
writer’s ultimate goal is to reach as many people as possible by
widening her horizon. She has recently collaborated with photographer
Toye Gbade on a collection of poems and photography. The collection
features the Makoko community and will be published later this year.

It is writing or
nothing for Verissimo and she gets at it every day. “I’m working on a
novel and I have frame works for other ideas,” she discloses. The book,
she says, is not a cause book but she is “just following the lead of
the characters.” She likes to see herself as a reader who is looking to
be entertained so she does not limit herself to a particular theme but
wants to be free to write on any subject.

However, she does not feel the same is true for her poetry. “For
poetry, I have a running theme that grows on its own. At the end of the
day, I’m socially free and try to expand myself.”

Gabriel Imomotimi
Okara is 90 today. He is old but he says that he feels strong and still
writes. I went in search of him in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Here is
the chronicle of that adventure.

I remember Pa Okara hasn’t returned my calls. He has missed several of them. I dial his number. It rings. I smile when he picks.

“Hello, sir. It’s Vincent”

“Oh, Vincent. How are you?”

I reply and quickly ask to come over to his place.

He hesitates but I insist. He requests to know when I am coming and I tell him. “3:00pm, sir.”

I am almost late for my appointment. How could I joke with an aged man?

Ndoni Street is a
close. I am in front of No. 10. I knock. There is no response. I recall
that years ago when I first visited the house, a younger woman answered
the gate. And that alone would have brought me back. But she left as
soon as I did. I never saw her again. I knock repeatedly at the gate.

I hear footsteps
from inside. Before me stands a man whose head is covered in gray, with
the exception of the middle of his head, which has no hair. He pulls
the bolt off the protector and lets me in. He’s alone in the house. I
am given a seat. Pa Okara, looking older but stronger, also finds a
seat for himself. He talks about not wanting to have any visitor. But I
am defiant. He is tired. I have to let him sleep. But not without some
words of wisdom from the man marking his 90th birthday. I bring out my
voice recorder and smile at him.

How have you managed to stay energetic, sir?

It’s a state of the
mind – my thinking about the universe, about God, all these things
about nature has kept me going at 90. I try to avoid thoughts of ageing
and dying. Sickness, disease, living and dying and life after death,
all that is not my preoccupation. I know that, one day, one would have
to grow old and die. But you don’t have to hasten that by keeping your
mind on it.

How do you feel at 90, fulfilled?

I feel good. But I
have things I have to do – still – not quite fulfilled as I would love
to. I’m still trying to do what I should do, not thinking about when I
would die. But, generally, I feel strong.

Your love for the arts, tell me about it?

I don’t know how it
came about. It is an inborn trait, what you call talent. When you are
made that way – I think you are made that way. And letting these
traits, trying to use the art to express yourself – the art of music,
poetry and painting, etc. People feel surprised that I express myself
in these artistic forms but not as I think I should – especially in
music. I play Beethoven and a lot of others.

Tell me about poetry in the 40s written by you and others from Government College, Umuahia?

The pre
Independence writers had freedom as their main theme. The young men
that were living abroad then, you have Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Ojikes, who
had American education and ideas. Their writings had majorly freedom as
it theme.

Post-independence,
there was freedom of thought and freedom of writing anything – it was
like an impetus to express oneself in various artistic forms – poetry
was influenced by the joy of freedom. And what we were doing with the
already gotten independence.

Tell me about your poems?

[They are] nothing
special. No particular theme or subject characterises my writing. The
management of this independence – the ambiences of life, it varies. And
there was a little of the political in the collection of poems titled
‘The Dreamer; His Vision.’

Have you read any of the younger writers?

No, I haven’t. I
have been in conferences with some of them but I haven’t read them.
About their writings, I think they would write what they have
experienced or what they have studied.

What makes a good writer?

What makes a good
writer is not just the chosen theme, but how successful he expresses
his idea in whatever form of literature he has chosen.

Do you still write?

Yes, I do. But I can’t disclose them.

Born on April 24,
1921 in Bomoundi, Bayelsa State, Gabriel Okara is one of the early
Nigerian poets. Though he began writing in the 1940s, he is still
relevant in contemporary time. His collection of poems, ‘The Dreamer;
His Vision’, shared the NLNG Literature Prize in 2005 with the late
Ezenwa Ohaeto for his ‘Chants of a Minstrel’. Renowned literary critic,
Charles E. Nnolim, wrote the foreword to the collection published by
University of Port Harcourt Press. His most popular poem, arguably, is
‘The Call of the River Nun’ which won Best Award for Literature in the
Nigeria Festival of Arts in 1953. He has also published children’s
books.

Pa Okara walks me to the gate. He asks about my education and
encourages me. His sense of humour is evergreen. We laugh over a joke.
I leave him thinking about what to put in place to mark his 90th
birthday. Having people like Gabriel Okara around is like having a live
recorder of the events of the past, including the civil war, during
which he lost many manuscripts.

The 2011 University
of Lagos art entrepreneurship workshop will emphasise the teaching of
skills to enable its participants to produce affordable, sellable and
market-driven art.

This was disclosed
on Wednesday, April 20, by the workshop’s organisers at a press
conference held to announce the training, which will be held at the
main auditorium of UNILAG from May 3 to 9.

Yemisi Shyllon,
founder of the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Art Foundation (OYASAF), which
will sponsor the training, and artist Peju Layiwola, the training
coordinator, briefed the press jointly. Facilitators Kathleen Stafford,
Sam Ovraiti and Ariyo Oguntimehin, were also present.

Layiwola said it is
not enough being an artist without the requisite entrepreneurial skills
and that this motivated the training. The UNILAG creative arts lecturer
also thanked OYASAF, which is footing the bill for all participants,
for agreeing to support the week-long training.

Shyllon, a major
art collector, also spoke on the partnership. He noted that it is a
deliberate collaboration both parties will protect and cherish. “I
bought into the project and I got the board of trustees of OYASAF to
support. That is why we are here collaborating,” he added. He
reiterated that the foundation is committed to the growth of artists
and the continuity of the workshop.

The duo disclosed
that the training will focus mainly on repousse, watercolour, pastel
painting, ceramics/ jewellery, and printmaking. Participants will also
be taught the techniques behind selling artworks at reasonable prices
and how to integrate industrial processes for the mass production of
artworks. They will also interact with successful art practitioners who
will attend the sessions.

Responding to the
government’s willingness to encourage art students, Joe Musa, a former
director general of the National Gallery of Art, said there is a
disconnect between the “conception stage of art policies and the
implementation stage.” He added, “Though the processes are there, it is
not getting to the common man.”

Shyllon weighed in
by imploring art lovers to look away from government grants. He
explained that what government needs to provide is the right
environment, policies and regulations. He reiterated that art
development lies with the individuals willing to invest their time and
money in schools and stressed the need for public-private partnerships.

The training, which will hold daily from 9am, will end on May 9 with
a grand finale and an awards ceremony at the Arts Theatre, which
located in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lagos.

Savvy, and with an
angelic voice, Gideon Okeke, stole our hearts as one of the few very
good looking contestants on the ‘Big Brother Nigeria’ show. Afterwards,
he became a presenter for the Storm Media produced lifestyle magazine
show ‘The Scoop’. Though Big Brother was his first step to fame, Okeke
has been in the background polishing his act. Currently playing Philip
Ade-Williams on MNET TV series, ‘Tinsel’, he speaks on his forthcoming
projects.

Tell us about your character in ‘Tinsel’?

My character is a
very conceited and arrogant person. He was brought up with the best.
His father instilled in him ideas which cannot be fulfilled so he finds
himself struggling with breaking out with the ideas his father, whom he
considers archaic and old school, has instilled in him. He is more like
a rebel.

How did you get into acting?

I started acting in
primary school. Then, I was in a theatre group and would act in front
of my mates and the school. As I grew older, I was given more
responsibilities by my teachers as they would make me write the scripts
and direct the plays. I didn’t know they were preparing me for the big
screen. This continued to secondary school, as I was also in the drama
group and would act in plays with the group. Really, I am not surprised
and my parents are not surprised that I am currently in acting. In
2008, after ‘Big Brother’, I decided to go professional with the movie
‘Half Empty, Half Full’ which was never released. Basically every form
of acting I did was to prepare me for this big stage.

What was your experience at ‘Big Brother’ like?

Wow, that was a
long time ago and I have moved on from there. I know I would never drop
that tag but I have moved from that emotionally. I take it as a phase
of life that brought fame.

Shortly after your ‘Big Brother’ gig, you released a single ‘Ogidigada’. What was the inspiration behind the track?

‘Ogidigada’ is my
nickname. We just got into the studio and were playing around; myself,
Darey, Eldee, Buchi and Ikechukwu and the single came. It wasn’t
planned. After the recording, let me just say I used my ‘Big Brother’
influence to put it on air. I didn’t go commercial with music, we just
recorded a song. Music still remains one of the parts of me that I
haven’t shared with everybody except for a few people who know that I
sing.

What would you have done if you weren’t acting?

I don’t know. I get
that question a lot and I haven’t thought about it. I just launched my
acting career three years ago and there are lots of places to go. So I
can’t tell you it’s this or that.

What should we expect from you later this year?

I am in a movie
titled ‘A Place in the Stars’, which is still in production. Then there
is also ‘Relentless’. Really I can’t tell you this or that because I
can’t say what I will be doing later this year. For music, let’s see
how less busy I get but I am not sure yet.

Tell us about ‘Relentless’

‘Relentless’ is
going to be my first cinematic release. It’s been across the world but
we are waiting for its release in Nigeria and I am hoping it gets as
much audience as it did in Europe. I play the character ‘Obi’, an
orphan from the Biafra era that is on a journey of self discovery.

Ankara Press wants to publish romantic fiction for the African market and has announced that it is looking for writers.

A statement from the outfit disclosed that it is seeking “strong, original voices who can tell fast-paced and engaging stories.”

The stories should have African settings, storylines and characters. They should also portray women in a positive light.

“We want scenarios
that discard dangerous notions of male dominance, control and
manipulation. Above all, we want writers who will allow African women
to see the best version of themselves in print. The novels should be
fast-paced and entertaining. They can feature international locales,
but a real African city should be where the primary story takes place.
The story should focus on the development of a romantic relationship
while the heroine struggles to realize her ambitions.”

The main character
should be an African woman between 20 and 30 years of age who comes
from a middle or lower-middle class background, and who because of her
intelligence, ambition and hard work, has a bright future ahead of her.

Her career should
be central to her identity and is of utmost importance. Her character
must be true-to-life possessing positive and negative character
traits–wholesome, likeable, assertive, ambitious, proactive; she
should not be portrayed as helpless or wholly dependent on anyone and
should reflect optimism and an ability to handle situations beyond her
control. The heroine’s love interest should be an African man who is
attractive, sensitive, likeable, and realistic without being
domineering and arrogant, and successful in his field. The novels
should end on a positive note with the heroine being in or about to be
in a promising love relationship without giving up her ambitions or
values.

Interested writers should contact Chinelo Onwualu at AnkaraSubmissions@gmail.com for more information.

Monalisa Chinda appears trim and currently sports a slimmer look. As she makes her way into a restaurant at Victoria Island, Lagos where this interview takes place, her shades sit perfectly on her face, hinting at the fact that she is a bit reserved. Though the restaurant is sparsely filled, some people still recognize her as she hurriedly makes her way to me. With the spotlight constantly on celebrities, some are unlucky and quickly move from being media sweethearts to tabloid target. In an emotional voice, the actress shares the downside of being famous.

“I am pained that [the] opposite sex refuse to separate the character one plays from the real self and it really weighs me down,” she said. “It is quite disturbing when you are trying to have a decent conversation with a guy and he thinks you are ‘that bitch’ he sees in a movie and so probably wants to treat you as such.

“I want Nigerians to know that what we portray on television is different from who we really are away from the cameras. As actors, we are taught to remove that thing which makes you, you and wear that character.”

Called to act

Acting was not the original job choice for this light-skinned actress; but her plans changed when she landed her first role in ‘Pregnant Virgin’ in 1996.

“Actually, when I started out, acting was not on my mind. I just read it as a course and I did not think I will be where I am today. When I started, I thought I was going to go into the corporate world or run my own business. But when I started acting, I realised that this [acting] is what I was called to be. I have really been successful, I must say. Before my first movie, I was in a soap opera on NTA Aba.”

After the movie, the actress played Adaora in Zik Zulu Okafor’s soap opera ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and gradually warmed up for the fame which lay ahead. However, no sooner had she began to enjoy stardom than she left the scene.

“As I sit here to talk to you, I do not know why I left the country when everything was here for me. London is the first port of call for all of us who want to go and experience greener pastures. You soon find out that it could be challenging. I thought I could run a course in cosmetology which I tried and I did finish.”

Thankfully, her three-year sojourn was cut short when she was required to come back to shoot some more scenes in ‘Heaven’s Gate’ shortly after she landed a role in Emem Isong’s ‘Girls in the Hood’.

Beyond acting

With the likes of Uche Jumbo, Ini Edo, Desmond Elliot and Stephanie Okereke all venturing into movie production as well as directing, the theatre arts graduate is not to be left out of the trend. With two movies and a soap opera in the works, the soft-spoken actress is excited about her current projects and defends her decision.

“You are getting older, so you have to diversify. You cannot keep doing the sassy girl role, so after a while you leave the scene and let the young ones come in and that is what I am trying to do,” she said.

The actress currently has two films ready to be shown to the public. She explains the plots: “The first movie is ‘It takes Two’, which I co-produced with Emem Isong and is directed by Desmond Elliot. The biggest one I have got so far is ‘Catwalk’. ‘Catwalk’ is a series and is not yet out. If you have seen ‘Ugly Betty’ and a little of ‘Devil wears Prada’, you may understand the concept better. It is all about a magazine company and what goes on in there. Africa has never seen anything like this before, but we will release the movie after the premiere. I also starred in both projects.”

Chinda is also quick to point out that movie producers rarely give actresses deep roles, choosing instead to cast them as long-suffering women and, other times, negatively. All these, according to her, are a fallout of the Nigerian system.

“Because we Nigerians are all perceptive in nature, all the gossip you read in the papers are not true. You sit in a place and so many lies are concocted about you. The fact that people are reading this bothers me, even when you know you make a conscious effort to stay out of trouble.

“Yes, I know that a lot of our celebrities could have some shortcomings. But it takes a level of maturity to be a celebrity and still keep your head. As an actress, you represent womanhood; so it is best to stay out of trouble. Yeah, you can make mistakes but don’t let them happen over and over again.”

Forward looking

Successful and in control, Chinda, who is also a Globacom ambassador, says the endorsement was a huge leap, career-wise, but adds that she still fantasizes about her dream role.

“I would like to play a horse rider, a woman who rides horses; more like a cow girl. I am not really adventurous, but when it comes to portraying a role I can do whatever you want me to do and maybe a little bit of action like carrying a gun,” she says with a laugh.

In the midst of the personal drama which played out two years ago when news of her separation from ex-husband, Victor Olusegun Dejo-Richards and his numerous press interviews surfaced, the actress focused on her career and kept mum while fans waited with bated breath for the actress to speak out.

“I know who I am and if you don’t know who you are, a lot of people are going to trample on you. I won’t lie to you that it did not get to me, because at some point I was very low. I know that as a celebrity when people say things about you, it will fade away at some point. So you just stay calm and don’t say a word. When it was time for me to talk, I said something.”

The mother of one has some tips for aspiring artists. “When you come into the industry, you are known for a lot of things, so you have to keep your head low. Some people let the fame get into their head; but you can only get to to the highest of heights with humility and then everything you ask for will come to you easily. You need to also stay focused and pray to be at the right place at the right time.”

With veteran actress Taiwo Ajai- Lycett and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka as major inspirations, she said the first thing that draws her to a script and subsequently a role is dialogue and the language before anything else.

“If the language is not what it is supposed to be, I just toss it away,” she said.

She has spent 15 years in Nollywood but she believes there is still more to do. “Nollywood does not have a long way to go. We, the practitioners, have to rehabilitate ourselves; sit down and bring Nollywood to where it should be. I won’t speak further before people will say, ‘What have you contributed?'”

Describing herself as a diehard romantic, Chinda wraps the discussion up by disclosing that she is not living a life of loneliness.

“Don’t know about marriage, but romance may be in the cards,” she said.