Excerpts:
Congratulations on your victory. What does it feel like?
I am excited, elated and glad. I am grateful to the people for going along with the change that we asked for and I am also excited for the party. I am grateful to the party for giving a young man like me the opportunity to represent Surulere 1 Constituency. I am also grateful to the other aspirants that didn’t make it. I am so excited but I also know that there is a lot of work to be done.
How would you combine your new job with acting and directing?
Politics is not something I just woke up one day and said I wanted to do; it is something I have been working towards for a long time. So talking about Nollywood, I already have a company that distributes and produces films. I left the platform in such a way that without me being there, it can still run on its own. However, I am looking at myself in the bigger picture which is representing not just Surulere but also the industry at large. I also see myself as representing the youths by being a role model to them, giving them hope and letting them know that you can be whatever you want to be. So for me, it is huge being elected into public office.
Did you see the victory coming?
Aha! By faith but you don’t see things because you only hope not to lose. You can never be 100 per cent confident because just one thing could spoil it all. But again, with hope, trust and love it becomes possible. I didn’t see it coming but again, I hoped it would come because I had worked hard for it. would come because I had worked
You are one of the most successful actors in Nollywood. What success tips would you share with youngsters?
Discipline and hard work but it could be crazy! And then having the right spouse to work with you is very important. We live in an industry that is crazy and you need to be in the right frame of mind all the time.
You need to know exactly what you are doing, you need someone to lift you up when you’re down but above all, it is all about hard work.
Success comes from God. Nigeria has always been a godly nation though secular in nature. We are a people that believe in God and I am not exempted; I believe strongly in God. I believe in a being that moves and makes things work. I believe again that the God I serve helps me in my decisions and gives me the strength to achieve them. It is difficult and the hardest part is how to balance work and family. Today, on our way back from church, my kids were complaining that they hardly see me at home, so it is up to me to explain to them that after I finish doing films, if it is too late, daddy has got to stay put where he is. There are sacrifices you have to make but the most important thing is to know that your loved ones understand every step of the way; it makes the job a whole lot easier.
How do you define the word ‘change’?
Change is movement onto victory. Change is a dynamic move from what used to be to what should be and I want to believe that change in this country will be positive because there is a lot of poverty, a lot of people are suffering. I need to only go around my constituency to see the abject poverty that people are going through. I am not the one who is going to bring the riches but we can bring succour, we can alleviate. There are a lot of programme on my mind. I don’t intend to just sit down in the house, collect allowance and split. I need to work, I need the people to feel the pulse of government; that is what I am going there to do because that is what the people has sent me there to do.
What strategies did you put on ground to earn your victory?
It was prayer; being very prayerful. You must be prayerful; you must gird your loins with the word of God. And then you must have a history, you cannot just go from nowhere to somewhere. You must have a history, a track record of doing something before. I started in the film industry from what they call waka pass and now see where God has put me today. This is my 16th year in Nollywood. I started in 1999 and I can tell you that at the end of the day, victory is sweet. However, at the end of the day, it is not the victory that counts but service to the people.
What is your greatest achievement so far?
That is the fact that I have been able to raise people up in the film industry. For me, that counts even more than all the money I have made because I have been able to mentor people. And that is what life is about. I keep telling people around me that people come and go, people live and die but what makes you irreplaceable is what you have done to those who need it most. There is no point being in the film industry when nobody can point at you and say ‘oh! It is Lancelot who made me do this,’ or ‘it is Desmond that made me do this and that.’ If I am unable to do this or nobody says such about me then I am a failure.
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