Entertainment

I Started Acting At 10 – Jide Kosoko

Jide KosokoVeteran Yoruba actor and producer, Prince Jide Kosoko clocked 60 recently. The likeable Lagos prince was treated to series of parties to celebrate him. After one of the celebrations, Kosoko, a former President of the Association of Theatre Arts Practitioners sat with selected journalists where he spoke about his early beginning and his journey into theatre world. Enjoy… 

 How do you feel attaining age 60?

I am so happy. I am so grateful to God Almighty for sparing my life till this day. Because if not for His mercy, where am I? So, I thank God for His mercy to attain age 60 and still see more days.

How are you celebrating the landmark?

I really appreciate the people who had one way or the other put together different events to mark my birthday. Deep in my heart, I thank them so much. But by the grace of God on 30 March, the emphasis will shift from my birthday celebration to the public presentation and launching of my book, Warrior’s Lamentation.

Is it your autobiography?

No. It is about my sojourn in the leadership of our industry, especially as leader in the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, (ANTP). I want to share my experience with my colleagues and public in general. Then I will also use the event to mark my 50th anniversary in the theatre industry.

That means you started acting at age 10.

Yes.

As a Lagos Prince, how did you find yourself doing theatre boy at that age?

My first acting gig was in 1964 at age 10. It goes a long way to show you that I was a rascal as a kid. I did everything against the wish of my parents. But to tell you the story, we lived at Alagomeji, Yaba very close to Ebute-Meta where I grew. Our house was just a stone throw to Hubert Ogunde’s. I saw the way people hailed him whenever he was passing by. That inspired me to say that I wanted to be like him. When the opportunity now came in 1964 that Dele Toyinbo, one of my uncles who happened to be a member of a travelling theatre, approached me for a role, I did not think twice before accepting. It was a lead role in a Yoruba telemovie titled Makanjuola. I played the role of a small boy, but the boy happened to be the lead character.

How much were you paid for that lead role?

Money? Who cared about money then? They only gave me transport fare. It was a question of passion then. I never really care about the financial reward as at that time.

What was the reaction of your parents then?

They were very aggressive and annoyed especially my mother. But my father would always tell me that ‘look here Jide, You are a prince. You are not supposed to be entertaining people rather you should be entertained’. I mostly ignored them.

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They later allowed you?

Of course, yes. I remember my first appearance on television. You know in those days, we had very few people who have television sets in their homes. Then many people watched through windows of neighbours who had television sets. That day, I was returning from Television House in Bar Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos. So, as I was coming down from the bus at Alagomeji, you need to see the way people were hailing me. I was strolling down to our house like a hero. When I got home, my mother gave me the beating of my life, while my dad only advised me to face my studies. But subsequently, I still dodged them to attend rehearsals.

When did you now decide to take acting as a full time career?

To tell you the truth, I never for once stopped acting. All through my secondary school to the higher institution, I never stopped acting. I was going to school as well as acting. Not amateurish acting but professional acting. Since I started at that tender age of 10, I never stopped until I formed my own theatre group, Jide Kosoko Theatre Company, in 1972.

Can you recall your first production as the leader of your theatre group?

Our debut production was titled Agbada Ekun. But the production that launched the group to reckoning was titled Oju Eni Mala and I had a very bad experience to tell.

What happened?

A week to the production, all members of my group deserted me. For reason I wouldn’t want to share again, they all left me. The painful thing was that the production was being sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Looking back all the years, what would you say has been the high and low moments for you?

There are so many. It has been a rollercoaster. The challenges are so numerous. But I thank God that I have been able to face so many battles, won so many of them and still relevant till today.

As a bridge between the old and new actors as well as someone regarded as a crossover actor, how would you describe the state of the Nigerian film industry?

We thank God for everything. Whatever happened, Nollywood has come to stay and it is waxing strong and stronger. Except for our normal challenges and that is human being for you, we are equally trying to settle things among ourselves.

What about your primary constituency which the lingering bickering has stalled its progression and denied it of gaining the deserved recognition?

Yes of course, but it is the same with our counterparts in the English movie genre. None of us has gained the deserved recognition. Or are you telling me that if a practitioner has an opportunity to know or met a minister or governor who gives money, is that the gain? Will you consider that a professional gain? No. We are yet to properly sanitise the industry so that we can all enjoy it. On the part of our own Yoruba sector, yes we have our own challenges and yet to sanitize things. But you should understand that we are very many. The ANTP is the largest bloc of theatre group in Nigeria. In spite of that, we still have some of our people who you can say are very successful professionally. But in a situation where the numbers of successful people are in the minority, what manner of success could that be? People will say we are not making it of course.

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One of the challenges facing your industry is the inability of the National Assembly to pass the MOPICON bill. What in your own view is stalling this bill?

It is so unfortunate and very painful that the bill hasn’t been passed. I was part of those who drafted that MOPICON bill. I recently told Afolabi Adesanya, the former Managing Director of Nigerian Film Corporation when we met that we need to discuss the issue because I need to know. I need to know what is stalling the passage of that bill as I was told that it has been sent to the National Assembly. But to be honest with you, I will say we as practitioners are not doing enough to see that the legislators assist us in pushing the bill to come to fruition. But my wish is to see the bill passed so that we can have the structure where all the professional guilds come under a council and all the professional ethics are adhered to. Where we will be able to work professionally and there will be discipline. What we lack now is discipline as everybody does what he or she likes at anytime. But when we have a council and there are dos and don’ts, there will be penalty. Unlike now that the profession is an all-comer affair, with MOPICON you cannot practise without being a member of a guild or an association.

What are the other challenges confronting the industry?

We don’t have the distribution. That is the major problem we are having. If we get a good distribution network now, forget it, everything will be set. In those days, producers went to locations to shoot; they were not interested in the marketing and the profit that will come thereafter. Someone is looking into that while you concentrate on your production. But things have changed. The producers now think like a businessman. Just like Chief Hubert Ogunde said, a good producer may necessarily not be a good businessman because what he ordinarily concentrated his mind on was how to shoot a good movie. But things have changed now.

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Ahead of 2011 elections, you told us of your desire to join politics. In fact, you are keen on going to the National Assembly. Then we didn’t hear from you again. What happened?

It was the problem of ANTP that made me back out and slow down politically. Because ANTP is my primary constituency and there are crises at that time. Some people are causing trouble here and there. To be precise, Jimoh Aliu, Lere Paimo and Victor Ashaolu are the reasons I stepped down.

How did they?

They started saying some unguarded things about me then in the media. Things they couldn’t prove. And you know that in politics, your opponents may use it against you when least expected. So, I decided to temporarily stay off politically and faced ANTP politics to correct those anomalies and allow truth to come out for all to see.

Some of your children are taking after you in the industry.

Yes. I am happy with their progress. They are gradually doing better, interpreting their roles better and I cannot but wish them well.

Do you have any regret at all?

What I can only see as regret, simply because some people see it as so, is that at this age, I am just finalising arrangement to move into my own personal house at age 60. I should have done that long time ago but because of my various activities in the industry, I couldn’t put up my own house. However, I have sacrificed a lot and that is why I said it shouldn’t have been a regret. If you look at the positive things happening in the industry now, it was as a result of the sacrifice people like us have made. That is just it.

How do you see life ahead of you now?

Simple, I am still looking at the situation where some of the productions that I kept to my heart are finally made realisable. There are some stories especially on the history of Lagos which productions unfortunately have been stalled by funding. But as soon as I get the fund, I will commence shooting. Another phase in my life also will have to do with the administration of our industry. Even though I may not be playing a front runner’s role again in the leadership of our industry as I have tried and contributed my own quota. I will  consistently be contributing my quota to the stability and continuous development of our industry.