Everybody can’t be billionaires –Jide Kosoko

Jide Kosoko

Despite being a prince, Jide Kosoko chose acting. He speaks about his many years as an actor

For one who started acting in 1964, was it not a taboo for a prince to be an actor then? 

It was a big war between my parents and I. My father believed that as a royal prince, I had no business entertaining people; rather, I should be the one entertained.  My mother was more aggressive and gave me the beating of my life. There were occasions when she came to our rehearsal venue and destroyed the drums and other instruments.

How did you handle the challenge?

I tried to hide things from them and I sneaked out every time to go and participate in productions. This continued until I left secondary school and formed my group in 1972.  Then, I made my father the special guest of honour. Since that day, he mellowed down but on the condition that I went back to school.  I went to the Yaba College of Technology to study Business Administration.

How was it like  growing up in a royal family?

I grew up in a polygamous family. As children, there was no difference between children of different mothers. In the evenings, they brought food from all the rooms to the courtyard where we all gathered to eat, nobody cared to know whose food they were eating.

How old are you now?

I am 59, going on 60

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

Everything is in the hands of God. I pray He gives me good health so that I can still continue to contribute my quota to the movie industry.

How many wives do you have?

I have two wives, the first one is in business, her name is Alhaja Kareemat, the second is in the same profession with me, her name is Henrietta.

How do you handle female fans?

My female fans are my patrons; I appreciate them by being humble to them at all times.

What is your best food?

I love rice, plantain and fresh fish.

What has been your happiest moment?

My happiest moments are whenever I am being appreciated.

Saddest moment?

As one of our industry energisers, I become sad seeing the spoilers among us acting selfishly.

Are you as strict as you often depict in movies?

Yes I am strict in some areas.

What are your hobbies?

I like playing draft, ludo and playing table tennis for exercise.

What is the most important thing to you in life?

Positive contribution towards my industry.

Is acting a core business for you or just a passion?

It has been a passion from the beginning. I am not doing any other business except acting.

Is acting financially rewarding?

Life is not all about money. When you are satisfied with what you are doing and you are not doing too badly, then that is okay. Everybody can’t be billionaires. But I am blessed with kids and I thank God that as I speak now, I have eight biological children who are all graduates.

How is Jide Kosoko different from the actor?

I always interpret any role that is given to me perfectly. Therefore, my real self is not always similar to the various roles I have played.

Which has been your most challenging role?

I see every role as challenging and I take them very seriously. I pray before going to the set for just one scene.

What is your view on the deaths of actors in recent times?

Misfortunes plague all the industries in Nigeria, not just Nollywood. Just because we are in the public eye, everybody dwells on our issues. A lot of practitioners are reported to have died in penury. It still boils down to the fact that we are popular and everything about us is in the media. We have doctors who do not own cars. There are lawyers who do not have money but nobody talks about them.

Some of the actors who died of late are not well- off?

That is why we are agitating for a good practice where we will be well compensated and are able to meet up with our responsibilities. There is a lot of revolution going on in the industry at the moment. We are about to witness a turning point and that is why a lot of things are erupting.  We will face that and come up with a solution that will favour everybody.

How are you going to achieve this considering the divisions in the industry?

It has always been like that. In any viable industry, you are bound to see bad eggs. They make noise, some try to be relevant in all aspects, some try to take the lead and some try to show superiority over others. Some could be problematic too. There are so many things happening and there are people who are equally frustrated. They believe that unless they are involved in the administration of the industry, they cannot survive. I think the non existence of a council that will bring every practitioner together and where we can tackle common issues is still one of the reasons things turn out this way. There was this home video entitled, ‘Council, where I participated in its shooting. The film is yet to get the green light from the National Assembly.

What is happening to the entertainment subvention from the Federal Government?

This is the first time we are getting such grant from the government and I appreciate the gesture. I see it as a sign of better things to come. Even though the government is late in coming to our rescue, at least they have started somewhere. N3bn cannot solve our problem but at least it is a step in the right direction. The fund is meant for capacity building, production and expansion of our distribution.  As soon as they pledged to give the money to us, we started fighting among ourselves, is that not a shameful act? Some people are so shameless that they don’t even see anything wrong in the act. Our minds should be set on progress. We started the film industry and yet we have not benefited from half of what our counterparts in the English movie genre are benefiting. We are not crying over these things, all we want is the continuous development of the industry. We are the ones upholding Nollywood because we are the ones producing films.  Yet we are not quarrelling, we are not fighting.

Are you implying that the Yoruba filmmakers are more united than their English counterparts?

I am not saying that. We have our cases in court; we have our own leadership crisis. I have no business still being the President of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners because my tenure is already over but unfortunately, we have not been able to produce an acceptable candidate.  I dislike what is going on in the industry, we fight over every penny.

What does style mean to you?

I am a very simple person, I dress simply but cute.

How do you keep fit?

I play a lot of table tennis as well as indoor games such as monopoly, scrabble, and draft.

What about your diet?

As one grows, you avoid adding weight. I have been observing this so as to make my body tolerate the weight. You are aware that I was double my current size. I am shedding weight.