Entertainment vibes

I’m confused about myself - Mr. Ibu
John Ikechukwu Okafor (Aka Mr. Ibu), is something like the proverbial Golden Fish with no hiding place. Each time he makes a public appearance, he is besieged by fans owing to his comic character in most of his movies. To many, he is about the best comic figure on the Nigerian movie scene. Recently, he spoke to some journalists, including Our Editor, Emmanuel Ogbeche on his career, Nollywood and issues of general interest.
Excerpts:

How do you handle public attention because it seems wherever you go people can’t let you be?
Anywhere I come out, I would not say that this is one special reason why it’s like this; but I’m beginning to appreciate that there is something I have in me that people love so much. I might say I don’t know. I might say I know very well because before you can make anybody laugh anywhere, you must have little or more stupidity in you that could make people laugh. So, if I have enough stupidity in me, that makes people to laugh because there must be stupidity for people to laugh and that’s the comedy in it.

How does it make you feel in a country where everybody ought to be sad because of hardship, when they see you they begin to laugh?
Among those people that are laughing, there must be somebody or few of them that may not be laughing, which means that my comedy is smaller than their problems or their problem is bigger than my comedy. So, I have to increase and mix it with those who are laughing already to be able to put a little smile on their faces because a little smile is a big dosage to life.

Looking at Nollywood, what would you say it has done for Nigerians?
Whether we like it or not, only Nigerians refuse to acknowledge the presence of Nollywood and entertainment generally in Nigeria. Sometimes, government invites us to some official functions; some of us will come and talk. Some will anchor and all that. But I can tell you that in the international communities, we are regarded more than in this country. We still have a problem here. We don’t have a home of our own. We don’t have Games Village as big as Nigeria is and as big as Nollywood in Africa. Whether we like it or not Nigeria is the head of Nollywood in Africa. We initiated the move and it was a wonderful result ever since we started. I just came back from a South African / Nigerian movie production, which we made together for the first time. The problem is the market.

What is wrong with the market?
The market is down. Pirates have taken over the market and that’s why we need government assistance. The government could come in now to shelter us and we stay under their shield. But the interest is not there because maybe Nigeria has problems which are considered to be bigger than the entertainment industry. That may be why attention is not given to us.

But there is a government agency that takes care of piracy. Are you saying it’s not working well?
My brother, I don’t want to blame anybody anyway, but I’m telling you that I’m crying. If I am crying, I’m crying on behalf of Nollywood. I’m crying on behalf of the entertainment industry because what we are supposed to be doing is not what we are doing right now. I’m talking about those who are supposed be there for us. We toil to produce our movies. We suffer to get our money back and in the process, government collects a whooping amount N50,000 or N40,000 to censor one movie. In a situation where we produce about 50 movies in a month and we pay about N50,000, you know how much we have been giving to the government that refused to take good care of us.

In specific terms, what do you want government to do?
First of all there is a body; there is a ministry or commission that we are actually under. Let this ministry come to our aid. We will tell them what we want. If they call us to find out our problem, we will be able to tell them what our problem is. But sometimes, bad eggs are still with us. If government releases anything to the wrong hand, you and I won’t even know when they release it and when they take it to where or to their own pocket. God forbid for such a thing to happen again. We are praying that the people that are supposed to be there will be there for us.
So many things have happened in the industry and I don’t want to actually point anybody out. But I’m telling you we have bad eggs even in the industry.

There are so many criticisms about the films you make in Nollywood. You either paint the country in bad light, it’s either ritual, money making, 419 or whatever. Is there no way you people can look inwards and begin to correct some of these negative aspects of the films you make? Other than paint the country in bad light?
If those things stop, it won’t happen in the industry. We are on our own and people bring stories to us. Those of them who are not in the industry that come with their stories and sponsor it by themselves, all we have to do is to act it. If this voodoo thing stops, it will stop in the industry. If 419 stops it will stop in the industry. It’s chicken, fishing or hunting. Now, I’m helping those who need help through me and I will do that by God Almighty.

In the industry itself, there appears to be a lot of un-professionalism. A lot of actors and actresses who are involved in Nollywood are not trained. Doesn’t it bother you?
That is an in-house thing and we know how to tackle it. There are those who are not even supposed to be there, but they come because they might bring one sponsor or another from outside. because the person brings a sponsor, you have to choose him because the sponsor could be a member of his or her family.