Category: Entertainment

Ibrahim Chatta, without doubts, is a bundle of talents. He means many things to his far-flung fans: actor, voice-over artiste, writer, song writer, song performer, script consultant and director. In the past 25 years, he has remained faithful to his first love, acting. And for this, he has been honoured with several awards, at home and abroad, for his worthy contributions to the nation’s entertainment industry. Interestingly, after a failed relationship that produced a kid, Chatta recently took another bold step on the boulevard of marriage. In this revealing interview with GBENGA ADERANTI, the versatile actor talks about his recent introduction/ engagement to beautiful Salamat Shaaba, daughter of an ex-governor of Kwara State, Sen. Muhammed Shaaba, his nasty encounter with pirates and other interesting issues.

YOU seldom appear in movies these days, what could be the reason for this?

On the contrary, I have always been very active. I guess you are talking about the period I took a break for about two years when I had a problem with the leadership of our association, the Association of Nigerian Theatre Art Practitioners, ANTP. That was when we founded another association called the Indigenous Movie Makers Association of Nigeria, IMMAN, otherwise known as One House. Then, I personally withdrew from shooting films. But as I said, I have since returned to the industry.

Are you sure you were not banned then?

No, I wasn’t. I did that on purpose. There are a lot of things I do that you don’t know about. I am a very rebellious person and when I see wrong things being done, I can be very outspoken. Besides, as an actor, there are a lot of things that I can actually do without being on screen or before the camera. You see, I am a writer, song writer, song performer, script consultant and director.

Do you regret your disagreement with the leadership of the association?

You are trying to put words into my mouth. The truth is that I take my time before taking any decision. In my entire life, the only thing I regret today is not having higher education. Concerning your question, I don’t think I have any regrets, though we shouldn’t have done it the way we did then. I think it was due to youthful exuberance; we should have applied a logical way of doing it. I have no regrets because it changed a lot of things in the association. People in the industry will attest to this.

Is IMAN still in existence?

Yes, it is but I am not part of it any more. Frankly, we never really wanted to have another association. All we wanted was just for the leaders to listen to us. But when we were chased out of the association, we had to form IMMAN.

So, where do you belong to now, IMAN or ANTP?

I know that some people who read this interview will say that I don’t usually attend the ANTP meetings. However, the truth is that I am a full member of the ANTP. I have been part of the Association from the onset of my career. You see, I was made the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the IMMAN, but I told them I was not interested in any position or title. Honestly, a lot of my people in the IMMAN then were crazy about titles or positions, and I think that was what later led to the crisis in the group.

How true is the report that you were beaten up during a protest against piracy?

I was attacked by pirates. I remember I came to Ikeja that night to do a promotional jingle and there was supposed to be a party the following weekend, so I decided to go and collect my dress near a mosque at Iyana Ipaja. As I approached that place, I saw some of our films being displayed. I was just looking at them on the ground where they were displayed. Immediately they sighted me, they began to attack me. There was no confrontation between us, but someone from behind me just slapped me and I held on to him. I was later told that it was because they had been raided some days before that incident.

You said earlier that you regret not having higher education. Could you tell me what really happened?

Well, it was due to peer group pressure. When I was young, I wanted to explore and I didn’t really know how important education was then. From my childhood, I have always wanted to be an actor, though I didn’t really know that there is so much to stage production than just being an actor. As a result, I stopped schooling in form three.

What effort have you made to go back to school?

I have been planning to do that for four years now. However, the major challenge is that I am responsible for the education of some people in my family. But really, I am thinking of going back after my forthcoming main Nikkai, Insha Allah.

What do you miss about not having higher education?

I miss a lot. Sometimes, when I am in the midst of some of my friends who are graduates, I tend to think about it. The Yorubas would say, Bi mi o ka we, mo ka ogbon ori mi; so, I am still intelligent and educated in my own way. I have never been to the four walls of the university, but I have taught myself a lot of things. For example, I have taught myself not to suffer inferiority complex. A lot of my friends are well read, but I don’t feel inferior to them in any way. So, whenever they raise any topical issue, I try to make my own contribution. Sometimes, I look at it and I feel like if I had gone to school, the story would have been different today.

How did your parents react when you dropped out of school?

I was very stubborn and I hated going to school then. I had a lot of bad friends who also had a bad influence on me. But you will be surprised to know that are all educated today.

And your parents didn’t force you to go back to school?

They really tried, but it wasn’t long then that I lost my father.

What year was that?

It was in 1993.

In what circumstance did he die?

He just had a headache and died three days after. I was in Saare practising as a professional actor then. In fact, until his death, he thought I was in school, but I was involved in stage productions. So, when I learnt about his death, I went home. My mum then was in Bachita, where I grew up.

Are you from a polygamous home?

Yes, I am. We are 14 in all: my mum had three children, another woman had nine and the third wife had two.

Did you suffer any unpleasant experience while growing up in that family setting?

Yes, I did, but I won’t want to go into the details now. I suffered so much while growing up, but the truth is, every of your experience helps you in one way or another. I hawked ice cream, doughnuts and even worked as a bus conductor so, I don’t have any regrets. That was my father’s life, I have my own life to live.

How did you meet your wife?

I have known her since her childhood days when she was in a school in Bachita, Kwara State. Her father, Alhaji Muhammed Shaaba, was first a General Manager and then Managing Director of the Sugar Company in Bachita. There was a school for the children of the rich, and I used to go there to play. After school, they would ride home in the school bus, a long air-conditioned bus. I would abuse them because while they were riding in a bus, we would be trekking because of our poor status. It was then I noticed her: she looked like her father, a very handsome man. I also knew her cousin then. And much later, her father went into politics and my father happened to work for him.

What kind of work?

I can’t really say. All I know is that my father liked politics, but I don’t know what he was doing for her father. I always saw him with her father in Ilorin.

What really attracted you to her?

She is honest; she doesn’t pretend and she is very straight-forward. We argue sometimes, but we resolve it by communicating. Okay, I should tell you this: I had a son out of wedlock and I was supposed to get married to the lady, but her mother didn’t support the relationship. I don’t want to bring her into this discussion. So, at that particular time, I was asking God to give me a woman that would love me for who I am and for Allah’s sake.

Don’t you think people would say you married her because of her father’s status?

As an actor, there are people who will read this today and will testify to it that I have a lot of women, young, beautiful and even divorcees, who have money and are ready to offer me money. But my brother, I can’t marry a woman for money. I didn’t marry her because of her family background. You see, one thing I also love about her is that we speak the same Nupe language. My mother is Yoruba from Modakeke, while my father is Nupe.

Given that most actors are known not to have stable homes, how have you been able to allay her fears that yours will be different?

People judge us because of what we do. I don’t even think I need to convince her in any way. We are in love; I love her and she loves me too. That one is wayward is all a matter of individual personality; it is not limited to actors. I was telling her recently that her parents would have done their homework about me. As Ibrahim Chatta, do you think I will have a beautiful daughter like her and I won’t screen whoever wants to get married to her?

Was she in any relationship when you met her?

She is the only that can tell you that. According her, as at the time I came into the picture, someone else had come about a month before me.

So, what edge did you have over the fellow?

I don’t know o. Allah just gave her to me, since I had prayed for true love.

WHEN the Nigerian community in Essen, Germany hoisted the banners recently, it was to celebrate one of the exports of Nigeria to the world, as activities were lined up to create a buzz around Nigeria’s home video industry, otherwise called Nollywood. The sector, according to industry watchers, is 20 years old, going by the records of when video films, made on VHS became popular in Nigeria.

Put together by Isaac Izoya, through is entertainment outfit, Ehizoya Golden Entertainment, the 20th anniversary of Nollywood in Essen, Germany went down with elaborate cultural exhibition which was crowned with climaxed with an awards night where several Nollywood actors and their counterparts from Ghana were in attendance.

In the words of Izoya, “it would have been a ‘crime’ if the world failed to mark the 20th anniversary of this great industry Nollywood”.

NEGA awards, which was the climax of the event was a rich red carpet razzmatazz that rewarded those who have contribution immensely to the industry since it evolved in1992.

Some of the top personalities that graced the occasion include; Femi Awoniyi, publisher of African Courier Magazine, Benjamin James, Ex-Eagle player and one of the three African coaches in Bundesliga, Hoffenheim jr team, Mr. Sacco, the MD of SaccoReisen, Mr. Festus Omorogbe, ex-president of Edo National Body in Germany, Engr. Dieter Küfner, the president of billionaires club in Germany and his wife Matilda among others.

Some of the Nollywood stars that were present at the occasion include; Zik Zulu Okafor; Charles Inojie who was awarded “Best comic film director”, Monalisa Chinda who won ‘Outstanding Character Actress’ category and Jackie Appiah, winner of ‘Cross Cultural Actress of Nollywood’.

Izoya noted that “Nollywood is 20 years, but 10 years in Germany since the first Nollywood production in Germany “Sinners in the house” was released in 2003. “Ever since”, Izoya said, “we have been keeping to our motto: “The Show Must Go On” with no year ever passing by, without a Nollywood grand event being hosted by our organization, not just in Germany, but across Europe, keeping people closer to our Africa culture.”

Continuing, Izoya said “We borrowed a leaf from Double A Entertainment in Holland, the guys that brought Nollywood to Europe and ever since, we have been at the fore front of the race and no going back. I thank the Nollywood stars who created time from their busy schedules to honour NEGA invitation.

The founders of Double “A” Entertainment since 1998 in the Netherlands and receivers of NEGA “Initiator of Nollywood In Europe” category, Mr. Leonard Ajayi-Odekhiran and Tony A.B. Akinyemi, who were honoured for their movie, Under Pressure (1998) and Dapo Junior (1999) expressed gratitude for what they described as a long overdue honour. “We almost gave up that we’ll never be honoured for our labour. Hardly did we know that someone out there has a profile of our labour. Thanks for the recognition and this award is particularly important to us, not just because it’s our first award, but because of its timing – Nollywood 20th anniversary.”

However, what seemed to be the most emotional of all the speeches was that made by one Joy Amadi, winner of the Lufthansa return ticket to Africa donated by the event’s major sponsor, Sacco Reisen. She said in her appreciation speech, that she had lived in Germany for six years and had been trying to raise travel ticket to Africa, but to no avail. “At first, I thought it was just a showbiz joke, but thank God for the courage to participate in the raffle. I am so thankful to SaccoReisen and Ehizoya for making my dreams come true.

Some of the local stars that made Africans proud through their performance were; Mekxo Judi Master and Shawn Stopper both Hip Hop stars. There was also Reggae star, MacoRas Narrow-Path and Mary J. Queen Fashion from Belgium that promoted the grandeur of African dresses at the event.

WHAT do you love most about him?

It is quite difficult to find men who are honest these days. We have a pact to be as honest as possible to each other. No matter how bitter the truth is, we will find a way to deal with it. So, the pact is that he must not lie to me. That is the deal.

Have you ever caught him lying to you because I am wondering why you had to ‘sign’ that kind of pact, so to say?

Even though the truth is always bitter, the best way to have a good relationship is to be honest to each other.

Until now, did you ever imagine you could get married to an actor?

To be honest with you, from the first time I met him, I said no because I just couldn’t imagine myself dealing with his kind of work, publicity and other stuff. But for some reason, I guess when you like and love someone and when God says that is the way, you really can’t say no.

Didn’t your parents express any fears when they learnt you were in a relationship with an actor?

Honestly, my father would not tell me anything directly. But my mother’s impression is almost the same as what everyone thinks about actors, generally: that they womanize and don’t usually have stable homes and all that. However, I am beginning to see that I can adapt to his ways and even manage them as much as I can.

Does he have any bad habit that you have succeeded in helping him to kick?

Yeah, it is his smoking habit.

So, he smokes?

I met him smoking.

How did you feel when you were confronted with that fact?

I really don’t like guys who smoke, not because of any reason but because it is not good for their health. So, the question is: Why do you do it? Really, when I found out, I sat him down and talked to him about it.

What exactly did you do?

I reminded him about how important it is to see his children graduate; how important it is to grow old and not die early; how important it is to see his children getting married; and I told him that if he wants all that for himself, he should do that for himself. In other word, I told him that he should stop smoking for himself and not for me.

Are you sure he has truly given up smoking?

Yes, I am sure he has stopped smoking. As I said earlier, it is all about honesty. If he smokes, I will know. Well, there were periods he tried quitting, but he slipped a couple of times. But then, I kept reminding the reason why he should stop it; and so far, he has not smoked again. I pray he doesn’t go back to it.

Can you stand the sight of women flocking around him, given that every woman is naturally jealous?

I was just going to say that. I am a woman, and I would assume all women are all jealous. But then, it boils down to having the ability to look away and that is what I intend to do.

The impression in some quarters is that he married you for your money. How do you react to that?

First thing is first. I am just like a regular woman, struggling and trying to find my way. Secondly, my father is not the type of man that spoils his children with money; he trains us to appreciate life, to know how to be on our own and to struggle for whatever we need. People are free to say what they want, but he didn’t marry me for my money.

Would you still encourage him to kiss in movies, if the role demands that he does so?

Honestly, it doesn’t bother me when I see him do that.

Do you sometimes accompany him to locations?

I maintain that he is a good and understanding man. I am saying this because he is not like most men that wouldn’t allow their wives to work. If I am not working, I could go with him. I am into a bit of construction, though I didn’t study that. I am still learning it and all I do is that I coordinate workers to do a project.

Could you tell me briefly about your background?

Okay, I attended NASICO Staff School in Bachita and then, I went to the University of Ilorin Primary School, when my father moved to Ilorin to go into politics.

I also went to St. Claires Secondary School in Offa; later, I did a one-year foundation course at the Institute of Education, Dublin. From there, I did a diploma, which I didn’t finish before I moved to the United Kingdom, where I graduated eight years ago in Business Administration and majored in Marketing from the American Intercontinental University. My father is married to three wives and has 16 children. I am the sixth-born; we are six from my mother (two boys and four girls) and I am the second from her.