They call him Daddy Chris, his name is Ogbevire Ashaiku and happily he tells you that film making gave him this brand name. In this encounter with Yetunde Oladeinde, he talked about his passion, helping to reposition young people that are talented, the opportunities as well as working and living in the Diaspora.
HOW did your passion for film making start?
I think I got arrested, I don’t know how it happened but I found myself there. I just love to tell stories and finding myself in the Diaspora all this years, my career has been interesting, capturing our experiences as black people. My film making started here as far back as 1993. I shot a film called the Return of the Prince, it was my first film. Then the likes of Mr Ibu were with me, he was my production manager. And there was also Sam Loco, they were the people on my set.
How would you describe that first experience?
It was very difficult. I was like a novice and had just joined the industry and I had to learn the hard way in every way because you got people taking advantage of you as well. Some would welcome you and some just did not know what you want. At that point in time, I really don’t know what I wanted,
Did you feel like quitting at that point?
Oh yes! Many times I felt like quitting because these movies have gotten me divorced a couple of times. Film making exposes you to a lot of women. No woman ever trusts me and that is a really bitter experience I have from it.
That is synonymous with the entertainment industry. Did you find a way around it?
How do you find a way around that? It is only the women that can tell, whether I am a good guy or they are managing me. Here, I am in Nigeria now, she is in London and when I was leaving, she said be careful, not for anything but for Nigerian girls.
So, do you consider Nigerian girls dangerous?
I don’t think so. Considering where they find themselves, they are trying to survive. I don’t think there is anyone who won’t do this. It’s easy to call them names; like they called the youth’s names but do you ask yourself, why they are doing it. I am not interested in what is happening but I am interested in why is it happening.
What are some of the memorable experiences working in the sector?
One would this; another was a bitter one, when I lost my parents. Then there are times, you find yourself in the middle of a shoot and you just cannot cut it, otherwise the memorable moment would be one of this, discovering g talents.
Another was a film that I shot in London in 2012 called Amina, it was a beautiful film. Omotola came in from Nigeria, I brought Vanviker from Ghana and the rest were top American actors and actresses. It was a big film and it was premiered in one of the biggest places, great experience and it was good to see some of our African actresses on the big screen where international boys do put their films. It was good competing with them at that level, even though you couldn’t compete with them with their level of finance but at least we were able to raise the bar.
Talking about finance a lot of people think that government can do more?
I think that is one of the biggest challenges. I am happy to say that I heard that the Bank of Industry is helping at the moment. But it is more than that; it is more than giving a film maker cash. So, this is part of the advice that I want to give the government. If you make a film in London, there is something called tax credit; the government gives you a per cent of your budget. If you spend one million, they give you 200,000 back. Now, they know that you are spending that money in London. But, in Nigeria, I am told they don’t pay tax, but if they do and a state encourages you to come and shoot, say my village, then the money would be spent in my village. So, encouraging films to be shot in your state is the biggest thing that you can do to the economy.
What are you doing at the moment?
I have branched a little bit from film making to broadcasting, so I now run SRTV. I created it out of a film I shot and I wanted to promote my own film. In film you can only tell one story but with a broadcasting station, you can tell many. So, that is where the film festival comes in and here I am telling the story of so many people. The film that I would like to show during our event is called ‘The way we lived’. We tend to forget our culture, our roots and we bestride it. They brought foreign culture and we accepted it, and it is wrong. Broadcasting therefore gives me the opportunity as an African man in London to tell the story of Africans to them and bringing this home. However, one disconnect that I have found is that we do not believe in who we are. Most of our films are something barbaric, the way the put the African tradition is not acceptable. If it is something pure, they would put the white man and black for us. And I keep wondering, we knew God before the Bible came. We are told that we are stupid and we accepted it. They say they are white and we are black, is this skin really black. That is why we don’t celebrate the Black Friday, it’s an insult to the black race. They call them African- Americans not blacks. The good thing that ever came out of Africa is Nollywood. It’s the biggest thing that happened, that is why I am celebrating Nollywood.
Nigerian youths have complained about being neglected and not given the opportunities required, what is the place of the youths in the festival?
Empowering the Nigerian youth is the topic, we would be looking at and it would be delivered by a Nigerian politician. The youths are the future, we have disappointed them so much, the future is at stake and they have reasons to come out the way they did. Singing, dancing, talents are areas that they have been able to distinguish themselves and so I support them and give them the necessary platform. That way they feel good. Another thing that I would like to celebrate is the fashion industry. Nigerians have done well in the fashion industry. It’s the same way they grew Hollywood from nothing that they did in fashion and music. So, I decided to celebrate this, start at home and take it everywhere.
How would you rate the broadcasting sector in Nigeria?
I am impressed with Channels and disappointed with NTA. The amount of resources they get, it is disappointing to see the quality that is coming out. I think that is the problem with our society in general. In the United States for instance the local government generates more money for the council than any other institution and so you cannot compete with government. But the problem with Nigeria is that things are not working, politicians hardly productive. They should tell us how they spend the money not how the use the money to generate money. Imagine Nigeria not having an airline, if Nigeria doesn’t have, cant the state have. Akwa Ibom has one now, IBOM Airline which is good. I am disappointed. Logos is great in terms of infrastructure and development. Eko City is a big one , you can imagine what would happen to Lagos in the next few years. So, it is a matter of us as a government not being productive and not that NTA refused.
Electricity is also very important. You cannot underrate that. Even in the Bible, God said let there be light. God made light first. Now, we are doing that last, which is wrong. We are in darkness. A country in darkness is a definition of who we are. We are still in darkness; we are not getting out of it.
2020 is synonymous with COVID -19, how did it affect you?
It did. This film festival was supposed to have happened. I have moved and moved it. So, I said let’s do it this year and not start next year. But again COVID -19 thought us a lot of good things; it thought us to look inwards. We now know that we need good hospitals otherwise, we are all going to die. We dropped a lot of wastages and the world is realizing it as well. If it is not well with Nigeria, it is not going to be well with the United Kingdom. God created human beings that humanity needs to come back. Nigeria is the hope of the black nation; it is the biggest black nation on earth. If Nigeria fails, then there is a big problem. So, our politicians need to understand that.
I have hobbies, I am a philanthropist and I love to empower young people to do things.
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