Consummate entertainer, Steve Onu, popularly called Yaw, has come a long way in the Nigerian entertainment industry. The On-Air Personality with Wazobia FM and star actor of the rested soaps, Twilight Zone and Flat Mates, has evolved over the years into a brand in showbiz.
In this chat with MERCY MICHAEL, Yaw, who features versatile actress Funke Akindele in his Yaw Live on Stage comedy show, The Bar, speaks passionately about his love for acting, the challenges and his comedy show.
TELL us all about The bar. It’s a satire basically. It’s a two-man play. Don’t be deceived by the flyer. It’s just Funke Akindele and I. The others will just entertain in what they know how to do best but every year I do a two-man stage play. In the past, I’ve done with Jude Orhorha, Owen Gee, MC Abbey, Koffi, but this year I’m doing it with Funke Akindele.
Why the choice of Funke?
Because she’s got the blend of craziness that I actually need and she’s versatile. You know, a lot of people don’t believe she can speak English. I was speaking to her yesterday and I told her a lot of people believe she’s coming to do Jenifa. Unknown to them, she’s coming to do something totally different.
Is this a political satire?
To an extent it’s a political satire. It centres on what has been happening in Nigeria from 2012 to 2013. Just everything that has been happening all this while; we’ll talk about it in a way that will make people laugh while at the same time pass a message.
Radio seems to have overshadowed your love for acting…
My problem is with timing. I was speaking to a director recently and that was the same thing we talked about. I told him that the problem I’m facing is time. You want to go shoot a movie; they say come to location at 8am. You get there at 8am, you don’t start to shoot till 2pm. They tell you, you are going to shoot for only four days, at the end of the day you end up shooting for seven days.
It appears that you are not as passionate about acting as you are with radio?
I am very passionate about acting. I just shot my TV programme called Yours and Mine. It will start to air from March 8. It will be aired every Friday on LTV and Tuesdays on TVC. Acting is my life. Even when I talk on radio I act. I do stuff for BBC and if BBC will need you for five days they will book you down for eight or ten days, bearing in mind that anything can happen but our productions are not like that.
If they want to shoot, they will tell you we are just shooting you for only two days, but at the end of the day you will stay more days than you were booked for. I was supposed to be in the movie Mr. and Mrs. I was supposed to be the other guy. You know Joseph Benjamin was the rich mean guy. I was supposed to be the so called good guy, but it was the same issue of time that squashed that plan.
They said I had to come to Abuja. I asked them how many days I was going to be shooting. They said at least four days. Now if I have to be taking permission from work it has to be that four days because I can’t take permission for four days and I’m staying eight days. It’s not right. And true to my fears, they spent more than the four days I was supposed to shoot. I didn’t go but when I asked, I was told they spent more than four days. So if I had gone to do it and then I tell the producer or director that, ‘sorry I can’t spend beyond four days,’ that I must go back. Of course, I would look like I’m not being considerate or I’m adding to the challenges they are already facing.
So, would you ever quit radio to be able to fit into the challenges of timing in Nollywood?
I think with time it is getting better. I don’t think it will continue like this forever. I want to believe that with time it will get better. Like the producer that was talking to me two or three days back, I told him that my problem is time. My station will give me the opportunity to go but I cannot tell my station that I will be away for five days and then under five days, you’ve not finished. It is the movie mentality. If they want to come and record in this building for instance, they will tell you that, “we are recording for only two hours sir.”
Meanwhile, for the next four, five hours they’ve not finished and yet they would have told you that they are recording for only two hours. For this play, we did a skit, myself and Funke. We shot it in a hotel in Ikeja. The man asked me how long we would be spending. I knew I was recording two skits; I told the man that I would spend six hours. He said six hours is too much, so I asked him if he would prefer I lied to him.
In your own production, do you avoid this issue of timing?
I try to. When I was shooting my TV programme titled Yours and Mine last April, if not that I fell ill, I had chicken pox which made me stop shooting and everybody saw it, I would have finished shooting within the time frame that I set. I asked the director how many days it would take him to shoot and he said it would take him ten days. I said fine, I’m telling all my cast and crew that we are shooting for fourteen days bearing in mind that someone might have a reason not to be around when we are ready. All those things have to be put into consideration.
Could it also be that the reason you are not ready to stick out your neck for acting is because it’s not lucrative enough?
I think it’s more of the pleasure. That’s why I want to still come back to act. That’s what I love to do. But if it’s about putting food on my table, I don’t know. Maybe it is for other people. But I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s actually putting food on the tables of many of us. For me, it’s just for the love of it. That’s why I’ve stayed glued to it.
What are television soaps like?
Twilight Zone and Flat Mates was crazy. Then, there were not much TV soaps and all that. I think that was the only programme on TV for young people and a lot of people actually liked it. It was good. A lot of people still make reference to it till date. I was with Kanu Nwankwo when we went for the Olympics, and he asked why we stopped Flat Mates. I guess most of us just went on to other things.
Would you do Flat Mates again if you are cast for it?
Yes I would, but I don’t think it would happen. I think the storyline would change because it’s difficult now removing those actors from what we are today. Basketmouth is already big. I am at my own level, so is Kayode Peters. It might not really be easy. Besides, people will now look at it like, “What is wrong with these old men? Abeg make una leave this thing for small boys to do.” That’s what I think. But Kayode is working on something, trying to do a reloaded kind of thing. Everybody is now big. We just pick it up from that angle. That was what Kayode said.
Did you find radio or radio found you?
No, no, no Wazobia started in November, I joined them in December. But I think I contributed in building what the station should look and sound like, yeah! I’m not sure they wanted humour at the early stage but maybe because I came in, so my MD made it a point of duty that you must be humourous to be able to work in Wazobia. If you are not humourous you cannot work there.
So what’s your background?
I did Theatre Arts at the Lagos State University, Ojo. And that was when? I did my diploma sometime in 1995. E never too tey (laughs).
As an on-air personality, did you ever encounter Goldie before her death?
No, not much. She came to Cool Fm, which was after Big Brother. I think that was the last time she came. Except if she came on some other shows I don’t know about. Like I’m not in the studio right now, so I don’t know who and who is there. But I knew on the day she passed on she was supposed to come to Cool Fm the evening of that day, February 14.
She was supposed to come on Freeze’s show to come and talk about the Grammy experience and what’s new. That was after she had done the two singles. She was supposed to come, but I never had a close encounter with her.
Fears have been raised about the constant deaths in the entertainment industry. What’s your take on it?
I think a lot of people would say the entertainment industry needs to pray, I’m not ruling that out. I think it’s important that they do, but another thing I would say is that just like people die in the entertainment industry, people die in other sectors but maybe because they are popular, they are public figures, people know them; that is why you think that theirs is worse. I’m sure if you go to the banking industry in the whole of Nigeria I’m sure you will see one banker that died today or yesterday, so it’s like that.
That’s the way I want to see it but I’m sure it’s also very important that we pray and rededicate ourselves to God because the position that we are is not like every other man on the street. Please permit to say that. Let me just give you a simple example. I remember when they did the ‘Abacha one million man match’, the youth earnestly asked for Abacha, if you remember. Shina Peters was one of those that performed for him. Now he went to Ife to perform and students yapped him. They were shouting at him to get out. He had to prostrate to beg them that he was sorry for going to sing for Abacha. He was castigated for a long time. Then I looked at it, when Abacha was alive, there would have been times when he was sick, and doctors attended to him, taking care of him. Who is castigating those doctors? Nobody.
Now, they said the Abacha’s family embezzled money but lawyers are still standing for them in court. Who is castigating those lawyers? Nobody! But if an entertainer endorses any of those people haaaaaa!!! He or she is castigated and I don’t know why. It means our position is different from everyone else. So it’s very important that entertainers should do things and do them right. Let’s be careful with the things we do and steps we take. If a man slaps a woman it is nothing but let an actor slap a woman, it is news. It means that we occupy a delicate position and it should be guarded. So prayer is very important in our industry.
As a humour merchant, will standup comedy come later?
I think we all have our strengths. Babasala was not a comedian. Ibu is not a standup comedian. Nkem Owoh is not a standup comedian. I don’t know if you get me. Dele Odule is not a standup comedian. These people are comic actors but that doesn’t also mean they can’t handle the mic. I just think I understand my own market and I’m just following it squarely. I anchor events, I crack jokes at event. It works well for me.
How do you handle your female fans?
You can’t run away from female fans. There is nothing you can do about it. Women make the world go round so you must learn to relate with them. Even if you bring them close you must learn to keep them at arm’s length. Let me give you an example. When you go to a club, it’s usually free for the ladies. So what that means is that without the ladies the men won’t come there. So you must just learn to walk around it.
Tell us about your ordeal with a female fan if you have any?
There was a time a lady came to my office with my name “Yaw” tattooed on her waist. She said that is the extent to which she loves me. I was shocked. I’ve never seen her before and she tattooed my name on her waist! That’s madness! I just left and told the security people to chase her away.
Are you the typical African man who doesn’t believe a woman should express her feelings to a man?
Of course I believe… I don’t have a problem with that. It happens but not to that extent. That is going to the extreme.
What are your plans for 2013?
Apart from The Bar, coming up very soon, written by Obe Martins there is the TV programme Yours and Mine which will start showing from March.
How did you spend the Valentine?
I was in a meeting. I went for a meeting.
Are you married?
I’m involved. Work come first for me in everything I do. Besides, I have a show. Every day is love for me. But that apart I had a meeting on that day and it was important I went because of my show.
