Agba-Akin Yemi Etieme Solade is a sterling actor who has distinguished himself over the last four decades since he first landed a role in Nigeria’s entry play, ‘Langbodo,’ during the Festival of Black Arts Culture (FESTAC), in 1977. With a career spanning stage, television, and big-screen productions, Solade, who is in his mid-60s has made an immense contribution to what has become today’s Nigerian film industry as an academic and an active yet articulate actor. In this interview with ASSISTANT EDITOR GBENGA BADA, he opens up on his life, wife, political inclination, allegations, and what makes him thick amidst other issues
IT was your wedding anniversary over the week, how has 20 years of marriage been for you as an entertainer? Well, it’s a symbiotic relationship. The chemistry has existed for slightly over 20 years. We’ve been together, but the consummation legally, according to the law of the land, took place 20 years ago. On the 21st of September, 2004. So, I give it to my wife. She manages me very well. She’s been very tolerant. She perseveres a lot. My wife, apart from many other things, is just a very normal person, very selfless, very dutiful. She sacrifices more than anybody that I know in this world. So, she’s a God-sent.
A lot of people always find it difficult to manage stardom and marriage. What do you think is the major thing that has kept your marriage?
My wife is very tolerant and sacrifices a lot. She understands me when I have and when I don’t. She is not ostentatious. She’s not given to material things. Anything I give to her, she prays for me and that goes a long way. And you see, the keyword in my marriage is sacrifice. My wife started by sacrificing her artistic life. Once we signed the marriage contract, she just stopped going to locations. I met her on the set of a TV series and we became friends. Mind you, I was married before then and the marriage crashed. And then I met her, we became friends and I looked at the fact that I was getting old and needed to run a family of my own. Well, I toasted her. And she agreed to marry me. Lo and behold, we are counting the number. We live together actually. Everyday, unless I am not home, she’s always in the house. She does her business and she returns home. She’s a family person.
So what I would say about colleagues in the creative sector who can’t manage relationships is that I think there are too many distractions and temptations that most of us can’t overcome. We can’t surmount these things. And most of these things are materialistic. You see, the law of crass materialism is the bane of why most creatives can’t run the marital business because I call it business. And the fact that most of us can’t even sacrifice like my wife will do. You know, these days, women don’t want to be domesticated. They want to be out like the man. They want to do things for themselves. They want to make their own money. They want to run their lives. But then marriage is not like that. You have to sacrifice, whether you like it or not, and this is one thing my wife has done successfully. And people look at us and they envy the relationship. And she’s a very private person. She does not even enjoy it when I push her out on social media. She’s not a picture person. She just wants to be home and take care of her family and that’s all. It has to be me, the father in the house, the husband, and the children. That’s her world and she’s not given to social life. You can’t find her here and there. You know, she’s very pretty. It’s not like she’s not good-looking. That’s why she doesn’t step out. She is very, very pretty. But that’s who she is. She’s a very, very conservative person.
So I said to our colleagues out there, that they should look beyond material things. Yeah, material things are good but then that should not define who one is. Marriage is more like friendship because it’s a life contract. Nobody wants to get married and be separated or divorced in a few months, or a year. And that is why you bring the whole world together to celebrate love. And then the next thing, after a few months, the thing crashes. And so why is it crashing? I say to people, “Marry your friend.” Any other consideration, well, we know for economic reasons, people want to look at, want to secure their future. Some of our colleagues have spouses outside Nigeria where they live. It works for them that way. They say, “I can do that.” The essence of marriage is to live with your spouse. That is marriage. I’m not criticising anybody, but this is Nigeria, where the Naira is worse than the serviette paper. So you want to put your other person out there just to stay afloat.
In Nollywood, you seem to have a very controversial personality. Among your colleagues, and producers, why do you think so, and do you hear about you being controversial?
Yeah, I do. They think I’m very complex. They think I’m heady. They think I do what you call show off. They think I display or exhibit academic tendencies. ‘Se oun nikan lo mo oro so ni?’ (Is he the only one who knows how to talk?) I’ve been hearing that for about 30 years. I don’t know why anybody would think that I am all of these things. The quality of training I got would not make me unnecessarily quiet or subservient. I will probably, when I use all these Yoruba terms, you can interpret it the way you understand. So that is who I am. I will not be subservient unnecessarily to anybody when I know my onions.
I was trained very well but I work with a lot of people who are very talented. They may not have gone through the kind of training I got, but I respect them. But you see when you want to put things right, and they think, “Oh, Mr. Know it all, okay, we are on set.” You are giving me red wine and giving me a teacup. And I say, “What is that? Kini rada rada yi (what is this nonsense?)”. And they frown. Things like this. If you point some things out, they get offended. They take offense. Even the names we bear, that are given as character names, I point out. You come in and say, “I want to see Mr. Seun.” I said, “No. You want to see Mr. Oloketuyi.” You see, then they begin to look at you like “kilo se e gan (what is wrong with him?)” and because I don’t produce works. So they weaponize all of these things. Taba pe o ma je iya (If we don’t call him, he will suffer) No. Well, you see, when I was a drama student in Ife, Wole Soyinka would tell you, that after you write the essay, you must do a page, a critique of what you have written like a third party while submitting. So our people don’t like criticism. It’s not criticism. It’s a critique. Okay, now you invite me to work. You are telling me to bring my stuff. Do you know what it costs to build one agbada? About 250k. And you are paying me about that, agbada, and you want me to bring like five. All my things. I’m fueling my car, 1,000 Naira a litre. And I cannot have a say. When I get there, you’re giving me 5,000 Naira to eat per day. And you’re putting me in one room that is not conducive. And you want me to keep quiet. So what is all this? I can’t open my mouth again. And I want this work to feed me, feed my family. See, I’m not working for awards. I’m working for a reward. Let me do the professional work and get paid. And I go. I live a very simple life. And that’s why you don’t see me everywhere and I have an attitude. You don’t put me in a movie. You are telling me to come for your premiere.
You are someone that you’ve been able to successfully do a lot of Yoruba movies and English movies. What do you think gives you that edge?
Yeah, I guess when you listen to me, you will know the quality of training. One, I’m a very disciplined artist. When I say discipline, I’m one of the most disciplined that I know. You can ask these producers. You can ask my colleagues. I don’t joke with work because it’s the only thing I have, even at the point where my wife was in labour, I left her in the hospital and went on set. How much sacrifice will anybody make? Do you know the meaning of being in labour? So now, let me tell you how I get these roles. People watch. Producers watch. “Oh, I like this man’s work. Okay, this guy is articulate. He has what I want. Okay, these are the characters we have in this story. He can fit in. That’s all, regardless of the language. Okay, everybody knows I’m Yoruba. I speak the English language, which is the lingua franca of Nigeria, and I speak the Yoruba that I speak. It’s not even Yoruba where I come from, Egba. I was born in Lagos here, so I speak Lagos Yoruba. I struggle with the Oyo Yoruba, and I don’t really fancy too much when they want to challenge me. A a kin rin yin ni culture. (We don’t see you in any cultural movies) I say, “No, it’s not called culture. It’s called epic.” All these things, they frown. They don’t like being corrected. Now, producers who believe in my prowess as an actor, that I can deliver, they invite. No caps. No nepotistic tendencies. I don’t belong to any clique. Because that is one factor that is actually grinding Nollywood to a halt. One aspect of it. “He is not in our sector. He’s not in our party.” You know, there’s cultism in Nollywood, no doubt. He’s not our person. Let me tell you this. Until we created Nollywood, I didn’t know where many people came from. But people would say to my face, “Ah, he’s Yoruba now. I can’t put Yoruba in my movie.”
You said there’s cultism in Nollywood. Can you elaborate on that?
I just said it. Now people run cliques. You know, I know a lot of people, especially practitioners in the core Yoruba tradition, those ones coming from the Ogunde trees. You see, there are two trees in this business. I’m not talking about Nigeria now. Let’s narrow it down to Southwest. There are two trees. It’s like River Niger and River Benue. Ogunde tree and Wole Soyinka tree. So I am at Lokoja, the confluence. Wole Soyinka first, then I added Ogunde in 1993 when I decided to feature in movies done in the Yoruba language. You know, the Surulere Yoruba anyway. Now, I have always seen myself as a veritable bridge that can swing both ways. And that was what gave birth to TAMPAN when I created TAMPAN in 2009. Now, I want to bring people like me, you know, into a fold. But somehow I lost that TAMPAN to the present TAMPAN now. Because I released it.
What do you think is missing in TAMPAN?
It’s the entry point. Some people lack training. So, individuals are helping themselves now. Some are attending courses here and there. But we are talking of the collective. You know, nobody is talking about professional bodies any longer. You have your money, you have your story. You hit the location, you shoot your movie, go to cinemas. Go on YouTube. Nobody is saying anything.
I saw that years back you campaigned for a politician.
Yes, I did.
And then years later you composed a tweet saying that artists should not run after politicians. Are you not contradicting yourself?
No, it is not contradicting. I will tell you why.
To me, if you campaigned for a politician, it means that you were paid to campaign?
No, I spent my money. It was the same governor. This is the governor of Lagos State. I joined the media and publicity committee and I used my money to print caps and vests. I didn’t collect a dime. The DGs are still alive, the Chief of Staff, Tayo Ayinde, and then the deputy.
Doesn’t it tell you that a lot of your colleagues have benefited a lot and you have not?
Nobody is benefiting anything.
In Lagos State, are you saying that the Lagos State government is not doing anything for Nollywood actors?
No, no, no, that’s not what I’m saying. When you say benefits, a lot of my colleagues benefit how?
You said you spent your personal money to ensure that the current government won the election; didn’t you expect something in return like many of your colleagues would?
That was the first tenure. It’s first coming in 2019. So in the second, I decided to opt out.
Why?
Why? I just felt like I escaped death. At the flag-off at Sky Power, somebody was stabbed. That was when, you know, that event was celebrated. I was Horrified. I witnessed it. And I escaped bullets by a whisker. So I said, no, it’s enough.
Does that mean you’re never going to campaign for any politician?
No, no. Campaigns will come, but let the politician reach out to me. I don’t want to go to them.
If they reach out to you, that means you’re going to be paid?
No, you’re not talking about payment. You see, we will sit down. This is what I’ve always said to my colleagues now, especially in this last election, the general election last year. I said, “Can we just sit, let them come and we will lay our cards on the table.” I see that when politicians want to contest, they call actors, they call guilds and come and say, “If I become this, this is my plan. What do you want us to do that will make you support us?” They do that. Yes, I agree. That can always happen. But you see, there’s this tradition that I have seen. It’s a very ugly convention that politicians expect that we go to them most times. And that is what I have been saying. If they want to meet the medical health sector, look at it. There will be a venue. And, it could be, I don’t want to mention any of the event centres or hotels, but you see, it will be dignifying. But what you see is that my people will probably list names, 20 of you.
Is that a failure of the guilds?
It’s not about guilds. It’s not even about association. Okay. My colleagues use the association.
So it’s a problem with the practitioners themselves?
It’s the practitioners, not the association. And I’ve always said, I don’t use the association to (support) campaigns. Most of us have individual names that are known. Even if I’m president of a professional body, I won’t lead my people to do that. Let it be an individual thing. Why do I have to lead the professional body? That is, you see, it happened in Ogun State, where I hail from originally. The association that I mentioned, TAMPAN that I created, is more or less in limbo in that state. And I warned the officers there, don’t do it, but they did it. Now the governor, who they campaigned against, the guy is in power. So how do you go to them? So you see, do it on your own volition. You have a name. Go out, and support anybody, but don’t use the professional body. Again, it is not all the members that are supporting this candidate. But because you are in power, and this is what was inherited from Ogunde, your oga has spoken, you must go. You can’t challenge your oga.
In the industry, what do you think should change to make it more professional?
See, since 2005, we have been playing with the idea of having a regulatory body council. It has not worked. That’s like over 20 years now. Amaka Igwe was one of the proponents, she’s no more. The second reading was the last thing we had. I’m a director with the Audiovisual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS) and Mahmood Ali Balogun is our chairman. We have made moves, too. We’ve done a lot about copyright, you know. But you see an average practitioner is not interested in all of these things. That is a big problem. Now, if we can get the government to partner with us, and let us have a regulatory body, then we’ll be able to sanitise the system. The entry point will be well-guided and guarded. Not an all-comers affair. Anybody can just crawl into Nollywood. Once you have your storyline, you have your story and then the money. Nobody is asking questions.
Over the years, there have been different allegations, especially some that involve women. How has your wife been able to cope and how have you been able to wriggle out of all this?
When people say I give roles for sex. I think it’s the dumbest kind of allegation because I’m not a producer. How do I do that? You know, people don’t know out there. So I don’t owe anyone an explanation. It’s my wife that knows. And again, this question about how my wife feels is not my question. This is a question you should ask my wife.
You’re the one that feels the heat at home.
No, no, there’s no heat. No, there’s no heat. Once I told her, “Honey. Sorry, something is brewing,” you know. And then she says, “Just be careful.” That’s all. My wife is a very peaceful person. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be together for about 22 years now. She’s a very peaceful person.
Even when people made allegations?
They will tell you all sorts of funny stories. You see, I have a caustic tongue. People come into my space and then they say, “Why did you embarrass him?” Then they cook up all these things.
I recall one that came from BON Awards. A lady wanted to attend an award event with me. I declined and it went sour. And the next thing I found, somebody called me and told another person that somebody said “Because she didn’t have sex with me,” somebody I’d never seen in my life.
I said “What’s all this?” I’ve forgotten that year. That was the very beginning. “What is all this now?” You said, “Let me go to the award show at LTV. Let me go in with you.” I said “How will you go in with me? Are you my wife?” And then she didn’t like the way I responded.
So you see, people are like that. They think that you should package them. What the hell? Me, I sepe now (I lay curses on them now) and then the next day, they say, “We’ll get back at you.” Oya, get back to me now. My marriage can’t crumble because of all this rubbish. My wife knows me
