Like an episode in the rested Village Headmaster, in which he featured before ascending the throne of his ancestors, the news of Oba Funso Adeolu, the Alaye Ode of Ode Remo in Ogun State’s transition was trailed by mild controversy.
Last week, when the news of his passage filtered, a segment of society, particularly from his kingdom, denied that the Oba had returned to his ancestors. Others even said that he was only indisposed and that he would soon come out to deny the bad news.
But on Monday, August 25, Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State confirmed the transition in a condolence letter to relations of the late Oba and people of Ode Remo. The governor conveyed his message through the state’s commissioner of information, noting that the Oba’s exit was a great loss to the traditional institution in the country as well as the arts in general.
Daniel acknowledged Adeolu as a great king, who was loved by his people and who contributed significantly to the development of society. The governor, while extolling the departed oba on his contribution to the development of the modern Nigerian drama, described Adeolu as “a colossus in drama genre, a cultural icon of no mean standing and a traditional ruler par excellence.”
It would be recollected that the late royal father was a consummate dramatist and a lead character in the rested Village Headmaster, which was created by Chief Segun Olusola. He was reputed for playing Chief Eleyinmi, the popular village head, through whom the late actor displayed rich talent aside distinguishing himself as an uncompromising, professional artiste.
Eleyinmi, as he was fondly called before becoming Oba, brought happiness to many homes across the country. He made history as one of the first major artistes in the country to be crowned traditional rulers. Earlier, Oba Segun Akinbola, a dramatist and theatre scholar, ascended the throne of his forefathers as Alade of Idanre in Ondo State, while Oba Wole Amele (Councillor Balogun in the same rested Village Headmaster), became royal father in Aramoko Ekiti in Ekiti State. But the latter too died last year, leaving Akinbola as the only surviving of the trio.
When alive, the late royal father was not well disposed to the phenomenon called Nollywood. And he had his reasons. First, he detested the low quality of the movies being churned out daily by producers, and second, he observed that many of the practitioners lack requisite training. He recollected his days as an actor in The Village Headmaster when he was the second in command to Oba Ajelende as well as in the stage adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, noting how he used to spit fire on stage, just as he used to do in real life, even as a royal father.
Things Fall Apart in Enugu
The late oba said Things Fall Apart was a very great package by Peter Igho. He found a very good team to produce it and it was almost like a festival, you could see Things Fall Apart almost living. So, it was a very good feeling; the production was very good. They chose very good places for the village set. I count myself lucky to have been part of that production.
Casting?
Peter Igho made it possible. He selected all the good actors in the country. It was like an amalgamation of the stars in the country at that time and that was why it was a very successful production.
Recording duration?
About three months; it was at the time Gen. Ibrahim Babangida took over government, because I remember I came from Enugu to Lagos to see my family and it was the night I came that Babangida took over. We had thought the coup would disrupt the production, but that was not to be. We returned to Enugu and continued with the recording.
Can this be replicated?
It might be a bit difficult now to replicate that kind of production. In those days, people who were in acting, and who took part in Things Fall Apart were seasoned and tested actors. Pete (Edochie), who played the Okonkwo character, had been in the field for a long time and had produced plays. It was a team of experts in acting, production, camera works…if you know what I mean, experts in every department. It was very well adapted; the language used in producing and bringing Okonkwo live in Things Fall Apart was very good. I commend the efforts of that team.
Acting for money
At that time, it was a lot of fun, a lot of dedication. At that time, it was love for the theatre, love for the arts that compelled us into doing things like that. I could remember when we started Village Headmaster we were paid four guineas, later it was increased to eight. It was like that and I think the highest we got when we were producing Village Headmaster was something like N80 per episode. So, it tells you we were very committed, we would go for rehearsals. I used to go from Anthony Village to Victoria Island for rehearsals. We rehearsed three times in a week before recording. So, it was a lot of self-interest, dedication, devotion and love for the art that motivated us more than the monetary aspect.
Part time acting?
Then it wasn’t a full time job. Many us were engaged in other things. For instance, I had my production company that was into advertising and public relations and we were doing very well. It was then I went into the production of The Millers, a TV soap. But we were employed in related things. A few of us were in government service and a few had flourishing private businesses, but we took it as a challenge particularly when it was about a book like Things Fall Apart. I personally took it up as a challenge because when the book came out in 1958, it was one of the books I read in the university as a literature text.
So, it was more of a challenge for me to try to interpret what the great master, Chinua Achebe, was trying to depict. You could almost see Chinua Achebe sitting and saying “no, that is not what I want.” It was a challenge. For instance, for somebody like Pete, who played the role of Okonkwo, he took the challenge and succeeded; the producer, the director. It was a challenge to everybody.
Getting into character
That is why it is called acting. You have to be able to depict an Igbo man, if it was an Hausa man, you have to be able to depict him properly, convincingly, and if it was an Englishman you asked to play, you have to be able to depict him properly, So that is what acting is all about. If you have read the book and you have put yourself in the book, it will be much easier for you to play the part of the chief. We were taught certain things like the jingling of the rod. How you pin it into the ground and make it jingle. We had to learn some of the proverbs and even how to call Ebube Dike, Kedu, Nnonu, Dalu nu.
Nollywood
I don’t reckon with Nollywood. You see, in Nigeria we have commercialised everything and the place of professionalism is lost completely. In a situation where you have marketers writing scripts…I don’t watch those things. The ones I watch are the ones produced by Tunde Kelani, because he has paid his dues, he went through the grill and you can see the difference.
Maybe if I were still in the business, they could have nudged us out with their money. I will not give in to anything that is not professional. No matter what, I will not do anything that is not professional. I mean, you see some shots and you begin to wonder. The way they cheat…they cheat the viewers because they want to make money. They don’t make films; they are just showing us albums. It is like we are watching talking albums. That is what they do. It is not movies, no challenges. The shots lack depth. They don’t know anything.
Embrace Nollywood?
Certainly not; of course, if I were outside, I would have taken the place before the arrival of Nollywood, because with what I was doing with The Millers…the standard of The Millers was very, very high, so I couldn’t have been involved with Nollywood. They would have come to us and learn. Go and see some of the episodes of The Millers and see what is called professionalism against commercialism. I wouldn’t have been part of it.
And you will see that Nollywood does not involve many experienced hands, people of my time and clan are not very much involved. And before somebody like Justus Esiri would get to be involved, it must have been with so much convincing and persuasion and, of course, my friend, the late Alara of Aramoko, Oba Wole Amele (Counsellor Balogun of the rested Village Headmaster). He was involved with Tunde Kelani; I would have been involved with Tunde Kelani if Kelani wanted to do a film and called me, I would be part of it because I know what he can do.
Have you ever heard of Lola Fani-Kayode again?
They nudged her out, think of people like Jimi Odumosu; where are people like that? People who are learned on this business, who are thoroughly breed professionals. If someone like Tunde Oloyede invites me to a film, I would be involved; I know they won’t be involved with Nollywood; his wife, a great actress, would not. We have our class; they have their class. Let them go after the money. It will soon crumble. When you do something, you do not do it professionally, it crumbles, that is why you have a lot of houses crumbling because they were not professionally built. Nollywood will soon crash if it has not crashed already.
Challenges as the Alaye Ode?
Anybody who will lead a group of people must know that he would go through a lot of challenges. Why challenges? Challenges because you are dealing with human beings and human beings vary, everybody has his or her individual differences I mean everybody has his or her agenda, hidden agenda.
Then there is what they call group agenda, then community agenda. So, the challenges are many and varied.
The challenges are many; but with the help of my chiefs, they have taken a lot of pressure off me. It takes the grace of God to cope with the challenges. You also need the grace of God to be able to stand upright, because if you begin to have fear that you don’t want to make enemies, you want everybody to be friends, you will make a lot of mistakes and that is the beginning of your fall.
Task ahead
I know I am from a royal family, mine was in the ministry of the Methodist Mission, so we grew up in a church compound. Because of the sort of training we had, we were not looking forward to becoming this or that. But, I have learnt that if youaccepts any position that God gives as a service to Him, He will stand by you. With God, everything is possible. And now, don’t ask me if I am a born again, I am not. I don’t believe in the born again syndrome. I believe in the totality of God; I have dedicated my life to God, I have dedicated my seat to God and everything I do, I ask for His guidance; in fact, my motto is: “All glory to the Most High.” Everything belongs to Him.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpage...8-2008-001.htm
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