Celebrated Yoruba movie actor, Alhaji Kareem Adepoju, massively called Baba

Wande in the make-believe concern, hardly talk to the Press. But the top actor did recently, talking on cogent issues with deep conviction as he did with our Contributing Editor, IFECHI OKOH, whom he spoke to on topical matters for the sake of his 50 years experience in Nollywood, actually touching on vital and necessary areas of movie packaging in Nigeria. He delved into knotty issues, including who really makes the money in Nollywood, why he is still in the saddle, despite all the discouraging signals, why he may yet swell the number of his wives by marrying more, and what his experience have been like in a polygamous setting. It’s simply an A - Z close-up. Savour . . .

May we know where you hail from in Nigeria?

I am from Oshogbo town in Osun State, the same place with late theatre giant, Pa Oyin Adejobi and other top theatre practitioners.

You marked 50 years on stage recently. Can you please tell us how many movies you have appeared in their productions over the years?

They are simply uncountable! That’s why I have lost count of them!! Honestly.

Among your movies, do you have a personal favourite?

I don’t want to choose a personal favourite among my movies. I strongly believe that this should be left to my viewers and fans because it is not my duty. I have done the part expected of me as a writer and actor. So the rest, that is rating the movies is left to them. Naturally, I can’t choose for them because it doesn’t work that way. However, I know that all my productions till date are of high standard in my judgement. I must confess here that each movie is special to me because it carries its own special or unique story. My own is to grab my pen and start writing whenever ideas I believe that people can learn from strike or come my way.

Can you kindly provide us with the name of your first movie and the necessary insight into all you think is important for viewers to know?

Good! The name of my first movie, is Obuko Dudu; meaning black male goat. The story revolved around a security guard who had a dream which he believed was prophetic. In the dream, the guard claimed that he saw robbers planning to raid his master’s home. He strongly felt that the best thing to do was to alert his master of the impending danger, so that he would look for ways to avert it by asking his boss to get more guards on board. But sadly, the son of his boss did not see with such suggestion, so he knocked dead the guard’s suggestion. This angered the fetish-minded guard who showed his anger by consulting a native doctor. The medicine man then asked him to provide Obuko Dudu (black goat) to enable him package the concoction for the guard. That was the plot of this celebrated movie years back.

Can we know if your movies have actually fetched you the expected financial leverage over the years?

Financial gain? No way yet! I want to make it categorically clear that film makers and actors don’t make money like marketers and pirates. Marketers and those involved in the piracy business of films make all the money silently, and not the actors, actresses, script writers, producers and directors. Honestly! This allegation can be investigated by those in doubt. After all, it is a free world. Till now, I am yet to see a film maker who makes fortunes from his productions. However, I have personally refused to allow this monkey-dey-work, baboon-dey-chop situation to get me out of this game.

With this discouraging signal which is an obvious threat to your career of many years, don’t you think it is time you call it quit with Nollywood?

Not quite! Why? What most movie makers don’t know is that acting is first and foremost, my calling. For this reason, I have been overlooking most things from the marketers end, thereby flowing with them for years. This is what I expect from every true professional. As actors, we have the social responsibilities of impacting societal core values on our youths who are obviously battling with the bunch of jet age vices. This is where the actors’ patriotic instinct comes in. Aside from this, as a born actor like me, you should be enjoying it, despite all the challenges because you have no any other profession. Hence you just have to continue to act for the love of it.

Now, let’s talk about your religion and marriage. Is your marrying many women end just with the Islamic permission to do that?

Not quite! It goes beyond that. First and foremost, marrying as many women as possible solves automatically the embarrassing cases of infidelity and scandalous cases of rape. It even extends to the case of health matters. For instance, I was once very sick. Every of my wife took it upon themselves to see that I got well as soon as possible. Had it been, I had just one wife, where would I have gotten all the attention I got at a stretch?

You can now see the reasons for marrying many women, which really go beyond being just a Muslim.

How did your parents react when you decided to pursue acting as a career?

They vehemently opposed my choice. Acting, according to them then, is meant for the lowly in the society. So, it was unbelievable and unacceptable to them for their son to go into it. Well, for me as somebody who had made up his mind to go into it as a profession, I had to navigate objectively and immediately too, through them. That was how I finally found my way. However, I must thank God for touching their hearts at last, thereby allowing me to have my way.

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