Veteran Actor Cries Out: We Want Befitting Lives Not Burials

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Veteran Actor Cries Out: We Want Befitting Lives Not Burials

By Correspondent

Nollywood veteran actor, Chief Olusegun Kehinde Olayinka Aderemi, popularly known as Chief Karan, has revealed plans to launch a programme scheduled for next month to commemorate 50 years on stage. Chief Karan disclosed that about 45 Nollywood veterans who had spent over four decades on stage would be celebrated and given awards during the programme, while some awards would also be given for best performances in different genres. According to him, the day is set aside for actors, actresses and other intellectuals in different places that have contributed to the industry. Popularly known for playing billionaire roles in Yoruba movies, the flashy actor said most of the time he wore flamboyant clothes to play the role of a billionaire when he might not have more than N500 in his pocket, adding that even after spending five to six days on location, he would go home with a meagre N30, 000. He also shared the ordeal of some of the actors and actresses, who have played active roles in the entertainment industry for decades ago. Chief Karan lamented that most of his contemporaries and seniors died as paupers. He said: “I want to give kudos to the people that passed through three, four, five decades in this industry. Our Federal and state governments have never for once appreciated the efforts of actors and actresses in this country. And I can say that if you ever see an actor that is buying land at Lekki or Ikoyi and also has seven to eight cars, I can tell you categorically that he is not into acting only. “John Ayode died like a pauper, he died like a cockroach, Ayode was a man that we called Garba in Village Headmaster.The man was sick at the hospital, and there was nobody to pay his bill and the man died like a cockroach. “When Becky Nosa was diagnosed with cancer in the 70s and 80s, it took us two months before we could get the money. If not for the help of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the lady would have died. “Olumide Bakare is there, the man is dying of kidney and heart diseases. Up till now, I have not heard that anybody has come to his aid. “Baba Sala that made the people laugh and happy in the 90s was sick and was rushed from Ilesa to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. He could not afford the hospital bill, but luckily for him, the head of medical personnel saw him and did not take a kobo from him. Neither the Federal government nor anybody else did anything for him.” “But when politicians want to go on campaign, when they want us to pass the message to people, when they want to do advert, they will now remember us. All these things baffle me. I want them to celebrate us when we are alive and healthy and not when we are dead they will be giving us one stupid befitting burial.” “I want the Federal government and the state governments to appreciate me and some other icons in the industry when we are alive. Actors and actresses that make people happy should be celebrated, they should make us happy.” On the upcoming event, he said, “We are going to invite our governors, ministers to come and honour them in the command performance. In the command performance, it is not just acting, but we also want to honour them not just put the medal on their neck like we do in Nigeria, we want something to go with it. It may be small or a token, but when these people are being celebrated, it gives me peace. “We have seventy acres of land at Iseyin in Oyo State six years ago. That place is tagged ”˜ART CITY’, this year we want to take people down to that place and see what we have in a sketch paper. And they can tell us where and how we could rebuild the place. “We want a situation where all actors and actresses will have their own estate and people will not be seeing us roaming the streets”¦ We want to have a place where we can shoot without begging to use your house, a place that everything we need will be there,’’ he added.

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