Taiwo Hassan Speaks! I Pray My Wife Forgives Me For Marrying Another Woman
Yoruba actor, Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo,
tells Ademola Oloniluaabout his career, marriage and why he
ventured into music
Do you feel accomplished as an actor?
Yes, I feel fulfilled and I thank Almighty Allah for his mercies
and goodness. As far as I am not dead, I am still working to be better at
everything I do. So far so good, I give thanks to God.
Why did you leave your job in the
civil service for acting?
I retired. I really love the acting profession and I have been
doing it for a long time. I began acting even before I started working for the
water corporation. I began acting in 1981 shortly after I got a job at the
water corporation as an auto-mechanic. I worked at the water corporation for
about 13 years before I decided to face my acting career. That was in 1994. I
am sure not many people believe that I trained as a mechanic.
How were you able to combine your
civil service job with your acting career?
I always made sure that any production I partook in was on a
weekend or during my annual leave.
What was your ambition as a child?
To be honest, all I knew was that I wanted to be someone great
in life. I never knew that I would be involved in the entertainment industry
while growing. I just admired the glitz and glamour. I think my love for
entertainment can be traced to the fact that I come from a family that is
deeply rooted in the Yoruba culture and tradition. We are masqueraders and I
know how to praise people and chant very well. When I started acting, producers
loved giving me the role of a traditional chanter because they knew I could
chant ‘ewi’ and ‘oriki’ very well.
Since you began acting in 1981, has
there been any time you felt like quitting?
Never. Such thought has never crossed my mind.
So you never had a challenging moment?
Of course, there were challenging moments but they were not
enough reason for me to quit. Things are better now because back then, we did
not get any financial gain from our profession. The people that enjoyed being
actors were those whose parents were rich enough to sponsor their projects.
Back then, if you were unable to produce a movie, it was difficult to become a
success in the industry because you would always rely on stage plays to
survive. When I produced my first movie, some people were shooting theirs for
less than N20,000 but because I knew what I wanted, I aimed higher. I knew what
it meant to produce a quality movie and I spent over N70,000 on my project. The
Wicked Boy was my first movie and I shot it in 1993 in two parts. It
was a big success and it sold very well. I produced a movie that I was paid a
royalty of over N2m in the 90s. Now pirates have messed everything up for us.
How much were you paid for the first
movie you ever featured in?
During that period, we could not charge. We were satisfied that
we featured in movies. We were just doing solidarity jobs for ourselves.
Gradually, we started charging and the highest we were paid then was N300. We
suffered a lot before the industry became what it is today. There was a time a
man called me for a job; he wanted me to chant in his movie. When he saw me, he
did not believe I was an actor because of the corporate way I dressed. Then I
was still a mechanic with the Lagos State Water Corporation but you would not
know. When he asked me to name my price, I said N600 for starters but he could
not meet up. He said that the lead character was charging about N400. I
declined the job. In 1994, the highest paid actor charged about N1,500. I was
paid N1,200 in 1991 for Omo Yoruba, that was the very first
movie that I was paid big money.
How did you feel when you were paid
such a huge amount compared to what your contemporaries were earning?
I did not see it as a big deal because I was already working;
although it was a huge sum in the 90s. At that time, you could not finish N2 in
any restaurant except you were a glutton because naira had value then. From the
location that I collected N1,200, I went to Ado-Ekiti where Fadeyi Oloro was
shooting his movie and he paid me about N850. Within a week, I could make as
much as N2,000. Don’t forget that I was earning salary as a civil servant. So,
I lived like a king.
It is a popular belief that you are a
womaniser because women flock around you
I am not a womaniser, I just believe that people surround me
because of the love God has for me. It also depends on how you present yourself
to people. I believe in self control because if you have sex with every woman
that comes your way, then your life is in danger. If I indulge in such acts, I
will not look as radiant as I am at my age. Most likely I might have contracted
various diseases. If I were a womaniser, I would have thought I contracted a
sexually transmitted disease during the time I was critically ill.
When you fell very ill, it was rumoured that you peddled
cocaine and it got burst in your belly
I do not even know what cocaine looks like. Of course, I heard
the rumour but an official of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency once
told me that no one survives it when cocaine bursts in the belly. It is normal
for people to peddle rumours against a popular person. Some people are image
makers while others are image breakers. While I was ill, a journalist very
close to me published that I had AIDS. When I became healthy, he began to dodge
me. When we eventually met, I told everyone present to thank him for me because
without his write-up, even though it was false, no one would have known that I
was very ill and I could have died.
When you were very sick, did it ever
occur to you that you might die?
Of course, it was only natural for one to have such thoughts at
that period. I began to have the feeling that I might lose my life after I had
sought for help at several places but found none. I spent a lot of money while
taking care of myself.
What lessons did you learn from your
illness?
I learnt that it is not everybody that truly likes you. We have
a lot of entertainers in Lagos but only a handful cared enough to check on me
when I was ill.
How were you able to regain your
stature because you looked very frail when you were ill?
That is the work of God because I did not use any drug to regain
my stature. I had chronic ulcer so I had to be eating well; the only thing I
could not do was exercise. I am getting over it because ulcer can only be
managed and not totally cured.
Did you have ulcer because you hardly
ate?
Ulcer is not only about eating well, there was too much acid in
my body. I don’t go to parties, neither do I drink alcohol. The day it began, I
was fasting. I was at home for seven months without taking anything except pap.
I thank God the worst is over.
Why do you always act the role of a
saint in movies?
I have acted the part of a wicked person years back. I have done
movies where I was a hardened criminal but that was in the past. The truth is
that when a producer sees a script, he already has a mental image of who can
act the role perfectly well. That is why most times when there is a role for a
quiet person, they invite me. When the movie Owoblow was
produced, I was not a saint in the movie. I remember I was in the hospital and
it was the first time I ever had typhoid in my life. They brought the script to
me in the hospital and when they saw that I was ill, they went back to tell
Tade Ogidan that I was ill and might not be able to act. He ordered that the
movie be postponed till I got well. When I heard that, I asked the doctors to
discharge me so I could go and shoot the movie. I promised that I would always
report back to the hospital at night for my treatment just to honour Tade
Ogidan. After shooting every evening, they always took me to the hospital for
my injections before they dropped me at home.
How did you meet your first wife?
We were in the same theatre group and I admired her a lot. I saw
her and I was interested in her. I told her that I would like to marry her and
she agreed. I later married another wife but I believe everything in life has
to do with destiny. I vowed that I would not have a second wife because I never
fancied polygamy but it happened and I believe it was for a reason. It is God’s
doing.
When you told her you wanted to marry
another wife, how did she react to the news?
She felt bad and I begged her. May God give us a good wife; if I
had money I could have bought a hummer jeep to beg my wife but I am not that
rich. I made her understand how it happened and that regardless, it would not
change anything between us. I begged her to please accept it as our destiny and
I appreciate her for her understanding.
But some women will either pack out of
the house or make it unbearable for the man. Did such a thing happen to you?
Not at all, she did not do any of that. I asked my younger
brother and two of my sisters to help me beg her. When they begged her, she
said she believed that it is destiny.
What is the atmosphere in your house?
One thing I like about my first wife is that she encourages me
to help people, especially my family members. She always makes sure I satisfy
them if they need my help. When my mother was alive, she took good care of her.
God is the only one that can forgive us our sins and I pray that he forgives
me. I also pray my wife forgives me.
How did you venture into music?
It has always been a part of my family heritage. I released an
album titled Appreciation in 2009. I did it in America and I
found out that it was well accepted, so I came to Nigeria to do the same thing
but the marketer ran away with my N2m. After a while, I decided to produce
another album and I am grateful to my fans because the feedback has been great.
The acceptance of the first album encouraged me to do another album. I did not
make money from the first album but I was happy with the feedback that I got.
Not many people believe you have
delved into music…
It is not really music, it is chanting, praising people in the
cultural way through what we Yoruba call oriki. It is infused with
music to make it melodious.
Do you have plans to quit acting to pursue a career as a
musician?
No, I am not going to do that. They both involve entertaining people
and that is what I am all about. I can never leave the entertainment industry.
Via - Punch
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