+ Reveals How He Started His Career With OGUNDE
The name Papalolo needs no introduction in the Yoruba arm of the movie industry. He was one of the pioneers of the comedy business in Nigeria. He started out with his old friend, Jacob, who passed away many years ago. They were both known as Jacob and Papalolo. These two talented gentlemen were one of those who brought comedy into the theater profession, making people laugh and yet ensured the messages they were passing through their varous drama and stage plays were not lost on the audience. At well over 70 years of age, Papalolo has remained very active in the industry. And though they no longer get as much roles as they would like to in movies these days produced by the much younger producers, Papalolo insists that is where the younger ones are missing the point, that veterans like him still have a great deal to offer the industry. He wants the younger movie producers who are currently calling the shots in the industry to consider them when giving out roles for their movie projects. He implores them to emulate Doyin Amodu, the producer of the movie, Ojo Ale, who created a story line designed to accommodate lots of veterans in the industry to enable them revive their careers and bring smiles on their faces again.
At the premiere of Ojo Ale, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) engaged star veteran actor, Ayo Ogunsina, popularly known as Papalolo. He shared with us his early days in the movie industry and his expectations from the government and other accomplished movie practitioners. Here are excerpts.
You are one of the veterans who participated in the movie, Ojo Ale, and are being celebrated here today, how do you feel about the honour done to you by the producer, Doyin Amodu, sir?
To God be the glory, it is just His grace we are enjoying today. It was a while ago that Doyin brought this idea. None of us ever thought she could do it on the scale that she’s done it. But today, she has been able to complete the movie and gather all of us together for the premiere, I feel so honoured to be part of it. When I first got to the venue here, I saw many faces I hadn’t seen in a long time. I saw people that I thought were no more. This is such a big joy and honour to us. Ordinarily, this is the kind of thing the government should do. But, sadly, to the government, they believe we have no value other than entertaining the public. They do not have any desire to help us and this saddens us a great deal. When you go to Europe, America, even India, you will see how their movie veterans are respected. There are so many ills in the society that the actors use their movies and dramas to highlight and bring to the cvonsciousness of the government and the people. There are so many ways we help the society to grow and also help the government to know where to beam their searchlights. But at the end of the day, what do we gain for our efforts? Nothing.
The younger ones are the ones calling the shots in the industry right now and all we can do is counsel them, advise them and guide them so that the theatre industry will continue to thrive. There are lots of people who watch movies and get transformed into better human beings just by embracing the moral lessons contained in the movie. Somebody called me from the US sometime ago. Do you know what the man said to me? He said, ah, baba, do you know that back then whenever my father was not happy and he watched you on stage, his mood will change and he will become a happy man again. He said they learnt a lot of moral lessons from our dramas in those days. You can imagine how I felt hearing this man talk to me, recognising my efforts even after more than 50 years. For somebody to still recognise me at this age, from the 1960s? I am talking about the profession some of us have been doing now for over 80 years. Some of us are in our 80s, in our 90s. Agbako is over 100 years old. But we thank God for everything. People have not forgotten us and we have not forgotten ourselves either because we still have a lot to contribute to the development of this country.
I am so happy that I saw many people here today. I thank God that we too have given birth to children who today can take care of us. If we say we should depend on government, we will only be disappointed. Somebody was saying to me not long ago that, Baba, how come the government has not given you any sort of recognition for your contribution to the entertainment industry and I said, it is our own Yoruba government and leaders that are denying us this recognition, after all, Chief Zebrudaya was recognised by his own people. But we the Yorubas do not respect or honour our own. I thank God for media houses like City People for always being there for us and recognising us ang giving the deserving ones amongst us awards without asking for a penny in return.
How many years ago did you start acting, sir?
I started my acting career with late Chief Hubert Ogunde in 1962. A lot of people did not even know that’s where I started from because I spent just a few years with him.
How many years did you spend with him, sir?
I spent just about five years with him. I left in 1965 and I thank God that I started my own group and also worked with a lot of people. A lot of people were always asking, is this how we would just sit back and watch comedy fade away? I thank God that today we have started a comedy series called Ile Baba Councilor. One other media house that supports us like City People is the Alaroye brand, and they offer us their Youtube platform to run the comedy series and the people are enjoying it. People have called me to say they are so thrilled by it because it is like enjoying the theater of those days. And what we do in the series basically is to identify some of the ills in the society and bring them to the notice of the government because the government cannot possibly be aware of everything that’s going on in the society. How can we be in a country where there is no security? How can we be in a country where there is no prosperity in a nation that is flowing with milk and honey? So, these are the things we focus on and bring to the spotlight. I am positive that God will still take this country to greater height.
Back in your own time, sir, there were very few television stations, no social media, yet you navigated your way through it all. What were some of the challenges you encountered along the way?
The challenges we encountered back then in the early 60s when I started were numerous. There was no money in the profession, but we all had an undying passion for what we were doing. That was what mattered to us. There were several times that we got to some communities and we got little response from them. There were moments when we chartered vehicles and the driver or owner of the vehicle would have to wait till we were done before we could pay him. Then, there were very few television stations, so people would gather themselves at any available house that had television to watch us back then, because they got a lot of things that gladdened their hearts from watching us perform.
But we thank God that things have changed. A lot of our people are now graduates. Doyin for instance, who made it possible or all of us to gather here today, actually studied Theater Arts in school. Today, our young actors are now setting up their own theater schools. So, you can see that things have changed. We can only pray that things continue to get better for them and for us too.
Are there a few of the young movie practitioners, apart from Doyin Amodu, that have done so well that you want to single out for praise?
They say, when a group is good, it’s usually as a result of the leadearship, this is why I give kudos to the likes of Dele Odule, the first pioneer president of TAMPAN. And even the leaders of ANTP, they all admit that it’s the work that we did in our time that they are enjoying today. Even Mr. Latin, who’s their current president, he has been very good to us, seeking to find ways to help make life comfortable for the older ones like us. The likes of Jide Kosoko’s daughter, Foluke Daramola, Toyosi, Ibrahim Chatta, Femi Adebayo and most especially Kunle Afolayan, he has done a lot for us. He will always involve the older ones. He says we should not be suffering like we are doing. So, we’re really grateful to them.
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