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Popular Comedian, KOFFI
Koffi Idowu Nuel needs absolutely no introduction. He is one of the few Nigerian entertainers who can stand proudly to say they were part of the evolution of the entertainment sector which snowballed into the money spinning industry it has become today. Koffi has been around for close to two decades or possibly a little more than that. He has been able to carefully structure his brand, with tons of hard work, well enough to survive all of the twists and turns of the showbiz industry. Without a doubt, we are talking about a hugely talented personality who has been able to create a unique niche for himself. He is multi talented. Koffi is a musician, an actor, comedian, movie producer, director, the whole gamut, Koffi has his hands in all of them. And in every single one of these areas, Koffi has excelled brilliantly. He is a man who has a clear idea of what he has set out to accomplish and how to go about achieving them. Those who know Koffi very closely will tell you he is a man not given to frivolities, this is why you will seldom see him go on social media to draw unnecessary attention to himself. Instead, he focuses strictly on his craft and his family. For Koffi, everything has to be about the family, otherwise, it is not worth his time. Couple of weeks ago at an event held in Lagos, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) engaged this gentleman born to a Nigerian father and a Togolese mother and got him to share the secrets of his longevity in the industry and also secrets of his youthful look, for he looks nowhere near a man approaching his 50s. Below are excerpts of the interview.
Many people often wonder at how young you always look, you could even be mistaken for one of those young new comedians just coming on the scene. Tell us, what is the secret behind Kofi’s ageless look?
First and foremost is the grace of God. And secondly, I am never burdened with the frivolities of life, so, no stress. Like you said, I am rarely out there in the public except when it’s very necessary. I am not chasing anything, so there’s no pressure, no stress, nothing. I just go with God. So, you can’t see Nigerian marks all over my body. But, seriously, it’s the grace of God. I eat well. I rest enough and I occupy myself with good thoughts. You will never find me at loggerheads with anybody. I am just at peace with myself.
A lot of people who have not been seeing you out there all the time may not know that you have actually been busy and engaged in a lot of stuff, tell us about it.
I am very intentional with my brand. I don’t just step out there just because others are stepping out, why would I do that? Out there for who? Once you find fulfilment in what you do and you find purpose in yourself, that’s where your peace is. The ultimate goal of everything we’re doing is to find peace and when you find what God has blessed you with, learn to understand your blessings and hold them dearly. My major aim in life is to be a good family man and the moment I attained that, I was not ready to destroy it by pursuing unnecessary things, that’s me. Those who are close to me know that I don’t take my blessings for granted and family is my blessing. It is when you are really close to me that you will know that, wow, this guy dey okay o. For me, I don’t need to show an absolute stranger evidence that I am alright. Doing that would mean I am calling trouble unto myself.
See what happened recently, I posted that my wife’s 40th birthday, I got death threats from people who were trying to get money out of me. Just that one time I am posting something about my success in life. Imagine! My wife turned 40 and I shared a small video clip of how we celebrated her and these guys were like, oh, boy, this guy dey okay o! So, they started sending all manner of requests….So it is those who are really close to me that know that I am a quiet achiever in my own little space. Whats the most important is my daughter, she is in SS2 and she’s 14, my son is in JSS 2, he’s 11, my last kid is also doing great, so, those are the things that matter to me. Family gatherings, family functions, those who are close to me who need help, they can reach out to me anytime. I don’t live like an entertainer, I am the regular son of my mother. You know, the kids I grew up with in primary and secondary school can still reach out to me and holla at me, hey, Emma, bawo ni? That’s the life I want, not the life of a celebrity. I’m not into celebridom, I don’t like it. I never wanted to be famous. Uncle Seye Kehinde is one of those people that made me famous and he’s never there to pay Area boys when they’re taxing me.
If you look back at your career, what would you say was that big break that plunged you into limelight?
It’s the music. People had been seeing me as an actor, a comedic actor, then a stand up comedian, but when my songs started blowing up, Aroma, Green Is My Home, Workerman, all those songs and people started seeing beyond the comic. But at some point I had to tone down because it was going to derail the process, the intention I had for myself. If you check, as you and I speak, if you go back in time to every musician that was hot at that time, and you check to now, you will find that most of them did not come out boldly to say that they were successes. But as a comic, an MC, an actor, a versatile entertainer, I am still relevant, so I had to tone down the music part of me for a while and I decided to transfer it to other people around me like Workerman movement, then later Boomerang now Ashney, so that I can focus on being an actor, writer, director, all the other parts of me that you didn’t know before I blew up because I was doing those things before you knew me as Koffi. So, I will now not say because you love that Koffi, I should now lose myself. No, I didn’t lose myself and that is why I’m still here and this is the essence of being who I am.
When I was in school, I was making money as a comedian, MC and actor but because I now blew up and became a household name, the public now think they should determine how my career path should go based on their demand. No, that’s how some people lose their careers. I decided to structure everything. There are times that you have to pull back because I try to be real at all times. I don’t pretend, I don’t copy anyone, so whenever I bring my realness, people accept it again and say, yeah, I like this guy, he’s real. I don’t pretend, I don’t live a fake life. I don’t come out to say I have what I don’t have. When I’m broke you know I’m broke. Na normal life I dey live. As a matter of fact, I spend my money more on helping people than to show off that I’m doing well. For me, when I blew up with the music, I was getting more famous than what I earned and I had to stop it. It makes no sense to be more notorious than your income and I didn’t like that. Presently, as we speak, some few years ago up to date, I was earning more than my notoriety. And I hear people say this guy don fade off, he’s not in the limelight, but it does not bother me. It’s better that way, for my own mental health and for my own good.
As we speak, I have shot 32 movies, I have released 32 music albums, published two books, and I did all of these without taking a loan from anybody or from the bank. I don’t think there are entertainers in Nigeria who can beat their chest and say what I just said. Bring out any entertainer in Nigeria that can proudly say they have 32 albums, 32 movies, without taking a loan, there’s nobody in Nigeria. But I don’t brag about these things. Why I don’t brag is that these are things that make me feel fulfilled in my own space. I wake up everyday and do those things with joy, that’s what keeps me going. I don’t need to come out to compete and prove to you that the movie is better than another person’s own for you to see me, no, I’m just enjoying myself. So, if it is only one person that comes to me and says, mehn, I watched your movie, I love it, I am fulfilled. I have made mobney, I have made impact. All this competition, trying to prove that you’re better than the other person, I’m not in that space. I don’t careabout comparisons, positions, who is better, no, no, or who is funnier, no, not for me. Service to your client is most important. And then, self fulfilment. You pay your rents, you pick your bills, you help people around you, you eat well, you sleep well. I sleep very well, baba, as in I sleep very well. When they say I am looking young, that is one of the reasons. I’m not pursuing anything to prove a point or pay back a loan, there is no pressure.
One of the things I think people admire about you is your spontaneity. You interact with the audience, you don’t come with prepared jokes. This is one of the things missing now with the influx of young comedians who mostly come to the stage with prepared scripts and even use other people’s jokes….how did this part of your craft evolve?
In fact, that influx sort of derailed our progress in the comedy space. A lot of those people who came on came in too early because they were not prepared for the sudden acceptance they got. You know, somebody has this very one fantastic material, then the crowd mantality starts to raise the person, when the needed maybe three years to source plenty materials and be strong enough, but because of one good material, they start hyping the person and the person thinks he has arrived, only for them to get to the platform where they are siuppossed to perform, they only have one material and they can’t sustain the tempo so they now have to poach other people’s material. And my trying to correct that in the industry got me blacklisted for a while. But for people like me, I am a trained thespian. So, I’m a stage actor, I trained as an actor. So, that training helps me to know that to keep your audience asking for more, you have to be original, you have to be spontaneous in your delivery.
