Popular actor, Yemi Solade, on
Saturday said he has given up on Nigeria as the hardship in the country is
killing him while also disclosing plans to relocate to another country.
He decried the state of Yoruba
movie industry as money being paid him cannot provide basic needs for him and
his family.
According to him, an actor who
lives a luxury life does not get his money by solely acting as some of them
work with politicians, governors to make ends meet.
Solade told Punch, “For the first
time in a long while, I gave up on Nigeria. I might decide to relocate to
another country and this is what I always criticise my colleagues for. Nigeria
is killing me. I have been so patriotic, but I think I have to face the reality
now.
“I have a job that is not putting
meals on my table the way it should and I don’t want my children to suffer. It
is terrible if we continue to lose our best minds to other countries. I don’t
want to have money like Femi Otedola; I don’t pray for it and I don’t need it
at my age. All I need are the basic things in life, which I can use to take
care of myself, my wife and my children.
“I struggle to get good jobs; I
have done my best. I should have left Nigeria 20 years ago, but I stayed to
contribute my quota to its development. I am getting older; I am older than
some of the governors in Nigeria and I cannot be running to them for survival.
I cannot steal money like some people do and we all know that stealing is not
good. I pay my bills with the pay I get from producers, but it is tiny. I am
bleeding inwards right now and it is not good for my age. I have to begin to
look elsewhere for survival.
“I am a thoroughbred
professional. I don’t know what my colleagues do, though I see most of them
running after people in government. I cannot serve one or two senators who will
probably give me a jeep or any other car.
“Anytime I want to travel, the
senator takes care of my ticket also. But that is not my orientation. I don’t
need to run to anyone when I have a job. There is no way anyone will tell me
that an actor who drives a luxury car gets the money from acting.”
“Inasmuch as I don’t want to go
into details, we all know this. Once our profession is attractive, actors don’t
need to struggle to pay their bills. I have been an actor for over four
decades; so, if I ask for N2m for a role, is it too much? Wizkid and Davido
only perform on stage for a few minutes and they attract millions of naira. I
am happy for these young men, but it is not the case for actors who spend long
hours on set.
“The Yoruba arm of the industry
is not as lucrative as you think. For me, I just stick to the job and I depend
on whatever I earn as an actor from producers. From the look of things, the few
of us who started early in the industry are the ones suffering. ”
“I am happy for the likes of
Odunlade Adekola, who came afterwards and they feel he is better. Since the
younger people share the resources with each other, what do I do? I am not a
producer and I don’t think there is anything wrong about that. Once a producer
calls you and you demand a certain amount, they run away and bring in their
untrained friends. The actors who are getting it right should tell us how they
have been able to live very comfortable.
“I have people that I go to for one help or
the other, but they trivialise it and I can’t be begging you because I want you
to invest in a project. Once you go to them for assistance, they can ask you to
link them up with one actress,” the thespian added.
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