When cultists scuttled my show –Okey Bakassi

Okey Bakassi is not an unknown name in the Nigerian entertainment industry. He is one of the best to have
graced Nigeria’s entertainment world. And as such, he has wide range of experiences. According to him, the day cultists scuttled his show remains significant.
He says, “There are times you go on stage and after much hype in your introduction, you may have microphone malfunction or power failure; you are there, no mike, no power and people’s expectations so high and you don’t know when they will restore the light. There are times somebody in the audience may be high and wouldn’t keep quite; he just wants to disturb everybody, how do you handle that without losing your cool.
“There are times you get to a place and some miscreants get violent because much as it’s a fun job, it’s also a very dangerous job. I’ve had experiences where I went to anchor a show and cultists came out, there was shoot out and even the organisers left me. In such situation, you need to count on your street credibility and get yourself to safety.”
Speaking further, he spoke on how he gets stories to tell his jokes. According to the veteran actor cum comedian, “I will say one of the gifts God has given me is the ability to tell stories. I am a good story teller and I can make story out of nothing and I think that has been my strength. I enjoy what I do, I believe that it takes a happy heart to translate happiness and if you are not happy you can’t make other people happy. Anytime I go out to do shows, I go out to have fun and if I am not having fun then I am not connecting.
“Because if you are seated at a place and you are looking at somebody and you smiled at the person, after a while; unconsciously, the person will respond to you. It’s just a natural thing because I do it with my ability to tell stories. Researchers say every human being has five minutes of madness and I guess in my own five minutes of madness, I imagine things, from the ridiculous to the unimaginable, and if it makes me laugh then the next man will laugh,” he said.
However, while speaking of the effects of the influx of young comedians to the industry, Bakassi claimed, “the situation is not an entertainment industry problem, but a Nigerian factor. There are so many unemployed youths in the country and so anywhere that looks like an opener, where they can make a living, they jump on it. What happened is that showbiz in all spheres has provided a platform to earn a living and so those who cannot sing or act will try their hands in comedy. This is what we are experiencing and with the influx of these people, you see those who have substances and those that are mediocre.
“The discerning audience know what they want, but sometimes the resources are not enough with what an organiser wants to do. At the end of the day, a man has an event, and he knows he needs the services of a seasoned MC/comedian, but he cannot afford it. So, he goes to what he can afford and that is where these people come in useful. That’s where the industry have problem and like some of my colleagues said to you, we are trying to tell them to be more professional because whatever they do, it does not just affect their career, it affects every other person in that line of business.
“All it takes is one dissatisfied customer to say that ‘I am done with these people’ and everybody will lose. We are doing everything to make sure that we improve on the quality of young ones coming and some of them won’t come for mentorship, they will rather do their own thing. Well, the sky is so big for all the birds to fly and you can’t stop them,” he added.
On the other hand, Bakassi spoke of his achievements and the veteran has this to say: “One of the biggest things you can do for a man is not to give him fish but to teach him how to fish. My state boasts of abundant talents and a lot of these guys don’t even have the platform to express it. We are talking about Nigeria doing well at the Nations Cup; we had six home- based players that were part of the team that won the Nations Cup and what Keshi did for them was the biggest thing he could have done for them.”
Speaking further, “what we did was to provide them a platform to flourish. A lot of them have never been on a big stage until we came on board. What I did was to create a flagship programme which I called Ichuafo (Countdown to New Year) done every 31st December to usher in the New Year. I elevated it to a tourist event for young talents so that they can capitalise on it. So, it was a sort of marriage for A- list performers and up-and-coming ones.
“Do you know what Star Mega Jams sponsored by Nigerian Breweries does for up-and-coming musicians because any local musician that have the opportunity of sharing the stage with the likes of 50 Cent, Kanye West, Nas and others — you can imagine what will happen to the person’s career. That’s what has given birth to some of the international collaborations we have today. I was able to plug the state actors’ guild that has been docile for a long time into government and they were able to be part of the government,” he said.