Desmond Elliot Shares His Voyage Into Politics, Acting
Desmond Elliot, veteran actor, filmmaker, and politician shares his voyage into politics, acting and rift with upcoming star, Olumide Oworu in a podcast #WithChude.
In this special interview, Desmond Elliot Shares His Voyage Into Politics, Acting. Excerpts
Why did you go into politics, why did you make a choice to leave what you know to go into a completely different thing?
In the mid nineties, when I started reading about MKO Abiola, I became fascinated, very interested, I didn’t have much money but there’s this newspaper on sale then, PM News, I would read about him, his story, I got so encouraged, something kept pricking my heart that this is where you are supposed to go through and then you have spiritual people around you, in my heart I have always known in my heart that anything I have to do, I will walk with God on it.
One time, I was praying to God, what am I going to be and do with my life, he said just take it one day at a time, as everyday comes, it will begin to unravel and you will begin to understand, so even while I was acting, I had an uncle in Surulere known as Fuadocky, many of us in Lagos politics know him well, so while I was acting, I will always go to his house and get home very late every time in those years, that was 2003, 2004, I was learning, so Uncle Fua and others will talk a lot and I will go home to gist my wife, she didn’t take me seriously then till when I went to Benin to see Adams Oshiomhole who really liked me, he had just won a case on a trial, we went round some places for some days and I told him of my interest, then I was also talking to the then Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, I was sending messages to him.
The Bible says your gift will make room for you, so by reason of my work, I had access to some of them, I could talk and send messages to them, also Rotimi Amaechi, Godswill Akpabio and even Suswan then. Any state I enter, I will meet the governor telling them, I want to go into politics, for me, I wasn’t looking at the hindsight but I knew that I wanted to work, do things, get awards but deep inside, I felt very unsettled, I felt something was loosing away.
One certain day, Oshiomhole told me that Asiwaju was coming to Benin in the next few weeks, then he asked me to come and I did, Asiwaju came and on the table, I was seeing great personalities, Adams Oshiomhole asked me to come, he took me to Asiwaju on that table, he said this is my son, he’s interested in politics so we did all the introductions where I prostrated, he linked me to Sunday Dare who was then his PA, obviously because you can’t meet Asiwaju all the time.
One of the remarkable things that happened when we went to visit Asiwaju was that the man for some reason just loved me, maybe he just felt, this young boy that has a career, what is he looking for in this thing but I was always talking with Uncle Sunday that I want to see Daddy, then one certain day during one of these elections, long time ago, we went to see one of the aspirants, myself, Jide Kosoko, Mike Ezuronye, Chinedu, and others, then Uncle Sunday said, let’s go to Asiwaju’s house, then he was the former governor and just like that we got there by 7pm and we didn’t leave there till midnight, we, all actors were talking and chatting with him. There are certain things that happened in his government that he told us he did to make certain things move and when we came out, we were all so excited.
In the public, you were very gracious to the candidacy of Olumide but in the private, were you like, this small boy?
No, never.
Even as an adult, when you started acting, he was not even born, there was no sense of that?
I have known him for a while, he is a very smart guy, intelligent guy.
I know you people lived in Surulere, the same area…?
He is very smart and intelligent but I don’t think it was about him. I wasn’t upset with him, I was upset with some veterans who endorsed him, who lived in Surulere. When I mean endorsed him, I mean, we are friends and I know you are behind me, another thing is being truthful. I called him and said, these are the things I did for the industry and you know, in this job we do, experience is very important, the only way you can grow in leaps and bounds is when you are retuned and obviously you become better than the last one because you’re having younger people come so it’s not just in Nigeria but everywhere in the world in the legislature.
When you are ranking, your possibility of getting better stakes is there, because Surulere is more informed, it’s not about Desmond now. Desmond’s election was first and second term, third, fourth term and any other term is about the people, this is your industry, what can you do, how are you going to do it.
I use Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila as example, he came the first and second term, by the third, fourth, fifth you could see the manifest changes he was doing but I’m not federal, I’m state but I said, I can do this.
So why didn’t they support you then and endorse you?
So, basically I don’t think there is no reason. Don’t forget that people have a right to choose whoever they want.
So some persons I am very close to me, close to the family, that could be the reason why they wanted me but I don’t think that is probably all the reason.
Why did it upset you?
Because you are my person, it is not because you are a film maker but because you’re close to me, we hang out together, when I have programs in the Assembly, I invite you, you are even a guest star.
So are they still your friends now, how can this be possible?
Yes they are my friends now because what is life, they are my good friends, one is celebrating his child dedication and I will be there.
You were very grateful in your post about your wife, what is the thing that leads to such gratitude?
She is someone I met in school, University of Jos, we met in church and she was not someone that was fun, then we were contemporary young Christians, she was from the apostolic church and they are very conservative, so she wasn’t someone I would think about. When we want to do something, my wife would say ask the Holy spirit first and it was so worrisome and I will be like” Na you won go heaven first okay”. It was quite a lot.
So for me, it was like that, talking to her was like that but everything that happens in my life , I usually call her.
You won’t believe it, my first pay was five hundred naira from acting and each time I spoke with her, she would say, it’s okay, not bad and we don’t have money but she would also say can’t you tell them one thousand naira so I would try the next time and it would work.
Something happened that blew my mind, I was already collecting about eighty thousand naira per film and this guy of blessed memory, Donald Okoli calls me tells me, he has a job for me, I was driving at this point, we were going somewhere , this was early 2000 and as we were driving, she said to me, oh, you have a job, where and I told her because I was very excited, I asked Donald who the actors would be, Emeka Ike and others, then she asked so how much are they paying and I said normal price 80k, she said you have been collecting this amount for a while now why don’t you just increase it to 120k. I was on Eko bridge, I stepped on the brakes and said this guy would take this work and give to someone else, look at the actors there, let me look at the mileage rather than the money but she insisted you have been collecting this amount for sometime and I replied yes but it’s okay, she said try so I was bold, I called Donald and said I’m increasing my money, so he asked how much will you take, I told him 120k, he gave a big sigh and hanged up, he called back and said Desmond, you are being unappreciative, I given and done many things for you and you are calling this amount, he hung up, I turned to her and said, see what you have caused, I have lost my job.
She said no, it was hard then but people who know me, I don’t know if I am quick tempered but I get angry this moment and I say what I have to say and that’s it, she said she was just making a point that I should call him back but I said no because it would make me look stupid.
I kept driving and later Donald called me, changes his tone and said Des, we have been doing this for a while now and I was driving and listening, then he said take 100k please. I was surprised, I said it’s okay and I hung up the phone, then she asked me what did he say, I told her, then she said you see, I told you.
It is not just the monetary part but the fact that all through the time I have been busy at work, school, politics, she made sure that the home front was okay and she was quite understanding and it’s not easy to find someone that is understanding so when she said I have helped you through your career, I put mine on hold looking after the kids, now they are grown, I want to go back to school, I couldn’t say no. She is at school now, continuing her education and I am happy for it.
Talking about this not answering questions in the media, I was surprised that someone asked you from a blog and you replied?
Initially, he didn’t tell me the question he was going to ask, so after we had finished the interview because there were other television stations there, it was about the football match I powered in honor of the Chief of Staff to Mr President, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila for the great thing he had done in my constituency and around. He said he wanted to do the interview, I said I wasn’t going to because we were tired and we were watching the match but he pleaded that it was something very important and he is a cool guy, I know him. So he asked the question and I said no, but firstly I wasn’t going to give credence to answering such a person but for the record, I am straight, I couldn’t be straighter than whatever it was I said, when the thing went on air, infact, my Pastor called and was very upset, saying I shouldn’t have spoken but I said sir, I didn’t think they were going to coin it this way and the next match, he came, I said, what did I tell you, I said they will use my words upside down and that’s what happened but however, they can say anything they want to.
Honestly, if you live your life for people, then you will not achieve what you aim to achieve, just be focused, there is nothing that says in a book that you are a perfect being so along the line, as you sojourn through life and you try to make a statement, make a remarkable thing and maybe have a purpose for life or do what God has asked you to do on earth, as you journey through, you will definitely make mistakes.
So next time, I will be very wise but will I still make mistakes like that, yes I will because I am human, that is life. So I messed up today, I will come back tomorrow and try to be better.
