Actor and Producer, Keppy Ekpenyong-Bassey sits with Chude Jideonwo host of #WithChude to discuss his career in acting, and how his relationship with his parents formed the kind of father he is. 

“As a little boy, I wanted to be a soldier, a doctor (just like my father). When I became an actor, I realized that I have accomplished everything. I have been a doctor, soldier and everything. Becoming an actor has been a fulfilling part of my life. And because I find so much joy, I seem to be ever there. There are no regrets, even when there were down times, I am still up there because it is always what I wanted to do. Acting has taken me through real-time. Everything culminates in that career, everything we have ever done culminates when we are transitioning from one character to another.”  

Speaking further on how his career in acting kicked off, he shared, “Tade Ogidan and I were from the same hood. He has always been a big brother in my life. He just saw me and said, ‘come and play armed robber for me’. What polished me was acting in Ripple (Zeb’s Ejiro’s film). It ran for 5 years on the network from 1987. It ran at a time when NTA was the only TV on the continent of Africa. So, all over Africa, you had to watch us. We all became part and parcel of it because we all invested our life in our character, and we also sowed a lot into the production. That was Kenneth Okonkwo’s first acting experience, he came in as my co-pilot. The time he came in, he was shaking, but by the time we built him through, his first excitement was when Kenneth Nnebue called him to play the role he played on ‘Living in Bondage’. He was paid 500 naira for that role. On his way back from the east, he said everyone on the night bus recognized him on Ripples. He couldn’t believe the power of the media.” 

Keppy also shares on his time in theatre, “When I got into NTA for my youth service, I met Fred Amata, Dede Mabiaku, Patrick Oke, Olisa Adibua, RMD, quite the same kind of people. The misconception is that the theatre offers a kind of release from incubation. The training for most people helps them to be more comfortable with people. In being more comfortable, a lot of traditional postures were broken, you were not conscious or pretentious. Then we could dare to wear clothes that show parts of our body because they were costumes, and we were not the characters. But the audience didn’t know this, if they did, that conception wouldn’t have come up at all. We need to be able to help people redefine their perception”.  

Keppy also shared his relationship with his parents and how it influences him in life and parenting, “I remember my mum and dad in everything I do. They were and are still present in everything we do. In my formative years, we had a very cordial relationship. My father was someone who would scold you and cry as he’s spanking you; ‘why did you do that, you shouldn’t do this’ and then he was a military officer. We had guards at the gate and everything, and then when he spanks his kids, he’s the one crying, but we had that kind of interactive relationship. My mum was a rascal, everybody knew, even my friends knew till tomorrow. When I was in the University and she’ll come visit, she’ll come with bottles of brandy, rolls of cigarettes. She’ll sit down with us. Because I lived off campus, she’ll light a stick of cigarette and call everybody, ‘come let’s drink’. So, it was easy to speak with my parents, it was fun. On many of those occasions I have had discussions that have formed my life. Now I’m grown, I have children of my own and then we have some of their friends stay over and they think it’s easier to speak with us than their folks and I don’t understand how it works in other homes. Because with my kids, my son can walk up to me and pull my ears and say, ‘old man with your big ears’ and I wouldn’t think anything about it. But there are some people who see it and they cringe, and they are afraid because they can’t and wouldn’t dare relate with their folks that way. We also have come to find out that if you close doors of communication between you and your children, you’ll be really shocked at who you think your children are because they would hide behind those closed doors, and you don’t want to know when you get in. There is no book for parenting, you have to form your path as you go.  

Watch the excerpt here 

Nigerian Actor Ronke Ojo Anthony, popularly known as Ronke Oshodi-Oke, sits with Chude Jideonwo, host of #WithChude on a new episode of the show. On this episode, she speak about her acting journey, the role that got her the name Oshodi-Oke, breast enhancement surgery rumors, and all the weight she lost. 

Ronke shared about her passion for acting, “I have never regretted acting. It is my calling and I love it so much.  I am so passionate about it.  I didn’t know I was going to be an actor. My late father wanted me to be a newscaster or an air hostess. In the long run, I went to Fadeyi, and I saw the likes of Jide Kosoko, Baba Alaran, and others. They were so happy. I knew that they did not really have money, but I would see them gathered in one place laughing all the time. I liked to laugh a lot, so I approached one of them and I told them what I wanted to do. Before I went to acting, I used to work in Tincan Island. Then, my father had problems with Customs (where he used to work). Because I’m the firstborn of my family, I had to support my family, so I started working early. I grew up so early. I started working, I started doing some certain things and to God be the glory, here we are today. It wasn’t easy at all. There’s a Yoruba proverb that says, ‘Oshi o ni kan baba, ko kan Iya, ko ma dara omo” (a problem cannot affect the father, affect the mother and not affect the child). Being the firstborn of the family, you have to support your family, you have to support your siblings and stuff like that, so it wasn’t easy. (My father never came out of the issue) before he died. That was why I could not further my education”.  

Speaking on how she landed the role in the film that gave her the name, ‘Ronke Oshodi-oke’, she shared, “That beautiful day, I was at the National Theatre. We normally go to the National Theatre, so that people will see us. Producers come there to cast. I was there one day when my friend wanted to introduce me to Korede films. I met with him, and he said he wants to shoot a movie and I will be a sub-leader in the film. I said, ‘Okay’, I didn’t even know what he meant by sub lead, I just wanted to work. When I got to the set, I met Late Iyabo Yoyo, and we were working on it together. But at some point, she left the set. I think she had a fight with the producer. They will just tell me to go and come back. They were doing chroma, but I didn’t know what it was until the film came out. It was when the film came out, I knew that they changed the script. I was supposed to play the sub-lead while Aunty Iyabo was supposed to play the lead role. But when she left, they changed the script and rewrote the film to make me the lead. The entire film was shot at Oshodi-oke.”  

Ronke denied the rumors that she had breast reduction surgery, she shared that she was counselled to lose weight by her doctor in the United Kingdom. “I did a weight loss program but I’m not sick. I’m very strong and healthy. I went to the UK sometime; I have a doctor there. It was my doctor who said I should lose weight. I was 110 then, and he said I should lose weight to about 75. I was like ‘eleyi po ke’ (this is a lot). But he said I should try. Later, I was just doing my thing, but I started having some small small sickness, high blood pressure and stuff like that. So, I just said, ok, let me start doing this thing.” 

Watch the excerpt here

Asa Asika, Bizzle Osikoya, and Tobi Mohammed, the showrunners of The Plug, sit with Chude Jideonwo for a World Music Day special where they discussed the global interest in Nigerian music, pulling their companies together to form a strong force and how to be a star. 

On the merger and the reason for it which is against the trend the industry. Bizzle shared, “Asa and I did it first, and we’ve been doing business with Tobi from when we started. Plug and Block Party are age mate sort of. We have been working together, so it was a no brainer. In the industry where everyone is trying to do their own thing and be their own boss, let’s show people something different, let’s come together and form a force and that was how it is.”  

On why there was an era of a few labels and then splitters, Asa Asika, shared, “I feel that everyone is just trying to complete they don’t realize that we are actually stronger together. I used to tell people that there is a demand for afrobeat and Afro-culture right now, and where we are going to mess up is if we don’t come together to work as one.” 

Tobi Mohammed speaks to the trend of merging when businesses in the creative industry would only merge when there are not on top of their game and why theirs was different, and he shared how their business is built on a strong relationship, ‘We are brothers, because I feel that on the ladder of success as you start to grow, your circle becomes smaller, because you start to see people whose vision aligns with yours. I don’t think there was ever any naysaying. We find comfort in our strengths and weaknesses. When Asa and I started Plug in 2016, we just wanted to manage producers and Djs, we didn’t want to work with actual artiste.”  

On how they are able to make the partnership work, Asa shared, “we are three different people, and that is why we ‘work’. For example, we worked with Oxlade for like two to three years. Bizzle believed in Oxlade from day one. I am the person that is the hardest to convince. I told Bizzle to go and make the music, when the music is ready, send me a link.”  

“And that is how we do things, Bizzle is the guy who goes to the studio and makes the music, I will sit down and plan on how to make the person a superstar and Tobi ensures that business side of things is running. That why it works for us.”, he added. 

When asked if the spotlight on Afrobeat is short-lived, Asa shared, “there are 54 countries in Africa. How many countries are there in Europe? If nobody in the world cares about Afrobeats again, we’re fine. There are artistes in the US that are only popping in Texas. They don’t leave certain areas and they’re good. So, yes, it’s all nice. That I go to New York, and I see Olamide’s face in Times Square, I go to London tomorrow, Tiwa is selling out, it’s amazing but if it doesn’t happen, we are fine. At the end of the day, Latin America is big in America. What’s the second most spoken language in America? It’s Spanish. Yoruba is not top 10 languages there. The thing that helps us is that Africans are all over the world, Nigerians particularly are everywhere”. Bizzle Osikoya also shared, “Afrobeat can never die. The reason why I’d say it can never die is because we Nigerians don’t give up. We’re going to keep building and grinding so that those things don’t stop. So, what just needs to happen is that we just need to find a way to educate our industry because [failing to do this will] kill us.” 

They also shared that there is no rule book to success in the industry. “Contrary to public opinion, when David blew, we had no support. I always say it, for the Dami Duro video, I spent 100,000 naira. I gave one person at one TV station 100,000 naira because I could not leverage on relationships. Dami Duro video came out and there was like a strike for like petrol or something. I gave one person at one TV station 100,000 naira, Asa Asika shared. Bizzle also added that, “at the end of the day, stars just align. People don’t understand it. People just think sometimes it’s about money. Sometimes, money works, but sometimes too, your star can just align. Everything will just be in your favor, and it will work out for you. People don’t understand, all of you may come out at the same time but if God says, it’s not your time to blow, then it’s not.”  

On being successful Tobi Mohammed said, “Positioning is also very important. Brain work will always go farther than money. To create your own luck, you have to position yourself. For example, with Victony, the song that we did marketing for and paid a lot of money didn’t get the global attention that Soweto did.” 

Watch the excerpt here

Introducing the special on his Instagram page, Chude said, “We talked about the legacy of this man whom some have called the father of modern Nigeria, and the most consequential Nigerian alive. I asked him what he wanted to be remembered for and how some milestones of his life have defined that legacy. I asked frank questions, and he gave me frank answers, about vying for third term in office, allegations of being corrupt, statements about him trying to cripple Lagos economy under the current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, why he stood so firm behind the candidacy of Peter Obi, about the many letters he has written and why it remains impossible for anyone to ignore him”. 

“President Obasanjo didn’t flinch at any point, and I am honored that he invited me to his office, and we had what will be an interview for the books with me on #WithChude”, he added.  

The full interview is currently up on withchude.com, and it airs on the following TV stations: Channels TV, 1pm on Saturday, June 17, 2023; Wazobia Max, 5pm on Sunday, June 18, 2023; AIT, 7pm on Sunday, June 18, 2023, and Rave TV, 5pm on Wednesday June 21, 2023. 

Watch the excerpt here 

Actress and Entrepreneur Zainab Balogun sits with Chude Jideonwo on #WithChude. In this episode, she talks about her career in acting, getting diagnosed and healing from endometriosis and keeping her life private.   

On the longevity of her career and how she has been able to stay top of the mind for over a decade in the entertainment industry, she shared, “Back then, I never felt like I was part of the cool kids because being cool was sort of determined by the economics – do you come from a rich family, are you known? I didn’t come from that background, so I felt sort of like ‘a bull in a China shop’, when I came in. There are times when I don’t appreciate what I have done. I have done a decade in the Nigerian industry, and it’s been 10 years of going against the grain in terms of the choices that I have made. I appreciate being able to have longevity but there are conversations we, as actors, do not have with each other. There were times when I felt like, ‘This isn’t working for me anymore, because the income and visibility were not aesthetic’. There were times we were booking talents based on popularity, which hurts me a bit when I think about my industry because talent should matter. But commercially, I get why people make the choices that they do. I don’t knock people who have fallen through the cracks because it is not easy. Luckily for me, acting has never been my sole earner, and I realized that early enough because for me it is always quality over quality for me. I shoot a couple of times a year. Because it is important for my heart and my soul to be fed with whatever I am doing, I will make sure that I have my business coming together or if it’s my content work, my influencer work, and brand partnerships. Those are the things that are keeping me fed on a daily basis. I don’t blame people who have to make tough decisions of whether they will succumb to the ways the industry or people want to be versus what I need.”   

Zainab also spoke about how she is deliberate about the part of her life that is out there, which would have presented her with an opportunity to build a brand around her lifestyle. “It was a deliberate choice because I am very conscious of the separation of power between the industry and myself, and when you dabble into all this without the consciousness of what the consequences are, it is quite problematic. There are people who do not have issues with talking about how they spent a hundred thousand dollars on an outfit they wore to the AMVCAs. I wouldn’t be that person because there isn’t a lot of truth in that. I have to be conscious of my audience and the people I am setting the pace for. It is a lie that nobody needs.”   

On her choice of keeping her marriage very private and off social media, she shared, “My personal life is very personal. It’s not out for public consumption. That’s not my work, that’s my life. So, I’m okay with giving you that which I’m okay with you criticizing or having an opinion on, but I’m quite traditional, so my personal life is not for public consumption nor the opinions of others.”  

She shared about her struggle with endometriosis and her decision to share it with the public. She mentioned that her decision to talk about it came from her observations on the lack of information about the disease. She highlighted how she believes that people watching her talk about her journey wouldn’t have to go through the same struggle to find help.  Zainab also spoke about the cultural side of people dealing with reproductive health problems and dealing with it in silence, because they are worried about how they will be perceived. On how she found out, she shared, “My periods were irregular for about 2 months. I think I had about 4 periods in 2 months and for me, that was abnormal because they’re relatively on schedule and extremely painful. And when I say painful, I often describe it like somebody taking a barbed wire with little sharp cuts and putting it in my stomach and just turning it. I would pass out, wouldn’t be able to go to work, or school. My hormones were all over the place and I was like ‘this doesn’t feel normal, so let’s go find out what’s going on’. I went for a test. They did an ultrasound and TBS and they discovered that I had two cysts. The thing with Endometriosis is, it’s quite hard to diagnose when you’re outside of the body. You kind of need to be looking in because you need to look up for the adhesions. I was scheduled for surgery to take care of the cysts because one of the cysts was torsion. It was twisted, meaning if it grows bigger or the weight bursts, then we’re in trouble”. After the doctors checked, she was diagnosed with stage 3 endometriosis. She also shared how the cyst disappeared when she was preparing to have her second surgery. “I had gone to do my scan before heading to the church and the doctor says to me, ‘oh yeah, everything is okay.’ He said something about ‘reabsorbed’. So, I was like, ‘okay what’s the size of the cyst now? He said, ‘I can’t see it’. I was like ‘I don’t understand’ And he said, ‘it’s not there anymore’. So, I took that as a sign, and I called off the surgery. I was like well, ‘if he has done it on the right, let him finish the work on the left-hand side.’ So, I just continued to be on my holistic journey and continued the test. Then I went to another clinic where the doctor was like that, he can’t really see the cyst but maybe if I wanted to do an MRI just to confirm because he was seeing something else completely. So, I had an MRI. Took it back to him and he read it and said, ‘yeah there’s nothing there.’ This was September. I was like I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re saying the MRI is the best picture for looking for any kind of masses in the body and it is telling me that I have no cyst in my body. That was my miracle moment, that was my relief. It was wonderful”.  

Watch the excerpt here