Hardly would the story of comedy in Nigerian Television be told without recalling his comic name. Chika Okpala who went by the stage name Chief Zebrudaya, played a prominent role in the popular sitcom comedy New Masquerade a T.V. Series that kept households glued to their television sets in late 1980's. Even after the series, he remains a brand in the nation's entertainment industry. In this interview with REPORTER, Ifeoma Meze in his Enugu residence, Okpala talks about his life as a comedian and why he is hardly seen in nollywood movies, among other issues. Excerpts:Who really is Zebrudaya?
My name is Chief Chika Okpala otherwise known as Chief Zebrudaya Okorigwe Nwogbo alias 4:30, Chief His Royal Palm Wine Powerless, M.O.N without E.Y. because when I was given the title of M.O.N, I did not see the E.Y. attached to it. I was given an ordinary title with no money attached.
How has life been so far after the Sitcom comedy The Masquerade?
Life has not been smooth in terms of drama. I have tried my hands in so many other productions but they don't seem to catch the same flavour and attention as Masquerade, may be because of language or style. I cannot really say where the problem is from because I use good actors for the show and still it does not really go like Masquerade. I think they prefer masquerade to me in other Television shows.
Is that why we have not been seeing you in other Nollywood movies?
Not exactly for that reason, we started Nollywood. We initiated what today is shaped to be Nollywood. What we had in mind was to boost the image of Nigeria, boost the image of the black man especially the Igbo man mannerisms and ways of life. That was what we had in mind by putting up Masquerade. Masquerade is a kind of comic relief that x-rayed the public and character of people in their different performances. The comedy brought them out for people to see the foolishness in man. So it became interesting. This was done in 1970 and it became increasingly interesting when it had a video and was shown on TV in 1974 in Enugu when Enugu State TV (then Anambra State) was reactivated. We lifted it up to television and it caught fire. Everybody wanted it. Formerly, it was an imagination when it was a radio programme. It was an imagination of who could this man be? How would he look? How can we meet in real life? With that we were on for over two decades on TV, performing every week, writing scripts every week, which was no joke at all. Even after that, which was beyond the two decades, we were still on sparingly because sometimes we were sponsored and some of the time, we did not have sponsors.
So we initiated what is today known as Nollywood. It is reshaped to Nollywood because now they shoot entirely on locations while the Masquerade shot in the studio but they are all entertainment. The message seems to sink down to our people not minding where you shot the movie or drama. When they started Nollywood, they started deviating, they started moving into a no go area, the areas of cultism, juju and all other negative things. We called them and said no, that this was not what we had in mind, that what we wanted was entertainment for our people. There is no entertainment in juju neither is there entertainment in murder cases. It is all full of tragedy. There is a difference between comedy and tragedy and we were for comedy. They took the line of tragedy most of the times, going to sacrifice somebody in an evil altar to make money which is not a success story. This is why I criticised it and because I do not like it, I cannot be part of what I am criticising. That is why I made it known and stayed away from it. But eventually, they started coming back to realise that what we were saying was true. Most of the stories they tell in the movies were branding us poorly and painting us black. All those juju and ritual acting did not appeal to my conscience and that is why I did not feature in them. But now they have started coming back into what I call real entertainment. That was when comedy started coming up; stand up comedy started to join in. They tell good stories in a way that no matter how bad the story is, it will make you laugh and not to make you weep.
That is the sort of entertainment that I was looking for because I know that in every part of Nigeria, there is a sort of entertainment and there are people who generate entertainment. For instance where there is a wedding ceremony, there is always someone that is looked up to as an entertainer. It is only lately that I have taken part in some comedy shows and some movies. But I read the scripts carefully to make sure I was not going into what I was against. Most of the movies I featured in were very recent and are not yet out. I saw some light in them and they were very inspiring and that was why I decided to give it a try.
What is your view on the level entertainment has gotten to in Nigeria?
It is improving tremendously. Nigeria is beginning to realise that with entertainment they could push education. So most of our entertainment now embodies education. We call it entertainment education programmes. Here you find out that entertainment becomes instructive like we used to have in those days. When instructions are interwoven into entertainment, into comedy or even music, people learn more from it. To me most of the shows I have participated in are worthwhile.
What are the challenges that you have been facing so far, how easy has it been?
The challenges are that we do not have sponsors. Nigeria has not come to a stage where they know that there is division of labour. There are people whose work is to write scripts, there are people whose work is to produce the scripts then the people that their job is to act the script. To crown it all, you have sponsor and executive producer. The sponsor says where he or she wants to put his money not necessarily looking at how much he is going to get back but having the audience at heart and looking at script that can move Nigeria forward or a script that can help education system. Once it is a good show, it must pay back. I am currently working on a re-branding Nigeria programme with Coal City FM. The manager called me to say that people would like to hear the Zebrudaya language and hear my own views about the re-branding of Nigeria.
It has not been easy to find out a sponsor who can come back and say 'I want this' or 'give us this' and this makes us continue beating around the bush. You write on a topic and you don't know if any sponsor will come to buy the idea or concept. There are so many scripts on my desk right now waiting for whom to say 'put this forward;' that is to sponsor the script into production. I, on my own, cannot sponsor every script because it takes a lot of money and I don't have all the money in the world to do that. It is my business to think out and it is not my business to put the money down.
So that is how tough it has been for us especially for people like us in the movie industry.
Do you think government has a stake in this?
Yes, the part they have to play is, first of all, to make a good market for us. That is to give us an enabling environment. Enabling environment in the sense that we have good market each time we come out so that even if we do not have money or sponsor, if we go and borrow money from the bank and make the movies, whatever we sellout of it will be what we have produced. Not when someone gets a copy of my show, he goes and duplicates it and sells it even abroad and starts driving big cars and building houses from someone else's sweat and the person will come back to me to say "have you any other show to produce, in fact that other one paid me well oh!" While you that did the job have nothing to show for it. If government can support the Nigerian Film and Movie Censors' Board fully and they are able to put things in order, then those of us in this private sector can survive. Government secretariat and ministries are over saturated with workers and this is why there is retrenchment and so many more workers are qualifying everyday in millions. They have to do something to eat and survive, trying something privately. They borrow money from bank to sponsor their business and when someone else undercuts them and they cannot pay back to the bank, bank refuses to give out money to such people, resulting to increase in crime.
So the government should ensure that those of us who are in the private sector are protected. They should sponsor shows from different parts of the country so that we can blend and also package them for international market. There are people for our kind of movie outside Nigeria.
How good has your comedy life been?
It has been wonderful. We thank God. My comedy life has taken me to places outside Nigeria. It has taken me around Africa, like Liberia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and even U.S.A. I doubt if a good number of Nigerians know me by my real name because Zebrudaya has taken over my God-given name, but it is all-good. It is what happens when you deliver a good job as supposed to be.
What part of the country are you from?
I'm from Anambara State, Nnobi in Idemmili South, to be precise.
Is the character Zebrudaya still in you?
It is for other people to identify. I don't know if it is in me or not.
Is any of your children taking the line of entertainment?
No, unfortunately. I have two children, a boy and a girl. None of them is toeing my path. They are all in Sciences, none in Art.
Is the comedy part of you something you read in school or a talent?
I had finished acting Zebrudaya before I went to school. So it is a talent. I had almost given up my acting before I went to university and came out with a Master's degree in Mass Communication in Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). I felt I was communicating with people with the right language that they understood and so I said, why don't I go ahead and communicate more.
Are you still in contact with your colleagues at The New Masquerade?
Yes, we were supposed to perform last Easter but it was postponed. We all will be performing at Markudi with exemption of Clarus (Davis Offor), because he does not want to take part because of his sight and Jegede (Claude Eke), now late. We will have to find replacement for their roles.
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