Home Interview Popular Comedian, Segun LafUp Speaks About His Rise And Rise, Reveals How...

Popular Comedian, Segun LafUp Speaks About His Rise And Rise, Reveals How Indebted He Is To Ibadan

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Segun Ogundipe LafUp...full of gratitude to God...and his fans, supporters...
Segun Ogundipe LafUp...full of gratitude to God...and his fans, supporters...

Segun Ogundipe, popularly known as Lafup is one of the biggest in the Nigerian Comedy/MC business. The Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Ibadan started his career in Ibadan and has taken his trade out of Nigeria, even outside Africa where he has a lot of fans. Speaking with KUNLE GAZALI, the comedian who has gone back to his first love, acting bares his mind on the entertainment business, his early challenges and how he is being sustained in the business beating all the odds…

From comedy to acting, what is the motivation?

Yes, from comedy to acting, comedy is broad, comedy is big, but if you bring it down to stand-up comedy this is what I do, then to acting. I think comedy is still acting, especially stand-up comedy. Acting is just that you keep exploring every other possibility of the human nature when it comes to performing live on stage. Don’t forget that it is actually from acting to comedy for me because I did Theatre Arts, I have done a lot of acting, I have featured in many of Professor Wole Soyinka’s  plays and several other productions. I was at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to represent Nigeria, I performed in Accra, Ghana to represent the University of Ibadan, I have headlined a lot of plays, I was part of the team that started theatre every Sunday at Tiamiyu Savage. So, for me, it is from acting to comedy and then acting again, maybe the difference is that it is more of TV now because I have done a few projects as an actor but now I am going on screen as a producer and actor.

As a producer and actor, what are you working on at the moment?

Presently we are working on a sitcom, it is a series  called ‘Omo Baba Landlord’. I created and produced it by God’s grace. I have about four other guys who worked with me. It is just a simple story that I created here in Ibadan, we produced everything in Ibadan, audition opened in Ibadan just to also encourage and give every opportunity to other actors. Hopefully, it is going to hit the TV, we are still in talks with our distributors and see how we get the highest bidder for it. A lot of big names in the comedy industry, people I adore, people I love to work with and also people that aspired to work with me, the likes of Afis Oyetoro, Taiwo Ibikunle, Adeniyi Johnson, Woli Agba, Dele Omo Woli and a couple of other wonderful, talented actors including Mode Ogundiwin, a very talented and fresh actor was also part of it. In the next season we are going to be introducing a few other people.

Acting is a totally different profession,  stand-up comedy is also a different profession, how do you juggle the two without one affecting the other?

They are two different professions but they both make use of primarily the same tools for performance. First is the human body, second is the social expression. When you are live on the screen, there is a line of script of non verbal clues and verbal clues. It is just a case almost natural in stand-up comedy that you are playing alone, you are your own director and script writer, it’s just you and the audience. Acting in this case, is just like performance act rather than performing act, you can always call for a tape.  When you do the job here, you  are showing on DSTV or anywhere, I don’t have to be there and that is the difference between the two. In juggling both we actually need to expand, we need to do other project. For over 15 years, I have been producing stand-up comedy, I currently have one of the biggest running comedy shows in Nigeria and one of the most consistent. I have been able to push a lot of brands that have become household names right now, and I think it is time for us again to expand and may be put my primary certificate to work. Because for me, having a Masters in Theatre Arts, it is what I love, it is a passion and it is what we have learnt over the years, we have served people and it is time to also take a part and bring to the people, because not everybody can come to the theatre and we are in an age  where everybody owns their media, they own their phones, they own their cable TV on the go. So, it is better for us to reach them, we are trying to also create content, content is key, we are trying to create so that people can consume some of the things that we have and enjoy Lafup. A lot of people want to see more of Lafup,  a lot of them will say that I am a better  actor than a stand-up comedian, while a lot will say I am a better comedian than an actor.  So, it’s better for me to feel all those people because they are our fans, they love you they want to see you and you have to be able to be there for them. So, juggling both, I take a producer’s seat, most of my work I do before the shoot starts and when the shoot starts they still come back to me once in a while as expected, at that moment I am an actor, at times I find myself directing, but I have one of my guys,a very fantastic guy, Debola Ogunsina, who is a director, I always ask them to excuse me when I have to go and do my stand-up comedy.  Stand-up comedy became easier for me than acting because  it is easier for me to get the job done, it is easier for me to travel more and I will still have plenty of time to get back to my first job which is actually acting.

At the initial stage, why didn’t you pursue a career in acting, why the choice of stand-up comedy?

As a matter of fact, I pursued a career in acting.  When I left school my first place work was with Wole Ogunjimi, that is the household of theatre business in Nigeria and Africa , they performed at the Shakespeare theatre and the great Oluku Festival. At that point in time when I do rehearsals they called me to come and do a performance somewhere, in different parts of the country, and it is not easy they can’t keep the space for you for too long, you have to be available to rehearse.  But in stand-up comedy you create your script, it is something you like to do naturally, you know the kind of audience you want to see, you just need to be creative with your script, and you  perform, get paid and come back again for another performance. Stand-up comedy became very easier for me. So, that was why I didn’t pursue acting at the beginning? I went for a lot of auditions in my early days because I left University of Ibadan as one of the best actors in my time, the other best actors in my class were my pals, the likes of Gabriel Afolayan, Sunkanmi Adebayo, and we were friends, we were roommates, we did everything together. Gabriel got hit up with Madam Dearest in 200 level, it was a big one for him and he went on to do Super Story. I was enjoying stand-up comedy at that point, theatre was what kept a lot of us together because we were not allowed to do anything outside the department as students, so we were looking for a way round. If Gabriel goes I can’t leave, because the three of us are actors, but Sunkanmi was actually more of a director. So, If he leaves I needed to be around to play the lead role, it wasn’t easy for me but it was easier for me not to leave than for him because I have my event I was doing. I was always at NUJ’s House at Iyaganku to perform, DJ Semight was always there and that was where I met Chief Lekan Alabi who actually gave me the contract to create a drama on his retirement day after he saw what I did with Suliyat Adedeji’s documentary which I  produced by that time. So, you go to auditions they don’t pick you, they like you but they would not pick you, I went for a second audition, I almost got to the screen audition but they didn’t call me. I went to another audition at Mabinuori Street in Gbagada Lagos for TINSEL, they later called me, but when they called  I was already in camp for my Youth Service,  I couldn’t leave the camp at that time, I wasn’t called as part of the main crew, but as a sub.  Later on they called me for an extra role, when I got there  the producer then would just give a role to keep me around, he keeps saying they need me, they need me when I was outside the country most of the times.  Honestly, I pursued acting but it wasn’t as forthcoming as it should be. With comedy, before I went for NYSC, I was already working for KPMG, for MTN, for Costain West Africa, going to big events, it was at one of the shows that I met  Ali Baba in 2008 when Costain West Africa turned 60. I was already doing the big jobs when acting came and was almost distracting me not to be available for people-  you know in this business if you are not available you know the damage. So, I had to shelf my acting. I just told myself that instead of going for the auditions and getting frustrated that the best thing for me was to work, build my career, build myself, my family and when I have enough money  to produce I am going to come and produce. Now, I am on production, taking the lead in my production.

Your show in Ibadan, Lafup Live is more than 10 years, despite Ibadan being considered not too entertainment-friendly, what’s the drive and how have you been coping? Again, why Ibadan because you are doing a lot of things outside Ibadan that are more rewarding.  What do you owe Ibadan or what does Ibadan owe you?

I owe Ibadan a lot. I wouldn’t say Ibadan owes me because the city has done so much for me. Ibadan has really blessed and touched me and gave me the insight to create things. When I started a lot of my friends were like you are going to Ibadan? because I told some of my friends that I was going to Ibadan, as at then when I started at the University of Ibadan, I started producing my comedy in  2003, at first there was a show  called Laffomania, the likes of Solomon Uduoaye, Saka, that is how I met Afis Oyetoro and his partner, Lepacious Bose, they used to do some jokes together on the Night Of A Thousand Laugh, these are the people that started Laffomania. So, when I came I asked what is happening in the school, what are the comedy shows that people watch, they said Laffomania. Luckily that year Solomon Iguare brought it to school, the following year I called him and asked when we are we going to do the next show ,  he said he doesn’t have time because then he was working in the British Council and I asked him to write the script, that I will produce it with my money. Funnily I didn’t have a dime but I was so passionate at that time. So, he said I should come and see him,  I met with him and he gave me the script and and asked if I was sure I could do it and I said don’t worry, already then I was doing Lafup. So we produced the first show and it was sold out, when we did the second show one of my lecturers came to me and said he thinks it is time for me to use my name and not another person’s name. Already we had started teasers, we tease people in the school with some pictures, we cut stencil in 5 by 7 sizes and write comments asking people what they think about the pictures, it was like our own Instagram then, we were supposed to use poster but we did’t have the money. We would put them at different major parts of the school and particular place where the shows happen. That was how we started enticing the people.  The reigning tune then was ‘Effrebo Effrebo you go wound o’, so we just changed the name to Effrebo Laffomania because we had already built Laffomanina, people now love Laffomania again as they used to love it. After some time we just dropped Laffomania and we kept Effrebo. So, after U.I I did Laff and Burst, I did Laff Live, I was still looking for that name, then I saw what AY was doing in Lagos and I said let me put my name, that was what brought about Lafup Live, the title of the first show we did at Jogor Centre. The second year I brought Ali Baba to UI. After I left school I did about three shows in UI but it was just a campus thing with the people  and few elites in town who are very connected to me. So, it was time to for me to back out and do business, so I had to go to Jogor Centre, and Jogor was very magnanimous, they liked the idea of the young boy  but when they told me the amount I just said ‘ah’, they then asked me what I was going to do and I said ‘I am leaving sir because I cannot afford it’, I said even if I gathered all the comedy money I have made in my life it would not be up to that. But you know Engineer Femi Babalola, the man was very nice and he said just pay for the cleaners. That alone was  #50,000 just to clean the place, I could not even afford to fuel the generator that year. They gave us that place free which was why I just love to always be at Jogor because I hate to forget the people who were there for me from my day one. So, gradually we got to town, gradually people started  knowing the name, we always make sure that Lafup Live will be a thing that is relevant and like our selling campaign game for the year, so over the years,  we celebrated 15 years anniversary last two years and we had another show again last year. So, altogether we have been in the game professionally for 15 years , for every year we produce at least one play, it was also extended to Lagos. In 2016, we did the first Lagos show.

Talking about what Ibadan owes me, telling you the story of how important Ibadan is to me. I met people, supported people, there were times that I won’t do my assignments and I was going to lie to my lecturer. I remember Dr. Kunmi Olasope, I was going to say I was sick and the woman will say ‘oh oh, that was a very nice show last night, I laughed and enjoyed myself, you are very funny,  oh your assignment don’t worry just bring it’ she just collected and mark it for me. Normally, she could have punished me for that but she is a naturally nice woman, she is always being supportive, she ran an NGO and I get a lot of favours that way. I met my wife also in the city, so, what I owe Ibadan is to make sure that good people also grow from me. There are a lot of people I have met who never did comedy in their life, who just wanted to and so many that I have met with and I told them that they can do it. There are a lot of singers, for instance, Babatunmise, he sings but I turned him to an MC for events and right now he is making his ways, and the likes of Shete and few others here in Ibadan. A lot of people don’t remember what you do for them but the thing is, I didn’t do this for them, I did it for myself, because if God has really blessed me I need to bless people. Only a few people really blessed me I must say, but if 50 people bless you and all you can bless is 50 you have failed, even if it is 100 you bless you have still failed because the evidence that 50 people really bless you is that you multiply that, when you multiply, it is not double and that is what the Bible says we should do with our talent, we should multiply, it should be 50 times 50 and I felt stand-up comedy is doing it, but in the movie industry, the sitcom will do more because right now we have graduates of Theatre Arts being employed and I have about 35 crew members of the show and they have been in the camp for about a month and a half, and a lot of actors come and go that are aware of the show. It is a great project and it is going to showcase the new set of people as talents that the world should actually be expecting.

LafUpin his peculiar mood
LafUpin his peculiar mood

15 years in the profession, you are one of the top rated Nigerian comedians, an MC headlining top events and shows, looking back, are you fulfilled?

I will say clearly first and foremost that all the glory belong to God, and  looking back 15 years, in Nigeria’s comedy, if in the top five I may not be there or arguably the nation’s top 10 I may not be there, but if you zone it, maybe top 10, I am in the top 5, because we all can not be in Lagos, we all need to create something unique. Am I happy? Yes, I am very happy. Am I fulfilled? Based on the dream I had back then, yes, I am fulfilled. I feel extremely fulfilled. I have fresh dream now that I need to fulfill. I am happy primarily because when I came to Ibadan, the first time when we were doing shows they were saying that people don’t pay to see shows, a lot of people advised to do the show free so that people can come and I said that I went to school to have a degree like a lawyer, and a lawyer is supposed to use his certificate to eat. It wasn’t easy when I was in school, the money was not cheap, it was cheap for some people that are collecting pocket money but for me, it wasn’t cheap. So, having struggled through school and also this is my talent and I believe whatever it is I am doing, I should do well, and I should not always do for free. At the beginning you can do for free which was what I did for the whole of 2003 till about 2007/2008. And at that point I said that I could do the show for free and people will be coming and enjoy and be going, but I wanted to create a market, I wanted to create an industry, I wanted to put Ibadan on the map, I wanted Ibadan to be discussed when they are talking about comedy, when they say Warri boys and Lagos Boys, I wanted Ibadan to be next. And by the special grace of God I started the show, first show few people came, second show few people still came but right now the show is always sold out. You know, I paid the price, a lot of people supported me, right now a lot of comedians want to come to Ibadan to do shows that is because comedy now sells, somebody has tried it, somebody has paved the way, by God’s grace if for nothing else the fact that I by the special grace of God with the support of the few of my friends and the few media people that wrote about what we were doing, the likes of your Publisher, Olayinka Agboola, DJ Semight who is a major player, he was the first person that paid me in Ibadan. God used me to pave the way for comedy in Ibadan because what we were having before was strictly comedy in Ibadan, the likes of Jazzy B radio not stand-up comedy, when I stepped forward I was also doing Premier FM Safari, Tolu Sanyaolu every Tuesday then at Premier FM, I was doing it for free, I would spend #150 everyday, just to take okada every morning, it was for 30 minutes. So, if not for the fact that when they do awards on event of the year we will have at least four comedy shows in the category of the event of the year, I am not saying comedy of the year. If you look at PERA Awards they said event of the year, we have Laffup Live, Unleashed, Laffmatazz, Ibadan Countdown and one other event. And see of all the comedy shows in the events, I was the host of the two of the comedy shows. You can imagine how comedy has been able to push, Ibadan has been the base for comedy industry, if you take comedy out of Ibadan I am sorry to say, I make bold to say that you will deflate the effect of Ibadan comedy scene, because the comedians are the ones driving every other show as hosts, as MCs and as presenters. You see how comedy is playing major role in our radio stations, when I started to do comedy show there was only one private radio station in Ibadan, it was Splash FM, but right now we have over 20. This shows how far we have also evolved and how well we have gone, my first jingle was played on Splash FM. Before we got to Diamond FM in Ibadan, Pekun Oloyede was the one that played my jingle for free that year, we did not have money to do anything, we were just flowing with passion that time, today we now have the highest paid show as in comedy show, people pay as much as N200,000, N300,000 to be at  comedy shows and this was the show that people told me people won’t pay to attend in Ibadan. I want to  respect Dr Yinka Ayefele, he has been a very good support, there was a time a comedy show was going to happen in Ibadan and my name was not on it, it was Uncle Yinka who said that the reason people pay for shows not comedy shows, but for shows in Ibadan is Lafup because he insisted. God sees us, He knows our plans, we just want to create a market where we can make bold and be competitive with every other comedian around, now Ibadan boys are making waves. I am a host of Spontaneity of Ali Baba; I co-designed the show with Bunmi Davies and I called some of the Ibadan boys to come there and for the first time at the finals because we have 12 finals we have about four Ibadan boys at the finals who were Asiri, Arole, Remote and Gifted Mouth. They got to the finals, more are still coming by God’s grace, I don’t like to do hanky-panky, I train you, I encourage you, get there and you win, there is no need to rig anything because if you root for any victory it is utter trash. So, for me, I am fulfilled, Ibadan is on the map, I am happy, when they pick venues – Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos for shows or for anything now Ibadan is a deal, you can see what happened with Kiss Daniel, Davido came, Mayorkun came, Reekado Banks, MI came recently,  Oritsafemi is always here, it wasn’t happening like that before, in no time Burna Boy is coming.

Growing up in the start of your career, who are the people you looked up to?

My greatest influence first was my mum, she was a great influence, if I say anything she would just be laughing- to even something I knew was not funny, she was just like a good audience for me, she  just wanted me to feel good. I remember the first joke I heard on radio, “E file, ina lo nlo” I always tell my mum everyday and she will always be laughing every time, she was a great influence to me. And I will say one of the earlier inspirations that I had as MC  was Ali Baba and Alarm Blow on Charley Boy show, Danjuma and of course  Gbenga Adeboye was  fantastic, Adeboye’s songs made plenty of my Yoruba materials, Lasisi Abesupinle, Segun Dressing, Lagata, Oloun etc – these are materials which I like, so, when I see Lasisi Elenu on Instagram I said I have seen Lasisi before this Lasisi and that Lasisi was a very funny one and I’ve seen some of the most recent comedians in Gbenga Adeboye, Adeboye will quote Shakespeare, quote from the Bible, quote from the Quran and he will quote from some of the tenets of the Ifa, he was just an encyclopaedia of comedy. I listened to Ali Baba- very intelligent guy who happened to be my mentor, I just like the way they do things, you learn from their jokes and the same time you have been in front, when you have seen the people who have gone so far to build the quality and not your regular kind of comedy, that informed how I work, my inspiration, I went to research, I went to read about people from Czech Republic, I went to read about Russia, I want to talk about Russians, I want to talk about India, I want to be able to give a stroke for all the folks and that informed why most of my clients are corporate clients from the Indian companies to America. They are people that informed me, growing up seeing them I just wanted to make people laugh. And then in school I always drum, I was just entertaining, some of my friends will say they were shocked I was a comedian they thought I would be a musician because I used to sing for them.

Why did you relocate to Ghana?

I didn’t relocate to Ghana, I have a house in Ibadan, I have a house in Lagos and I happened to have a house in Accra, Ghana. You know, my wife also has her own career, she works in Ghana. She has her life and she is very supportive and I will not hold her back in any way. If today she says she wants to go and work and live in Colombia I am 100 percent in support of her. My family, my children live and school in Ghana and it is important for me to check with them once in a while but I am Ibadan, Ibadan is home for me, Lagos is also home and many other places I find peace of mind and many other places I find people who love me. I always tell people I am a tenant everywhere but I am a landlord in Ibadan.

You have a peculiar appearance, why do you keep dreadlocks?

Since 2007 that I left UI, I haven’t touched my hair. My final year project in UI was an Indian project, it was a play written by a nobel laureate, Girish Karnad Hayavadana, it was an Indian play and because I studied Drama in school, Theatre Arts, myself and my friends and colleagues, we like to push ourselves and we have been doing Nigerian plays, African Plays, when a play was happening then, we would watch because we wanted to do more, it was all about research for us, so, we practiced a lot. It was an Indian play and I played a major role, I played with one of my friends, he is a banker in America, he is into IT now. So, I had to curl my hair to make it a little bit Indian, I have stubborn hair so after few days it did’t look like curled hair again, I just say let me leave this hair, while I was trained as a Theatre Arts student, I was so minded in advertising PR, I did plenty of government PR, I wanted to be a creative writer that was why I was hoping I wanted to go and get proper job and make more money because there were few people in the profession that made money at that time. So, I don’t like a fact that if I have the project I have my hair at keep, I have to keep my hair for the project and I said you know what, let me just lock this hair. And people were saying that they won’t give me job, that I won’t be getting corporate jobs and I said let’s try it, I will not cut my hair because I believe it is about performance, it  is about delivery. The first job came, KPMG came when my hair was too short, there was one Moji Ogunsilure, she was very supportive, she always made sure that the management used me for their event, they took me along and we traveled to cute places. I just know the fact that if they are looking for my identity, it was the mic, my dreadlock and my frame, so much more that people have an idea, people can see your image and understand that I am trying to make my image. Sometimes I get  bullied and I will say am I going to keep this hair but it is my trade tool and there was a time I said I’m going to cut it and my wife asked me to leave it, that she liked it.

In the entertainment industry generally you see a lot of drop-outs, a lot of people that don’t even pass through tertiary institutions and they are doing well, what propelled you to go further, even to the point of having an MSc?

The thing is school is for application, just for you to be able to understand yourself, to have a sense of application to be able to know where to plug in and not to plug in, and then passion is another thing, talent is another thing, you know what they say about perspiration and aspiration. You know it is good to be schooled, it sets us apart, that is what they told us. But it is about the person, how well do you activate what you have inside, how well have you imbibed. A lot of people will make it without school, tell you school is a waste of time, a lot of people who have gone to school who have equally made it will tell you that school helped them. The question is,  sometimes they say the end justifies the means, but then I tell anybody that  education is very key and it  matters that I must go to school, at some point in my life I already knew where I was going, I have a Masters, I am doing my PhD proceeds but I am getting bored with PhD, sincerely because it is a fast world we are living now, people are getting things done, research is not really supported or encouraged in Nigeria, many businesses are moribund,  grounded, all businesses are not really using research work, but there are few that are responsible. But for some of my colleagues who didn’t go to school it is talent they are selling basically, if their talents are selling and they are fine selling what they selling, it’s cool.  Education is not just school, school is key but education is more key and you can get your education outside school. We have some comedian who didn’t go to school but speak fantastic language and it doesn’t necessary mean English- for a comedian you have to be proficient in the language you use as your tool, for instance, comedy with pidgin, you don’t have to go to school to go and learn pidgin, to deliver in pidgin, may be English, it might be an issue for some of the people, but you know there are three levels of speaking English, in my own way there is English that is just to communicate, the other English to explain and playing around, the other English is when you want to carry your words to other part of the world. So, for me I think school is key, it sets you apart, you cannot over emphasize education, when I left, I needed to connect, some people you went to school together at a particular time- they know me, they know you, you stimulate them, it is like a caucus kind of thing that snowballs to you too, but you can also see them in caucus or so. It is easier for you if you see one thing you want to do in your life don’t go to school and learn that thing very well, but if you get to a point in your life that you want to do business, you want to know how to keep the books, how to be able to know how to have some human relations, you want to understand a little bit of PR because not everything they will do for you, you want to have an idea of how to place this before this, you start to talk to people, how to relate to people, you want to do Agric now, you want to get into business, you don’t understand if you should because you have not done anything in school, in our school then Use of English was compulsory, Agric was either compulsory or may be Sociology or something, these are basic things that you need to know. You know, your daughter is sick, the first aid, these are the things you learn in school, that is what the school will give to you. But again if you are lucky to live with some parents who themselves sat you down to teach you, some people are home schooled as well and also they did well. So, as for me I cannot over emphasize that education is key, it cannot be better aside education,  but education is key no matter how good, no matter how better you are, education will play a major role. You can see in our politics when we have charlatans getting into politics, to project their minds, their projects, their manifestos they run away and skip debates.

in the beginningwhen LafUp was still Segun Ogundipeat the University of Ibadan
in the beginningwhen LafUp was still Segun Ogundipeat the University of Ibadan

Let us come back to Ibadan entertainment, you are one of the few fighting for its redemption, we are at a stage where we can say things are improving compared to what it was in the past, how do we build on this, what else can be done?

I think first and foremost, a lot of people don’t know that things are done deliberately, things don’t just happen, like show business – everything is set up, and the same thing you see in our politics- things don’t just happen, today, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the governor-elect of Lagos State, he has been there before he didn’t just wake up one day, he has been there -you see some news people that will say this guy has ‘blown’, that guy has paid his due -only didn’t know when he was paying his due, maybe he was just loyal to one person, yes, it was loyalty to the right person, the question is who are you giving your loyalty, who are you paying your due? If we want Ibadan to be better than what it is, we need to combine efforts, we need to concert effort, I don’t know why for instance, I don’t know why a performer in Ibadan is an enemy to journalists, I don’t know. You cannot be enemy to journalists no matter how terrible the personalities of journalists are. The people are overrating the social media, I think they are overrating it, you cannot over state that social media has come to stay, is everybody now on social media and sometimes if you check the information on the social media, what is the credibility, how well do we carry on that story as if it is credible? How well are the people when they get the information, does it propel them to spur them into action, to make a move? So, it is important for the proper marriage between performers, music, comedy to be able to understand the work of journalists, what they do, how they let people see us, what you do, what is happening to you, drop some press releases to be able to know what is happening to you every now and then. There are people who are not on social media but who are having buying power for what you are selling, they won’t just open a newspaper and see something there. We need to remind ourselves that let us have big market, it is too early to be having personal grudges, all those immature talks and very feeble discussion over somebody said what, somebody didn’t say this, this person went to this and all sort of that, please don’t take people for granted, people can help you, they will help you, if you didn’t need the help you needn’t have taken it, if you didn’t need it, probably they wouldn’t have brought it to you, use the help, be humble and be free with everybody, do yours to support, let’s support ourselves, we are not that much, it is important for us to come together. It is too little for us to be fighting, let’s just love one another as much as possible, it is not that you must like people but don’t put effort in trying to bring people down. Also, we need to be more creative, you know some of us just look at what someone does and copy it, we copy content, we copy materials, somebody does pastor, someone also wants to do pastor, somebody does alfa, someone else also  wants to do alfa. Someone said that if you want to be original, you shouldn’t be bothered about someone stealing your materials. If at all anybody in Ibadan’s material has been stolen it must have to be mine and I don’t see anywhere I come and say such, people will steal your material because they find it original, just keep your circle smaller, do your things, we must not all be friends always, don’t form to be somebody’s friends and say something else at his back. When you are learning from someone and you are trying to be free from him, be humble at all times, when it is time, amicably leave, don’t make it hard for the person to bless another person. When I was fully in Ibadan and just going to Lagos to do shows I was always doing event for Nigerian Breweries it got to a point even Nigerian Breweries cannot afford to pay Lafup, they said I needed somebody that I could be sending, I said there was no need for me to send somebody, that there was somebody that had been coming, that I had been showing him how to do the job, when they were paying me I was always giving him part of the money too, and he was learning the job. As a boss, you need to be a leader and not a boss, you need to lead for people to have opportunity and grow. Oyo will be better, I hope the next dispensation will come up with better policies that will favour performance, comedians, singers and others, that is what we will always pray for. The most important is, let’s keeping getting better and let do what we need to do.

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