Veteran Nollywood actor Justus Esiri has passed on. His son, Dr Sid of
Mavin records announced it this morning through his twitter page when he
changed his bio to 'RIP Dad'. The cause of his death is still unknown.
The late actor was in his 70's. He was indeed a brilliant actor
Profile:
Veteran Actor Justus Esiri is dead. The Member of the
Order of the Niger (MON), famous for his role as the Village Headmaster in the
80s died last night of an
undisclosed illness
Justus Esiri has featured in several Nollywood movies and stage plays within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
Justus Esiri has featured in several Nollywood movies and stage plays within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
Just last year August,he was a member of a star loaded
Nigerian cast that performed at the Stratford Royale Theatre London alongside
Olu and Joke Jacbobs,Keppy Ekpeyong,Segun Arinze,Bimbo Akintola and other
casts.During the period,he lost some of his valuables with Segun Arinze to some
thieves.
He is the father to one of Nigeria’s rising star, Dr Sid.
He has been a regular face through
the stage, national television and of course Home video since the early 70s
that he needs no real introduction. However, very few know the story of his
life because he is not the kind who will readily give in to an interview that
will talk about such. Some journalists dread his disciplinary disposition
because he has no room for so called dullards who are not up on their feet. He
gives audience to Home Video People and this is it. An explosive bang. Enjoy
the story of his life.“I am an urhobo man, come from an African aristocratic
family. My forebears were educated. My great grand-father could speak English
at least.
I went to Urohobo College and my
principal was a very principled man who attended the world famous Fourah Bay
College in Sierra Leone and later to Dublin in Ireland. He later became a
parliamentarian of the western region. Late Senator F.G. Ejaife. May his soul
rest in peace. He was a great man, a man who allowed his students to believe in
logic. We had a fantastic debating and dramatic society, we had a beautiful
library which told you about every kind of things including costumes.
If you wanted costume of many years
back, there were books in the library to equip you. In 1959-1961, my school
came tops in the Festival of Arts and I was part of that troupe. In form four,
I had already taken charge of the society. When the brief came that we would
participate in the Festival, the principal called me and handed them over to
me, so I was the one who put everything down. I had to make the script
available to others and rehearse them. I had to go to the library to read up
about the costumes required. We were well brought up in that school to be able
to use our head. Maybe that was the talent that I wasted studying engineering.
But God brought me back here.
Berlin
I went to Germany to study
engineering so I lived in the West Berlin but I had several friends in the East
of Berlin because there were fantastic theatres in the east, so I often went to
see them. For instance, I watched Poggy and Bess in the East of Berlin where
there was a lot done for culture and the arts. The issue of the wall was not
there then, just the arts. It didn’t stop a foreigner who was a student from
going to the east from the west. I did go there frequently. They had great
actors and actresses and beautiful theatres. I enjoyed my stay. There was
nothing like racism then. The Nazi regime had gone and the government was
trying to make everything available for the people. I still visit Germany now and
then. I still speak German.
In those days when I returned to
Nigeria, I translated and read news in German in Voice of Nigeria, I presented
my own programmes in VON in German, when the late Zeal Onyia was there. We were
all in Voice of Nigeria, German Service. I also remember Bayo Martins, who was
drummer in those days in Germany, a fantastic one at that. May his soul rest in
peace. He was a fantastic guy and there are not many artistes like that these
days. The Voice of Nigeria (VON) was a part time programme for me. When they
heard I spoke German, they called me to translate the news and when you did
that, you read it yourself. From there, I went to present a music programme for
VON. It was fun. Really fun.
Return from Europe
In Berlin, I was the only Nigerian on
stage about 1968/69 when I started. I can’t remember any other Nigerian on
stage and TV in the whole of Germany at that time. There were some French
speaking Africans. I returned to Nigeria because I was performing on stage one
evening and I saw some men in Nigeriaagbada as part of the audience. Later,
news came that these people wanted to see me. They told me about FESTAC and
that the Federal Government needed Nigerian artistes in diaspora to return for
the festival. I was impressed. I returned for FESTAC and since then, I have
been here. We have tried to do our own thing. With the attendant publicity of
FESTAC, we wanted to do our own productions and travel with it as travelling
theatre the way Ogunde and his likes did it.
We thought we might create another
opportunity to educate and enlighten our people. But one soon realised it could
not be done because of the logistic problem of transportation. Theatres were
not available at that time and not available up till now. I was working with
young people and any time I wanted to travel, I had to take special permission
from their parents and it had to be at weekends. It wasn’t very easy for me, so
I decided to do some other things, yet not forgetting the call. If you have a
talent, you must make use of that talent. The bible says with thy talent shall
thou feed. We have tried to use the talent to do one or two things. I am very
impressed so far. We could still do more. But we haven’t used it effectively
for our people. We are still there and find every other day a challenge.
Village Headmaster
Before I featured in that programme,
I never liked Village Headmaster because of the pidgin English. It was already
in Lagos. One day I was at home when someone came to tell me that I should come
for an audition for Village Headmaster because according to him, they had tried
a lot of people and decided I should come. At the National Theatre on that day,
everyone was seated and they said they were going on location by the weekend. I
had never seen the script before then, so I took it home and read it through.
The location was in Badagry. On that day, everyone including Late Elsie
Olusola, Kabiyesi Funsho Adeolu, Joe Layode, Ibidun Allison, Kabiyesi, Wole
Amele, everybody sat down watching because I had not worked with them before.
To my surprise, by the time I finished that sequence, they were all clapping.
When I am on set, I am a very deep
person because of the belief that words have life and must be given life.
People appreciated the way I handled Village Headmaster. Then Supple Blues
which was a different thing entirely. Then Things Fall Apart. There was a time
I was three times weekly on network television. That is why I feel very bitter
that of all the programmes I had done, those who took part in Samaja that came
from the North of Nigeria, those who took part in Masquerade and those who took
part in other Yoruba programmes were given National honours while I have
featured in several plays and have not been recommended. I am not judging them,
I just feel bitter. It would come when it would. One thing I am happy is that
people appreciate what I have done. One day a car was chasing me around and
almost bumped into me when the woman in the car peered out of the window to
tell me she was sorry but she had told her driver to chase me so she could tell
me something and that is that you ‘make acting look like real life’.
My day was made. There are so many
things one could do with this talent for the benefit of our country. But when
you write a proposal, they sit on them or give them to their cronies to do or
they ask you why you should make money when you already have fame. What is
wrong in making money when you have fame? Actors are not properly paid. Maybe
some of them are now getting a better pay. I believe that some of those who are
coming after us will get better pay. But the actors and actresses should be
clapped for. Out of nothing we have made so much. There are no cinema houses
where producers or executive producers should go and show their films. You
finish making a film and put it into direct VCDs and some lazy persons dub
these things and pirate them.
Older the wine
In the last AMAA 2006, I remember
saying that there is a saying that the older the wine, the better it tastes. I
don’t know why I said it but it just came. I also remember when I was on stage
in Berlin, Germany and there was a misunderstanding between the man who was
directing the stage play and the actor, a well known actor and this actor had
gone against the direction of the director. He bluntly refused to do the
director’s bidding. This director had said to him, you are not 40 years yet and
the actor said yes. He said until you are 40, you won’t know what you are doing
on stage if you have a director which means the older you get, the more you appreciate
certain things that you do. Every movie that I take part in is a challenge. One
appreciates these things and I just feel that you must keep yourself up to
date.
You must try. I have not gotten to
the point I want to get to. Some people think that every one who wants to act
must be handsome or beautiful. That is their own cup of tea. It is how you act
and how you express yourself. If you can lift your audience from their seats
into the box, you have got them. It is an art and you must learn this art. You
must understand this art. You must just be there. I believe that some actors
are born but they must work hard to be made.
Movies all the way
I don’t like talking about my movies
and you want to move me to that area. I hardly watch my movies because I am
very critical and if you work with the numerous directors we have worked with,
you would come to understand that some of them are not very deep. In most
cases, they just want to shoot people love Forever, The tyrant, Corridors of
power. etc There are so many of them. I have not watched all of them. But I
still need to be challenged.
Engineering as academic accident
I actually spent time in studying
engineering. When I consider the course work and the practicals, I wonder. As a
young man, one had ideas. One was fascinated by the things you see. When I got
to Europe, and got to Germany and studied engineering. I did not practice this
course for one day. That tells me that when God has a way for you, He opens it
without you knowing it. I had gone to what one would call the bureau of
employment where I had friends and the woman says there is a production company
who were in need a black man who was good with the Dutch language. So she
recommended me and kept the letter for me. I got a date to meet with the
producer. And you won’t believe it, my audition was like a joke. It lasted for
a week.
Someone would come and meet with me,
chat with me over a cup of tea and leave. Another one would come and leave.
These people turned out to be my production cast and crew. After the production
was through, the leader of the entire thing said ‘Yustus’ (Justus) you are
good. I like to recommend you to the school of performing arts. By the time I
completed the studies, I was part of the travelling theatre travelling all over
Europe. There is hardly a city in Germany where I did not perform. There is
hardly a theatre in the entire Germany I had not performed. I was in Austria,
Switzerland. That is what God wants me to do. That may be, is why I am still
being sustained when some of my mates are out of the line.
Style
I love suits and I have several of
them and I wear them as well. The fact is that you have not caught me wearing
them my dear. I also love to dress as an Urhobo man. I have these types of caps
that I wear when the occasion arises. The other day you saw me with my walking
stick. I do not have that all the time. I dress very simple.
It is hot out there and you need air.
When you see me wearing suits, you’d love me. I used to buy designer suits.
When I was in Germany, I used to model for Selbach. I was one of the first
people who wore denim in different patches of colours. My denim trousers used
to match my briefs. Even my shoes were made directly for me. I just put my foot
down and they measure it and make them for me. For perfumes, I love it and use
them in different names but I won’t advertise for them by mentioning the names
of my perfumes. I mentioned Selbach because they are not here.
I won’t tie wrapper on Monday or
Tuesday. I will do that when I am going for an event that has to do with
tradition. I will dress according to situation. I wear agbada if the occasion
calls for that. But the bottom line is, I love to dress simple.
My children
God has been very nice to me. I have
very disciplined children. Six of them. Five are already graduated. My last
baby is going to the university. Three of my children are married and have given
me grandchildren. One is a banker and a finance man. He is a chartered
accountant, I have a daughter who is a accountant. I also have one who is an
economist. Apart from these one of my sons is a dental surgeon while the other
is a geologist. It is my son who is a dental surgeon that is into hip hop music
and he is doing well at it and I wish him the very best.
White wife?
I didn’t think was very necessary.
Not that I didn’t have girl friends then. Marriage is when you get to that
stage you get married. I knew where I was coming back to and some of the
problems peculiar to us. If I had returned to Europe after my FESTAC
experience, maybe I could have picked up a white wife, I don’t know. I didn’t
want to run away from the situation. I decided to stay. I am married to Omiete
and very happy with my wife, a wonderful woman from Kalabari land, Rivers
state. At times I go out for weeks, ooh she has been wonderful. She has been a
pillar of my home. I am just happy. You won’t believe it, she is a textile
designer and does all my local wears. Whatever I wear that is not foreign is
made by her. It is what I call Ormi’s Designs. She makes them for me. Selects
them herself and sews them.
Leisure
I play golf, If you were not here
now, I would have been at the golf course. I play anywhere but my club is
Ikeja. When you play golf, you have no time for any other thing. It is the golf
course and then your house. But it is very interesting to play golf really.
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