Kasimu Yero: What I want to be remembered for
Alhaji Kasimu Yero, in this January 16, 2016 interview, spoke about his career, especially the villainous roles he played.
Daily Trust: When you went into acting, how big an industry was it?
Kasimu Yero: I’m not too sure, but here in the North, we were the first batch that started acting professionally. I can remember, it was around 1970, and somehow it happened that I was a member of a drama club during our secondary school days and among other members of the same club was late Khalifa Baba-Ahmed. So, after we left secondary school in 1966, I went on to Rumfa College in Kano and from there to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. With the help of my friend, BabaAhmed, I was opportune to write a script and ever since I have been writing my scripts, up till today, as with almost all the productions I’m involved with.
Are you actor? still an active
I feel I’m not given the same opportunities as I was before, so you hardly see me in any productions today. They are either afraid to call me, or because most of the productions you see today are meant for young people. In our day, our productions were meant for the whole nation, young or old, and for all tribes. In most cases today, you will find that most of the programmes are biased.
Take a good look at most of the programmes today, you will find that we have categorised them Hausa, Igbo film or Yoruba, not Nigerian. During our time, good and evil in the society is what we talked about, not the manners and attitudes of a particular tribe, people or religion. We made sure that all our viewers enjoyed the programme without having the feeling that they are watching a film made by Muslims or Christians.
I have always wished that somebody in the North will invest in a film that will last a lifetime, just like the books of William Shakespeare. It would be great to have someone bring all the writers and actors together to produce a Northern Nigerian film, an epic based on ‘Magana Jari Ce’, with lavish, accurate costumes and beautiful locations. It will be great for our grandchildren to see what the culture of their people in days past looked like. All the films made today don’t do that.
Can you remember your first professional acting job and how much you were paid?
The main title of the programme was, simply, ‘Hausa Drama’. From there, we decided it was not the right title, so we changed it to ‘Kukan Kurciya’, alluding to a Hausa saying which says only the wise can understand the message in a pigeon’s coo. After a while, we thought the title ‘Kukan Kurciya’ overly philosophical and called it ‘Tambari’, after a royal drum. I was paid five shillings.
We then started a comedy called ‘Karambana’ and later an idea came to me about doing a series based on ‘Magana Jari Ce’, the classic by late Abubakar Imam. My producer loved my idea and I wrote practically all the stories for it, which came out in about 30 episodes, an hour each.
During Shehu Shagari’s regime, the government was trying to promote agriculture, so they decided to talk to the banks, who agreed to sponsor a one-hour programme in English and it would come from Lagos but our base would be Jos. Because then I was working with ABU Zaria, I was unable to make it to Lagos, but we negotiated that if we have are to have crossregional artists, why not a centre? So we decided on Jos, and ‘Cockcrow at Dawn’ was born.
Speaking of ‘Cockcrow at Dawn’, how did you clinch the role of Uncle Gaga?
What happened was that when the ‘Operation Feed the Nation’ program was introduced, a lot of conservative people in the rural areas refused to go to the bank because of this old saying that ‘he who goes on borrowing, goes on sorrowing’. So it happened that the person who could play that role, as an antagonist of the federal government’s move, was me. So I decided to take the role of Uncle Gaga. As the villain of sorts, the story had me discouraging people from taking loans and finally, when my nephew decided not to listen to me and he collected the loan and became a very successful farmer, a lot of people forgot about me and collected the loan.
You seem more disposed to playing villains and you’re quite famous for some of the nastiest characters on Nigerian TV. Do you prefer such roles?
That’s not it. What was needed was one that had the character, the push, the face and the noise-making ability to play [Uncle Gaga] well, and that was me. That was why it was given to me.
Are you still offered acting roles, or directing jobs?
No. I was once an actor, and a script writer. I don’t like directing because I am not professionally trained to be one. I can produce or write and direct the production but I prefer to give it to those that are trained to do it.
How do you view Kannywood and Nollywood today?
There are a lot of people who share various opinions. An Indian film is understood by all Indians, an English film is an English film. A Nigerian film should use language and culture that will blanket everybody in this country. So I am not sure whether I am right but I still think if we have to start what we call a Nigerian film, everybody working on it should come together. But clearly, from our films we have shown that we are not one. That is the truth, whether you like it or not. I don’t know where they got all those names from, Kannywood, Nollywood and all that. It’s terribly unoriginal.
Who was your favourite actor or actress from inside and outside Nigeria in the movie industry?
In Nigeria, there are a lot of actors and actresses I have worked with because I like their mode of work. But there are a lot of our artists who are good during production, but arrogant outside.
But I think all Nigerian actors are good and are doing very well. I have always liked them because they portray characters very well. I have a lot of respect for Samanja, also.
Do you miss any part of your active acting career?
No. When you miss something, that’s when you clearly see that a good thing is going on without you.
Has being a famous actor opened doors for you?
Yes. I have always benefited from it and I am always being honoured and appreciated by my fans, especially when I take small walks in the neighborhood. You hear children saying ‘there goes Kasimu Yero’ which is surprising as they were not born when I was acting actively.
Have any of your children showed interest in following your footsteps?
One of them has and he’s already a professional actor, even though he studied Electrical Engineering. Before his technical education, he insisted on going into acting, so when I got to the NTA, I showed them his credentials and they asked him to report at the Television College at Jos and he went. He stayed there for three to six months and was trained to be a producer and director and when he finished, he decided to go for Creative Arts at the Federal College of Education, Zaria, from where he will be graduating very soon. He’s called Aminu Kasim.
What is a typical day like for you, now that you are retired?
I get up early every day, try to do some exercise so as not to have issues with my blood pressure, and after that, I have my breakfast and rest. Afterwards, I try to talk to some friends on the phone to find out if there is anything for me to do. And then later in the evening I go out to my favourite club to join my friends till about 9:00pm, then straight to bed.
Apart from acting, what other profession do you think you would have been good at?
Technical work.
In one of your pictures, you wore a turban. Do you hold a traditional title?
I don’t hold any traditional title. I just decided to take that picture to give an idea of my background and the background of my career. In fact, I come from a royal family in Zaria. So seeing me with royal garb is no big deal. Quite a number of my brothers and cousins are holding traditional titles right now.
What would you like to be remembered for?
I only want to be remembered for what I have been able to do. It is only natural that what people would remember you for is what you have been doing and how successful that thing was. Whatever you desire to do as your profession, when you do it well, you will be happy with yourself and people will definitely appreciate that you have done it to the best of your ability. Sometimes, when I sit back and reflect on all I have put in all these years and the reputation it has earned me, I realise that it was worth the effort. That makes me happy. Like I said earlier, to walk on the street and see children pointing and saying ‘There goes Kasimu Yero’, is satisfying enough.