Foluke Shobowale, nee
Daramola, passes a vote of confidence on her man, says…
My husband satisfies me sexually!
By SAMUEL OLATUNJI
Sunday,
April 6, 2008
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•Foluke
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Foluke Shobowale came into people’s consciousness from
her days in Palace and she has been there for over a decade.
We still remember her for many things, her acting skill and
most importantly her natural endowment, which runs over.
In this interview with SAMUEL OLATUNJI she spoke about everything
under the sun among which is the satisfaction she derives
from her politician husband and how she shun pretentious lifestyle.
You’ve been so quiet in this 2008. What’s happening?
I’ve just been keeping to myself. I’m trying to
chill out on a lot of things.
I’m sure bad press was some of those things generally?
Definitely.
What is it with you and bad press?
Something in paper can be really upsetting. I keep telling
people that a lot of things that we stars go through are caused
by people surrounding us and bad press. I’ll like to
sight an example, a Yoruba paper went to town with one crazy
headline, ‘the world is upside down, Foluke Daramola
now goes about on bike’ i just smiled when I saw it.
In the real sense of it those are parts of those things that
push stars to do what they are not supposed to do. Everybody
knows that if you don’t pretend to live the kind of
life you can’t afford to live you’ll get the abuse
from people. If for instance I can’t afford to buy a
car, of course you know I can, at least you saw two cars in
my garage when you came. But I want to live the way I feel
like, if I’m in a hurry and I want to pick a bike from
anywhere, I can decide to pick my bike from anywhere because
it is a form of transportation in Nigeria .
When I travelled out of Nigeria ; even the very rich and powerful
go through public transportation. But if you deal with some
other people whom are conscious of these things they go out
of their ways for things they cannot afford just because they
want to avoid abuse. Some of them would steal, and some of
them would even go into drug just because they want to live
the kind of life they can’t afford. And I must say that
the negativity of the press is part of it. So, I decided to
just chill out, aside showbiz I have my family and kids.
So, you don’t want to live pretentious life.
No, I don’t. I live my life the way I feel like. If
I feel like buying boli on the street of Lagos I do without
any air. if I feel like drinking Garri, I drink garri, If
I am broke I don’t pretend to be rich and if I am rich
I enjoy the money and I thank God for It.
I’m not a pretentious person by nature and I don’t
pretend that the show biz life is the real life because it’s
not the real life. The show biz life is the make believe life
so we shouldn’t try to make it our life and the people
out there you help us talk to them to help us build a worthy
life of emulation. When you say somebody is a star it’s
not the money you are celebrating, you are celebrating that
person as a mentor, a person you look up to.
I am a responsible married woman and lets assume my husband
cannot afford the luxuries he can afford now, would you tell
me that because somebody is insulting me I might be tempted
to do the things I’m not suppose to do and by that your
wife will start being the prostitute of today, being the drug
traffickers, being the negative name because we don’t
have good press, we don’t have good people that surround
us and the area boys will say “je ki emi naa je nbe”
out of what.
It’s just a crazy environment that you find yourself.
An average banker makes more money than the artist but the
average banker can live a normal life but the average artist
cant and they all want to live up to what they cant afford
to do, I’m not talking of my own experience. I’ve
learnt right from my school days to abide and abound in any
situation I find myself. I’ve been a student union,
there’s nothing like the lady aspect, I’ve been
a tomboy all my life so there is hardly any life I cannot
adapt to.
If I have to enter a molue with you I will enter a molue and
I will adapt to the average market woman or to the conductor
or I can even argue with the average police man on the street
so I don’t believe that I’m different from that
next person. It’s just because I’m into a profession
and the profession I’m into happen to be that in the
lime line and that doesn’t change me from who I am
So, stardom has push you to always live a life that is not
actually yours
No, infact stardom has aid me to become a worthy ambassador
to emulate and when you say somebody is an ambassador to emulate,
a lot of Nigerians, Africans has derailed from the moral.
A lot of us dwell on material more than moral. This is why
an average press man will write a negative thing about a poor
man. I as a star Foluke Daramola want to be seen as a trustworthy
Nigerian
Do you actually climb okada?
Yes I do climb okada very very often. When you entered my
house at least you find like two cars and this morning I still
called my okada man to come because I don’t feel like
taking the car. As far as I’m concerned… take
for instance if I have an appointment to catch a million naira
by 4pm and I’m hooked in an hold up for 3.55pm and will
you say I’ve done wrong if I come down from my car to
take a bike. It doesn’t make sense; I’m ruining
my life because of what.
Did you take up acting roles?
Very well. At least you can testify to that. I can imagine
how long you’ve been trying to call me concerning this
interview, it’s been about three times and I’ve
been on set. Infact it was because I wasn’t feeling
too well that I rejected one I was suppose to take yesterday.
Which job have you done recently?
Hmn alimat, that one is already out. A lot of movie I’ve
done I can’t really remember but I haven’t produce
anyone recently
Last time we met you told me about a movie you are working
on I don’t know how far you’ve gone?
I’ve stopped that it’s not yet out. I have some
other jobs on board. I have jobs like Awoya, Aye ni and so
on
What about a reality or competition where you said people
can come to collect form We postponed it but we had it later.
But by the time we had it a lot of people had already lost
interest. We had it early last year and we suppose to continue
with it this year but because I decided to take a break off
the movie industry for a while but now that I’m back
I’ll look into it.
How is the industry increasing you?
The industry is the one that I enjoy, is the one that I love
and when you love something there is hardly anything that
can make you stop loving that thing. So the showbiz industry
happen to be an industry that I happen to fall in love with.
Not what I read in school but all the same I’m enjoying
it
Your marriage has kind of withstand all odds and all predictions
that it won’t last so what has been the magic?
My God has been my inspiration and I always say something
that when a marriage is built on God its built on the right
foundation. God is love. So when the marriage is built on
God that means the marriage is built on love. It doesn’t
mean you wont have your ups and down. It just means that you
will be able to tolerate each other and be able to understand
each other better. And once you have a background that you
cannot afford to be separated. The kind of background I happen
to have you don’t have a choice other than for you to
keep it. The showbiz industry I keep telling people that you
take a bow when the ovation is loudest and your back stage
is your home front. Take care of your home first. How do you
take care of your home first? If you live a life of showbiz
that means when going back to your home front if you don’t
have a home there is no place for you to go back to.
What do you mean by taking a bow when the ovation is loudest?
Let me give you an example. Can you tell me the Pam mom for
Genevieve about two years is still what is obtainable now?
Now we have the likes of mercy Johnson, Nnem and many more.
It’s not as if they don’t use her but it’s
not like it used to be. That is to tell you that the only
constant thing in life is change. Now how do you manage that
change after the fact that people have clamoured around you
when you’ve mingled your family life with the showbiz
life and you cant say for sure that this is where I’m
going to, this is my home front, what I’ve I been able
to do with it, this is my man, this are my children, what
foundation I’ve I imbibe into them. Where will you now
go back to, it’s your backstage? That was what I meant
by you always have to take a bow when the ovation is loudest.
So, you will do anything to keep your home
Almost anything but I tell people one thing that not by your
power or by your might but by the grace of God. It only takes
God for a marriage to work. So, what I do most of the time
is to say God help me to build my home front. Though it hasn’t
been easy but God has been most faithful
Tell me some of the advantage marriage has accorded you
The most important advantage marriage has accorded me are
my kids. They are the greatest asset that life and God in
His infinite mercy can give me. My kids, someone I can come
back home to talk to and you know that could also be a detriment
too but it’s more of an advantage than a detriment.
You cannot compare yourself as a married person to a single
person
When a single actress sleep with somebody it’s usually
an headline news but if you are married nobody cares whether
you sleep with your husband or not
When I decided to get married it was the combination of everything.
The fact that I could sleep with him but we women our sex
drive is not as high as men. I was speaking with my doctor
and he said when we are younger our nixido is not as high
as men but when we are about 35,40years our nixxido will be
higher than the men. When I was single I always say that when
I marry I will sleep with my husband and do so many things
with him on bed but now that I’m married I’m tired
of it. I always say this is stress but sometimes it is fun
especially when it’s with someone that you love but
that part of marriage you cant take away it’s very important.
You have two kids. Have you been tempted to look outside
before?
It started with my husband when we go on the way and he says
foluke look at that girl she’s cute and later I say
look at that guy he’s cute and I ask him for his opinion.
When you have something in your mind and you are thinking
about it, but when you are able to overcome it and you express
it it’s done. By the time I talk about it I see
that person as my friend or brother and the feeling is gone.
Since you’ve been married for like five years now so
you’ve not stepped beyond a boundary
Why would I step on the line? My husband satisfies me sexually.
I see my friend in my husband. Before I got married I already
planned everything. I wasn’t attaching the fact that
I’m a star to my life. Then if I want to go clubbing
I go clubbing I do what I want but when I decided to get married
it was a conscious thing. I knew that this was the person
I’ll love to spend the rest of my life with. I do a
lot of talking, I enjoy gisting more and that’s something
I’ve been able to enjoy in my husband. I’ve shared
my innermost secret with him. The secret that I cannot imagine
in my wildest dream that I will share with any man I have
shared it with my husband
What secret is that?
That is my secret, our secret. I’ve shared it with him
and that’s how strong our bond is. Even when we have
our quarrels I know that it sticks with him. No outsider can
come and tell my husband about me and he will not lambast
him.
So, he’s lucky to be the sole owner of all the endowment
Well I’m also lucky to be the sole owner of all his
endowment too. There is no joy for a woman no matter how beautiful
you are not to have a man. Having your own man is a priviledge.
You get to meet people everyday, you get to meet people that
want to date you even as stars ninety five percent of those
men out there just want to have a bit of you as a woman and
go and that diminishes you as a woman, it brings you down.
If you as a woman will put yourself in the place of integrity
you will appreciate the beauty of marriage
From your years of palace and now how many years is that?
Palace was in 1996 and this is 2008 that’s about twelve
years
So, how has it been?
Challenging, interesting, sometimes boring, it’s been
worth the while
They said your husband has placed embargo on you to stop
taking romantic roles in movies
He will never do that. He can only say Foluke I’m jealous
this is too emotional what is this but he won’t place
embargo on me. He’s not that kind of person. He’s
a jealous man no doubt but I’m proud by the fact that
he gets jealous over me
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