My 42 years onstage
By HAMMED BODUNRIN, Osogbo
Friday, June 3, 2005

Baba Wande on set

Photo: Sun News Publishing

For over four decades that he had been in theatre practice, Alhaji Kareem Adepoju (a.k.a Baba Wande) is now a household name in the Nigerian entertainment circle. A versatile artiste who has played diverse roles both on stage and in movies, many of his fans hardly know his name but are comfortable with his stage name, Baba Wande.

Baba Wande had his tutelage under the equally versatile and talented dramatist, the late Chief Oyin Adejobi who was popular for his weekly television serial; Kootu Asipa on NTA, Ibadan.
One thing that stands Adepoju out is his true-to-life acting, which is a reflection of his dexterity in role interpretation.

Although many of his roles could put the audience in prolonged hysterical laughter, Adepoju would not betray emotion but would continue his "seriousness" about the "unserious" matter he might be handling.
In a chat with Daily Sun recently, Baba Wande spoke about his job, hopes, achievements in the last 42 years as well as his disappointments, regrets and focus for the future:

Training
In order to excel in any field, one must learn the skills. Talents can only aid learning. It is not enough to say you are talented, you need training. It is the training that will bring out the talent in you. For me, I spent 25 years with my master, the late Oyin Adejobi before starting my own group but the most unfortunate aspect of this job today is that young people do not want to learn any longer. They just want money before work but this doesn’t work always.

Disappointment
My greatest disappointment in life came through the media. I can describe the day as the "saddest" in my life. That day, I read in Community Concord that my late boss, Pa Oyin Adejobi accused me of disloyalty. I was depressed. This was a man I served for 25 years with all I had then. However, I was relieved when Baba (Oyin Adejobi) himself said he was quoted out of context. I later learnt that the reporter published what Baba did not tell him but before the clarification, I was very sad.

Regrets
My main concern today is that artistes in Nigeria work like elephants but eat like rats. Unfortunately too, pirates don’t allow us to reap the fruits of our labour and it seems nobody is paying attention to this. The law against piracy is too flexible, perhaps too fragile.
I said this because nobody has been prosecuted or jailed for piracy. It is sad that after one might have worked and spent a lot of money, some people just wait somewhere to reap all the gains. We as artistes are popular and we thank God for this, but the popularity does not reflect our economic status. So, something must be done to pirates before they ruin the industry altogether. For instance, people hear about those big names like Ayoka, Arisekola, Akin Ogungbe and many others but some of theses artistes are now impoverished.

Greatest achievement
My happiest moment in life was in 1978 when I went to Mecca on holy pilgrimage with my own money. When I saw Kabbah (the world largest mosque in Mecca) I became so elated and almost didn’t believe myself that I had saved enough money from my stage plays to take me to Mecca. On other achievements on stage, I want to leave that to the public (particularly the audience) to judge.

Family
I got married and have children and we now live happily. But whether my children would go into drama or not depends on them. For now, they are still in school because whatever anybody wants to do today, one must first obtain sufficient education.

The way I act
I don’t really know. It just comes naturally and I thank God for this. I appreciate peoples’ observations about my acting but I cannot explain how I have been able to satisfy them with the way I act. I guess it is the work of Almighty Allah who guides.

Focus
Last March 3, I celebrated my 42nd anniversary on stage. God made this possible for me. However, my mission is to establish a standard film village in Osun State where I hail from.
Osun State is the cradle of Arts and Culture and as such, it would be pertinent if a standard film village in established in the state to serve the cream of artistes from both within and outside the state.
The film village I suggested should be made a tourist haven apart from its primary aim of boosting film production. It should also boast of various recreational facilities.
When the village becomes operational, it will generate employment opportunities for our teeming youths, traders, and also improve the economic life of our people.