About purchasing cars for all the sons
I wanted to encourage them. I said to
them that if you guys graduate from the university, I would buy cars for you all. That was intended to be a source of inspiration for them. And they had it at the back of their minds. As they were graduating, I was buying cars for them and I don’t regret it.
Again, you graduate from the university, there is what we call peer group influence. You join your peer group, it’s a very venturesome age. They believe very much in adventure. You want to move around with them, and you see about four or five of the young men squeezing themselves into one car and getting themselves drunk while driving recklessly and killing themselves in the process.
I didn’t want that to happen to any of my sons. You have your own car and you drive at your own pace. Don’t be tempted by other people. Do your own thing in your own way. That’s why I bought cars for them and I don’t regret it.
About the famous beard
I wouldn’t (shave it – naij.com), no matter how much you would pay me. It gives me character. I have always played a big man in my movies. If I am not a leader of a cult, I am an Igwe or a native doctor. There must be something inspiring about you. Something that frightens people, that terrifies them, intimidates them when they know that you are coming. When you clean-shave, you lose that character.
I started growing beard when I was 23 years.
I could trim it, but I will not shave my beard. I will carry it till the end of my time. I have a lot of hair on my head, and there is so much power in the hair. You read about the Bible story of Samson and Delilah. Our Lord Jesus Christ never shaved off his hair. There’s so much power in the hair.
It doesn’t make sense. I don’t need it. Why? Why didn’t he come to Nigeria? I have never been to Kenya before. Where did I meet his mother? I am not a wayward person. Peter (pointing at the man) has been my Personal Assistant for over 17 years. If I were a sexually adventurous person, he wouldn’t have stayed with me for this long. But each time somebody calls me he picks up the phone. Somebody brought the story from the internet and showed it to me.
One slim character like that. He looked like a cattle rearer. He said: “Somehow I think Pete Edochie is my father.” Well! Let him come to Nigeria and meet his father. But he hasn’t embarked on the journey yet. Like I said, such things don’t bother me. I got married at 22 years. I have never involved myself in tense extra-marital affairs.
It’s not necessary. We are all weak as men, but you see, if you decide to pursue a torrid extra-marital relationship, what will you be proving to people? However, I don’t involve myself in situations that will make me to compromise my integrity and that of my family.
About politics, Buhari and the favourite politician
I don’t like politics. Politicians don’t speak the truth. Regrettably, there is no morality in politics. It doesn’t justify it. I want people to see me for who I am. If Pete Edochie says this thing is black, it’s black, there are no two ways to it. In the next ten years, he still tells you this is black. It gives me honour, it gives me integrity. But if tomorrow, I join politics and make a statement, people will begin to analyse it.
Buhari may stand out as an incorruptible creature. But what about the people under his administration? If Nigeria can be tinkered and rebuilt after Buhari’s image, we will have a wonderful country. But when you are so stuck in-graft, so stuck in corruption, it’s not always easy to get rid of these vices in a single day. I was following the progress of the now ruling party, APC, and I told a couple of my friends that this party has no ideology.
I kept wanting to hear from them, this is what we shall do and this is how we shall do it. I didn’t see or hear anything like that. The best politician this country has ever produced is Obafemi Awolowo. He may have been parochial but I love Awolowo for one thing. He would tell you I’m going to build this house, and this is what it will cost me to carry out the project. This is how I am going to raise the fund, and he went ahead and achieved it. No other politician has been able to beat the record in Nigeria.
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