Have you wondered where Ace Actor, radio and T.V producer Kasimu Yero has been all these years? Well, so have we! leadership weekend finally caught up with the veteran actor, now retired (but certainly not tired) who spoke with Amina Alhassan Ahman and Midat Joseph on the past, present and future of the movie industry and way forward. Excerpts.
You have been quiet for a while now; can you tell us how life has been with you?
Well, my early life was a very busy one because I was involved in a lot of things ranging from radio plays to television plays. My life now compared to the past can be likened to that of a man who is permanently on holidays. Since my retirement about three years ago, I have not been seriously involved in any television, radio or movie productions. I don’t know whether producers have a bias against me;
There are a lot of programmes produced below standard; although there are some producers who are involved in very serious productions that involve national unity and different serious national issues. But, like I said earlier, in the early days of my career, we dealt with current state of issues, day to day living, social issues and sometimes religious issues.?
We aided the government to enlighten its citizenry about the ideal kind of life and how we can work together as Northern Nigerians and bring about progress while portraying our culture.
What have you been doing to keep busy?
Since my retirement, I have not been doing anything much. Even though I am retired, I am not tired; I would like to work as much as I can. I am ready to contribute my quota to any organisation that requires it. I am ready to support the country in solving the problems that has bedeviled us. Especially, the social, educational and quite a number of socio-political and moral problems confronting the country.
Give us an insight into how the movie industry has evolved over the years; what you like and dislike about its evolution?
The movie industry in Nigeria has evolved in different phases. The first show in Northern Nigeria was ‘Babanlare’ an Agricultural promotion programme to be shown in a cinema organised by British Cotton Growing Association.? Everybody loved the programme, it was the first time we saw moving images in colour.?
Other cinemas started showing cowboys and a variety of European, Indian and other cultural films; those were the things that inspired and motivated me to be a part of theatre. I became a part of dramatic club in secondary school and we produced several stage dramas for important dignitaries to watch.
It never occurred to me then that I would be seriously involved in theatre. After secondary school, I went over to Kano for my higher school certificate, and when I returned to Kaduna, someone introduced me to a Hausa programme airing on Radio Television, Kaduna. In those days, we perform and watched us live because there were no video machines.?
The following week, I wrote a script on how the drama should be and the producer approved the script. Since that day I have been writing scripts till date. I started with Hausa drama and it became very popular. When the video machine finally arrived, we would have a production, go home and watch with our eyes glued to the television set.
Surprisingly, that was the first time I saw myself on television in 1972.? The Hausa drama was titled ‘Tambari’, ‘Kugacruciya’.
We performed for the government then free of charge. From the South-East, you have the Zokadia programmes, which is the New Masquerade and from the South-West was the Village Headmaster.
When the government at that time started the Operation feed the nation, they wanted the north to start a programme that is geared towards promoting Agriculture and that programme was sponsored by the United Bank for African Union. It was produced in Jos and the title of the programme was Cockrow At Dawn. We started it in 1979 and we ended it in 1985.
After that, the government made it mandatory for another network programme to run from the north. Then, I decided to produce Magana Jari Ce in English on Kaduna NTA.? After the phases of all these network programmes, private individuals started making their own production and selling it to NTA.
'Karambana', one of the longest running Hausa dramas has shaped what we are seeing in TV dramas today. How did you come up with that theme?
Foreign films take different shapes and formats; there are feature films, comedies and documentaries. So, it occurred to us that we have been producing serious films telling people about their lives and how to live a better life. We came up with something in our language under the format of our culture.
Then I suggested that we have a picture of someone who is always struggling to do things right and does not know how to go about it, like a 'jack-of-all-trades and master of none. We called it ‘Karambana’.
Your other work like Magana Jari ce was very popular and enjoyed by Nigerians especially because it was in English. Do you think it yielded the desired result?
Like I said earlier, the idea was to have a programme for Northern Nigeria, to showcase the culture of the people in the north. My idea in insisting that it should be Magana Jari Ce is that Magana Jari Ce is almost a complete culture of the people in Northern Nigeria and their ways of live.
Were there any objections from your parents when you decided to go into acting?
Well, at first there was, I happen to come from a royal family of Zazzau and my parents expected being from a respected family, we should be well behaved and respectful and not get involved in anything that is illegal.
At that time, people saw acting as something meant for the poor. So, yes at first there were serious objections but much later, when it became popular, the objections faded out.
How did you come up with story ideas back then?
At that time, we were always looking out for different aspects of social life that needed to be corrected and we would produce a programme along that line for people to know their short comings.?
All our programmes were geared towards helping the government to entertain, enlighten, and educate the people within our own locality.
Can drama solve the crises of confidence in Nigeria?
In a lot of ways, yes. We have been making quiet a lot of contributions to make this country a better place to leave. If we are given the opportunity, we will definitely make positive contributions to the progress and development of this country.? We can help reduce the crises of confidence in Nigeria. But the question is who would sponsor it?
Tell us about yourself, Family, education and career.
I had my primary education at Roman Catholic Mission School, Kaduna, my secondary school at Alhudahuda College Zaria in 1962, in 1967 I went to College for Higher School Certificate. I later proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1970 to study fine arts; I did not complete my course in Fine Arts because I was more interested in Theatre. I left the Department after three years and joined the centre for Nigerian Cultural studies as a producer of drama programmes.
I decided to improve on my qualification, so I did Advanced Diploma in Public Administration in Institute of Administration, Zaria and later went back to Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for a Masters Degree in Drama. After graduation, the Kaduna state government decided that I should be placed on administration. So, with my Advance Diploma, I had to go back to Kaduna Polytechnic to get a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration.
Did any of your children follow in your footsteps?
Only one, he became very interested in theatre. so far, he has been involved in TV productions. He is a student of electrical engineering; he is very interested in Theatre.
What advice would you give to help improve the industry?
The industry at the moment has improved a lot, but we need to push it some more because most Nigerian films are more of theatre productions than films.? They restrict themselves in indoor lodges, either classroom, sitting room, bedroom and so on.
In real movies you see people moving out with aero planes, cars, motorcycles; that is an idea of a movie; not just having people dialoguing and arguing in a room.
Message to the youth?
Nigerian youth need to be brave. Despite the education most of them have had they are still hopeless and without a future in sight. Everyone sees the government as the highest employer of labour, therefore depend on government.? The government does not have such number of jobs and yet we continue to turn out graduates.
So, I will advise the youth to look for something else to do other than waiting for the government. They should create jobs for themselves. Schools should start telling students that there is no job to enable them prepare ahead.