David McKenzie, a Ghanaian, is the secretary of the Lagos State chapter of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). In this interview with REPORTER, Ovwe Medeme, he makes a comparison of the Ghanaian and Nigerian movie industry and makes suggestions on how the sector can be used as a tool to unite Africa. He also speaks on his trademark “dangerous” mien. Excerpts:

What would be your comments on the development of the Ghanaian movie industry in comparison with Nollywood?

Unfortunately, I am not the right person to answer that question. I don’t know much about the Ghanaian movie industry or the market, because I reside in Nigeria. However, judging from the Ghanaian productions being brought into Nigeria, I think they are not doing badly. I know producers used to take Nigerians down to Ghana to shoot their movies. It is like a tide, it goes back and forth. Now suddenly, it is the turn of the Ghanaians to come to Nigeria to shoot. The same producers go to Ghana and bring the supposed stars down here to shoot their movies. I think it is all about the demand and supply.

In terms of quality production, do you think the Ghanaian industry is doing better than Nollywood?

Like I said, I think it is a tide thing. When it is your time, you shine and then fade away. I think the Nigerian movie industry suffered a lot of setback. I hear about the Ghanaian industry becoming more vibrant and I really haven’t pieced it together. It is not like we have gone to sleep here.

There are some forces here holding us down. For a very long period of time last year, we didn’t have any serious movie and it did affect the market. While nothing was happening here, the Ghanaian market was booming. The producers relocated to Ghana and started doing some stuff there. And don’t forget, back in Ghana, we still have some Nigerian directors involved in series of production.

I would say that it is not entirely Ghana effort. There is input from the typical Nigerian practitioners. So I don’t think it is a typical Ghanaian thing. Nollywood has a part in what is happening there. It is my hope and fervent prayers that someday, the entertainment industry in my era would help unite Africa. I have seen the sign. For me to win an election here in Nigeria tells you we can, if we really give it a chance. The politicians are the ones who think it is impossible. I see it possible.

What is wrong with doing a big African collaboration? Culturally we are one people; forget about the imaginary borderlines that divide us. And for an African brother to be the president of the United States of America means all Africans have to rise and unite. Whatever it is that is holding our unity down has to be tackled. Maybe the actors can set the pace for politicians to follow. I am more Nigerian than an average Nigeria. I know every state and capital in the country as a result of my job with Senator Waziri, although I am a Ghanaian. So I believe we are one.

What defines your identity?

I shave my hair everyday; I am not naturally bald. I have been wearing it since 1990. I want to look dangerous. That is my identity.

How old is your beard?

My beard is about six or seven years old. I trim it every now and then.

Of all the movies you have starred in, which one do you find most intriguing?

I have done quite a few Nollywood movies and soap operas as well. I don’t turn down jobs. I don’t do jobs just because of the financial benefits. I love the arts. Along the line I noticed I was being taken for a ride because when anyone comes and tells me they have a job for me, I usually wouldn’t talk about money.

My first priority is the storyline and if I read the script and see it is worth doing and the people involved are credible, I get involved. Sometimes, I place the cart before the horse; I go ahead to collect the script and get involved before the negotiations, taking people to be God-fearing or professional enough to give you what is due you and at the end of the day, I wouldn’t get paid. And I have bills to pick, so I don’t do things like that anymore.

If you give me a job, I talk money first now. That is why I don’t have much to show for what I have done. I have done quite a few movies. I have done a few M-net jobs; Edge of Paradise, Doctor’s Quarters and I enjoyed those outings. I also did 30 Days, a brainchild of Mildred Ugwu and Ego Boyo. In that movie, I was Genevieve Nnaji’s father. I have also starred in Boys Cot, Rush Hour, Buy Me a Rose and recently I did True Sacrifice and Emotional Blackmail, Hot Island.

Are you married?

The issue is that I have plans to marry from each of the geographical zones in Nigeria. It is a family thing. If you love the people, how else can you prove you love them without getting involved with their culture? However, I have two wonderful kids.

Having spent this much time in Nigeria, how would you like to be addressed: a Ghanaian Nigerian or an African?

I would like to be addressed as an African. We are meant to be our brother’s keepers. We all are supposed to be one people and I don’t see myself coming from one particular part of Africa.

So has Nigeria been a good place to live in?

Nigeria is a very wonderful place to be. To me, Nigeria is like a mini United States of Africa. If only ethnicity can be controlled and developed to a positive unity, Nigeria will live to be the envy of the whole world. It’s just that we have too many people who are not being upright. Too many people are indoctrinated and they don’t wish Nigeria well. I want to see African unity in future. In Ghana, they don’t know me as a Ghanaian.

How did you find yourself acting in Nigeria?

It all started for me back in 1983. I happened to be in the office of one Aremu Yahaya, an international moviemaker. He had a celluloid suit on 18, Molony Street. He had a motion picture called Space 8 along with some other companies and I worked with him. I got fascinated with the editing equipment.

I was meant to be trained as an editor but it was too technical for me to grasp. Yahaya later became the Minister of State for Transport and Aviation. He formed the first era of the Nigerian Movie Society. We went into the yellow pages and he came up with the list. We listed the names of all the producers that we had. The likes of Hubert Ogunde and the man who did Taxi Driver were on the list. The day I met Hubert Ogunde, he asked me if I was a broadcaster, I said no. He asked me if I was acting and I also said no.

Then he said, “Young man what do you do?” I told him I read Engineering and was presently working in one of Yahaya’s construction companies. He exclaimed and told me I would do well as an actor or broadcaster since I had a good diction. He encouraged me to nurture acting. Wherever I went, people kept asking if I was an actor. And my conscience started pricking me. After a while I stopped working for Yahaya.

I later went to the institute of journalism, where I did a professional course to become a broadcaster. That was in 1995. I got introduced to the movie industry, however in a miraculous way. Emmanuel Frante, (the old man who did Wale Adenuga’s This Life advert asking a young boy to jump from the top of a roof) a Ghanaian born in Kano introduced me to acting. He asked me I was interested in acting. At that very moment, I swallowed it hook-line-sinker. He had written a story called Agege Spirit.

The storyline is about Nigeria and Ghana. I played the lead role in that movie. After that movie, I thought I had arrived. I became so celebrated, but I didn’t follow it up. I went to sleep and before I knew it, I was forgotten. So when it dawned on me that I really needed to take up acting seriously, I had to start all over again, and here I am today.

How did you manage a comeback?

In the year 2008, I decided to take up acting professionally. I am now the secretary of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Lagos State chapter. For someone with a Ghanaian background to be elected into an office that is this big, it tells you how possible it is for Africa to be united.

Were you born in Nigeria?

No, I wasn’t born in Nigeria

So how did you come to be settled in Nigeria?

I have always kept that as a secret. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. One or two things happened and I found myself in Nigeria. I played students politics back in Ghana and there were some overzealous people who wanted to oppress others. I was an activist. I came to this country in the year 1983.

Have you gone home ever since?

For the initial ten years stretch, I didn’t go home. But thereafter I started going every now and then. And I do Christmas in Ghana every year.