press – in spite of all the negative tales flying about and around her
person. But on Thursday, October 28, 2014, at her home in Ikeja, Lagos,
the woman finally broke her silence. Pouring out her heart to the duo of
YES INTERNATIONAL!'s GBENGA SHABA and TOKUNBO IBIKUNLE, no question was
left unattended. Particularly all the negative ones that won't just let
her be. Excerpts…
You are one of the old hands in the industry, how would you describe the journey so far?
It's
been fantastic and I give God the glory because it is not by my doing
nor by my power, but by the grace of God. That is why I'm still where I
am today. There have been ups and downs, negatives and positives,
because there are a lot of people who sit down in the corners of their
homes and cook up stories, unpalatable stories, stories that destroy
people, and that is horrible. I make people happy. I put joy in people's
homes, but how come people pay me back this way? The worst part of it
is when you say things that are not true, it kills that person that you
are talking about. There is nothing wrong in saying things the way you
see it, because if you don't want people to say bad things about you,
then you don't tread on such ways. The moment you are on that path and
things are being said about you, then those who say it are justified and
there is no sin in it. But when you say things that are not true, it's
unfair. I've heard so many things about me. I have read a lot of things
about me, things that are not true, things that have rubbed my name in
the mud, because when you have worked so hard to attain a particular
position in life and some people say such, they bring you down. But as
far as I am concerned, I've gotten a tough skin because when they call
me that they have written or heard something about me, that I've carried
cocaine, you are imprisoned, you were killed, you are dead… A lot of
negative things, I say to them, let them say. Because there is law of
karma on all those who are bent on spoiling people's names. That has
been my motto and my pillar and it has kept me going, so I don't give a
damn about hearsay anymore.
In spite of all that, what has kept you going?
I'm
happy in all of this because I have a God and if people could still say
bad things about the dead, how much more Shola? Why won't they say
things about Shola? But I've said to some people that they are just
envious of my success; that is why they are bent on spoiling my name.
But despite all this, God Almighty has been raising me up. I have my God
and I'm growing stronger each day. I travelled to England 12 years ago
and returned 3 years ago. Then, few months ago, I produced a movie and
it was well accepted and before you knew it, people started calling me
to come on their own sets as well. I was surprised because I didn't know
that I'm still that relevant. That simply means that God has a hand in
what I'm doing. While some people are protecting my interest behind me,
some are calling me a prostitute. All, I leave to God. But so far, so
fantastic; so far, so beautiful and if there is another life, I'm still
going to be an actress that will be loved and recognized all over the
world.
Why do you think that bad stories are always written about you?
Because
number one, you are a journalist, you have known me for ages, have you
ever seen my interview before? I don't grant interviews. I always say
'let my job speak for me'. Some of the journalists are bad and horrible.
When they don't see you or get closer to you, when you don't grant
interviews, they say you are proud, you are too cocky and they want to
pull you down and they do that a lot, but I don't give a damn.
So, are you saying that this is mere witch hunting by the press?
That
is their own cup of tea because I don't know them, I don't know their
motive, I don't know. So, you are entitled to your own opinion, my
darling. So also I'm entitled to mine. This is life, this is the world
we live in. Life is unfair, very, very unfair. Well, if it goes too
smoothly, then it is not life, because life is full of ups and downs.
So many things have been written and heard about you, which one do you consider the most damaging?
I
don't give a damn. Nothing. They said they have killed me in America
and at a time in Saudi Arabia. They even said that my hands were cut off
in Saudi Arabia before they killed me. They said I begged the Saudi
Arabian authorities that they should please spare my life that I'm an
actress in Nigeria, but they refused my plea and cut off my head. When I
got back to Nigeria after the story, everyone that saw me ran away from
me because they thought I was really a ghost. They asked me, “Shola,
but they said they have killed you?” I told them that I don't believe in
abracadabra. That it was magic that I used. I told them I commanded the
head to come back, because I was coming to Nigeria and the head got
fixed. I came from England again sometime for a meeting at the National
Theatre and a colleague of mine saw me and marveled. She said, “Shola,
but they said you are in Holloway Prison in England and I said yes!”
That those people recognized me and gave me a break to come home so that
when I'm done here in Nigeria, I will go back to the prison in UK. She
said I wasn't serious, but I asked that when they told you I was in
prison, did you believe the story? And she said yes! So, I said fine,
because she told me she heard that somebody came to Holloway Prison and
saw me there and that the person even spoke to me; that all I could do
was just to cry. She said it was that lady who came to Nigeria and told
them. If I carried cocaine and got imprisoned in Holloway, there is no
way the UK government would have kept me in England till now. I would
have been deported. So, I have never carried cocaine and I have never
been imprisoned. So, all they have said or written about me is none of
my business, because it doesn't bother me a bit.
But why do you think the allegations of drug peddling surfaced in the first place?
Why
are you asking me? Let me re-direct the question to you. Why are you
asking questions? (I asked because there is a general belief that there
is no fire without a smoke). Okay. You will do me a very good favour by
announcing to the whole world that anyone that saw Shola Shobowale where
she was peddling cocaine should come out and I will personally give a
monetary reward of one million (N1,000,000). But the person must be able
to tell the world where he/she saw me, the time, the occasion, with who
and who we peddled the drugs together. I think that will surely answer
your question.
Does your aggressive roles in movies effect your health?
When
you are ordained to do what you are doing in life, it comes so easy to
you. People ask if I use high blood pressure drugs, they ask if I am
hypertensive with the kind of acting I do, but my blood pressure is like
that of a new born baby, because I do it effortlessly; I'm enjoying
what I'm doing. I know my calling and can interpret anything that is
given to me. The ones I don't have to shout, I do; the ones that involve
nagging, if I need to kill, I do it, because this is what God said. God
said I should go into the world and do it. I see myself as a preacher, a
doctor and a teacher, because all these are embedded in my acting. But I
don't understand why people want to pay me back with evil by writing
nonsense and false stories about me. Anyway, one thing I know is that
God will judge us all individually.
Why are you always at the receiving end of bad press?
God
has given me a name. People know me. You attend parties, but I don't
attend parties because I'm a down to earth woman, I'm a mother. My
children are my priority in life. I went to the UK because of my
children and I became something else in the UK because of them. Let me
bring you back to what I was doing in the UK. The documentary is being
done already and it will soon hit the cinemas, starting with OH
Television in England. People said I was sweeping in London, but I never
swept. But I will leave that for the documentary to come out so that
you will know the kind of job I did in London for my children to
survive. I left stardom and everything in life for my children to be
what they are today and glory be to God, because one of my daughters
came out with first class in the University of Middlesex and the other
two from Northampton University, with second class upper, even though I
was sweeping, which I didn't anyway. But even if it was that sweeping
job that I did to sponsor my children, to God be the glory. Let me tell
you this today, my father was a retired school principal, my mother was a
retired headmistress too, so I know the importance of education and as
God has helped me to sponsor my children, I'm happy. One of my children,
a Computer Engineering graduate, just got married (Saturday, November
1, 2014). He works with Etisalat Telecommunications. So, if anyone says I
swept in the UK, then glory be to God. Because if you want a perfect
example of what they call dignity of labour, then you have seen me.
Tell us a bit about the documentary you spoke about.
Don't
worry, it is coming. The whole world will know what I did in the UK,
but let me brief you about it. It wasn't prostitution, not drug
peddling, not 419, not yahoo, not rituals, but it is called dignity of
labour, because (owo igbe ki run). Money from shit doesn't stink.
But is it true that you were working in the mortuary over there?
Just
leave it till the documentary comes out. Some said sweep, others said I
was washing dead bodies in the morgue. But I will tell you this, as I
am talking to you now, I am an Assistant Manager in a care home in
England. So, I never swept. Let me also say this, when I got to the UK, I
became a student, I went back to school and I got my certificate in
everything. But leave it for the documentary to come out. Those who are
saying rubbish about me are only being envious and jealous because no
one can know the source of my grass to grace story. I am 51-years old
and I'm proud to say it. I can hide my age and let any 25- year old lady
stand me and see who is stronger. God created me complete and I'm a
hustler, because my foundation was as solid as a rock.
You pride yourself as having single handedly sponsored your children, how does this make you feel?
It's
God. I'm a mother. There is a difference between a mother and mothers
in my own case. I'm a mother, not only to my children, but to the young
ones and that is why I'm in Nigeria today because God has given me the
name that everyone loves. So, I give glory to God. I'm now a crusader
which has made a lot of state governments to know me more. This crusade
with Tade Ogidan is called Family on Fire, I'm being loved the more and
this is where I want to use my good name to bring children out of moral
decadence.
What has being an actress done for you?
Hmmm!
I'm loved (Claps for herself). I am well received. I won't mention this
woman's name, but she's an MD of a bank. I don't know her, I have never
met her before, but I was in the UK when Tade Ogidan called that
somebody wanted to meet me in Nigeria and I asked him who the person
was, because I was busy. I was curious what she might want from me, but I
was told that the woman said to her husband that she doesn't want any
gift for her birthday because she has all she needs and that the only
thing she wanted was for her to meet me, because she watches my movies. I
was shocked because the woman was celebrating her 60th birthday. I have
never flown first class before, but I flew into Nigeria in first class,
from London, with a return ticket as well. They used me as a surprise
birthday present for her and when I saw her (Crying now), she held me
firmly and asked me what I'm doing in England. I told her, she looked at
me with surprise and today, she has become part of my family. When my
children graduated in England, she came with me to receive them and she
gave them job experience here in Nigeria during the NYSC period. So,
what else do I want? She has already promised my children jobs when they
finish their Master's degree programmes in the UK and she has since
been a member of my family. I'm ordained to do this job and I know that
I'm going to change lives with the job.
What has it not done for you?
Nothing.
I'm comfortable, happy and fulfilled in life. The only thing that would
make me sad is if I cannot achieve my vision and that is all.
You have achieved a lot so far, what else do you want from God?
Long life, good health, so that I will reap what I have sown. That is all.
Your children are successful and getting married one after the other, how does this make you feel?
I feel on top of the world because Jesus is Lord. Halleluyah!
Why do you think that a lot of our celebrities can't sustain their marriages?
I
am not there. I don't know what happened in their homes, because all I
know is my own home. But the only thing I will say is that if anybody,
not even celebrities alone, wants to go into marriage, they should go in
for love, not for money or any other thing because love supersedes
everything. So, how can you make your marriage work? You can only
achieve this when both of you move closer to God. I don't poke nose into
another person's home, I'm a very private person. If my husband will
kill me, I won't say it out because a friend you tell might deceive you
and advice you wrongly and you never can tell; a friend you tell might
be passing through a worse situation, but she would advice you wrongly
and break your home. So, if you can keep to yourself, then think, focus
and pray to God.
Being a celebrity, why don't you like attending social events?
I
was not exposed to that kind of life. When you have parents that are
socialites, definitely the children would be socialites. But my parents
were academics and we all lived within the school compound. We read all
the time, so that has been me. But I'm not condemning those who go to
parties anyway, because look at me now, thank God I have friends who
understand me very well. They know it wasn't because I was proud or
hated them; they know that it was as a result of how I was brought up.
As you know, if you don't attend other people's events, no one will
attend yours.
Do you think this has made people to tag you snobbish?
I
don't think so. Proud, yes! But a lot of people don't know the
difference between being proud and being principled. When you are
principled, they would tell you that you are too proud and pompous, but
I'm a very principled person. I will call a spade a spade. I'm not
diplomatic in any way. If it's white, so it is.
So, who are your closest friends in the movie industry?
None
of them is my enemy, but I have a daughter, Foluke Daramola. They all
love me (Mercy Aigbe, Fathia Balogun and co). But I'm particular about
Foluke Daramola because my twins (daughters) grew up in her hands and
they resemble her. She is a sister to me. You may not see me with her,
but she's my sister and she's one in a million. When you look at her
very well, you will see my mannerism in her. She is a no nonsense woman
and doesn't joke with her children as well unless if the person wants to
die. She got that from me.
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