With close to three decades in the Nigerian film industry in his professional kitty, Francis Duru has become a veteran of sorts, and recognizable figure in Nollywood further driven by his versatility and the numerous films he ha
s featured in. However, the Imo State-born artiste appeared to have stepped away from the limelight lately. ONYINYECHI UDEMEZUE recently cornered the star, upon which he explains his staunch advocacy for President Goodluck Jonathan, absence from the screen, personal philosophy, Nollywood, current projects and many more. Excerpts:
Introductions
You are now meeting Francis Duru, it’s still the same Francis Duru, he has not changed, a Nigerian. I come from Imo State. I’m married with one wife, and a father of three. I currently live in Abuja. I’m a Christian; I worship at the Family Worship Centre here in Abuja. And yes, I hail from Eziama Okai, in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area. So you see, I know where I come from. I was in my village this last week. I travel home often because I’m a full grown man with an identity.
Would you say your background influenced your choice of career as an actor?
It did not really influence my choice of career. My background was more or less the picture of that of a total family. It was good, bitter, sour all put together but I don’t think it actually influenced my career. The whole thing about career has to do with as you shift, you mix with people and begin to blend and the things about you will begin to pop up. Your association with friends will like bring out what is hidden in you. So, childhood did not have any influence on my career.
While growing up did you ever nurse the idea of becoming an artiste?
Yes, I wanted to become a lawyer, to read mass communication, I loved the literary art. These are the three basic things I wanted to study then and each time I filled my JAMB form it was these courses that I filled. What happened about my career- let me call it incident or accident because it was divinely motivated. It was not an act of frivolity, it just happened. Maybe sometimes you follow friends out, maybe they were acting and before you know it, the interest will start to build. I think that was how I started to build my career, it wasn’t stage managed or desired but things started unfolding at a stage one didn’t even expect.
Academic background?
I started my primary school in Cameroun and part of my secondary education at the Sacred Heart College also in Cameroun and I later came to my home school, St Thomas Aquinas in Osu Mbano where I completed my secondary education. I proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt where I graduated with a BA in theatre art, I later had my MBA and I’m still moving on.
You are one of Nigeria’s most gifted actors who made fame for portraying adolescent roles, but reinvented himself as an all-rounder with the ‘One Chance film, how were you able to reinvent yourself so well in your career?
No, but again as an actor, what is expected of me? As an actor, the golden word is dynamism, you must be versatile, you are not stocked; you are trained in a way that you blow hot and cold, you play high and low. So if you are one sided you can’t go far in the business. It’s a golden rule for you to be flexible both in the language usage, the whole essence is to recreate a character that has not existed in the world and make people believe and identify with it, it becomes a hallmark of nostalgia, people even forget your name but remember the role you played in a film. It’s a passion and discipline and part of training as an actor that you must identify with. You must be flexible, you must be dynamic; that is how it goes.
In your own words tell us who Francis Duru is?
Francis Duru is still Francis Duru. I’m simply me and I cannot be any other person, I keep it simple and humble. I like it meek but I’m not weak. If you try to treat me like a lamb I play the lion, I’m good hearted and a patriotic Nigerian; I’m a Christian, a lover of good people. I believe in making the world a better place. I hate injustice, I decry it with all my might; I can’t stand it. I identify with that which can take humanity to the next level, I’m an open hearted person. I love God, I love my children and I love my country Nigeria, whether it is good or bad, whether things are going the way they are supposed to go or not, I love my country and I love my continent. That is Francis Duru.
Don’t you love your wife?
Yes, sure I love my wife and I said that first and foremost.
How many films have you featured in to date?
My sister, let’s not get into that because I’m going to need a mathematician and a statistician to do that. I have done a whole lot, I have cut across various phases of revolutionizing the phenomenon called Nollywood. I have been part and parcel of the industry, a pioneer member, I say this without fear or favour, no regret or apologies to any quarter.
How would you grade yourself in terms of total earnings?
Total earnings, I think that is one thing one has to be careful with. Total earnings in relative to what? We are in a world where there is no respect for hard work, people adopt a quick attitude of making money and that is one thing I try to avoid. You see people who are working hard genuinely and it seems they are not making anything out of it.
Total earnings to me is the point where I can afford to have my children in a very good school, I can afford the basic things of life; I try my best, I am not yet where I am supposed to be but I’m not where I used to be which means there is progress and I hope to get there soon. I have seen it, I’m touching it, and nobody can stop me because I’m planted within the protection of the Divine One, who is, who was and who is to come.
What has been your best work so far?
Yes, we always say that because you go on set for the best but I will tell you my first movie has been my best work and that is “The Missing Mask”. Though there have been so many good movies especially the recent ones but nobody can take it from me, my first movie remains my best.
How have you been able to avoid the gossip columns considering that you have earned the right to be called a veteran in the film industry?
Well, I have always tried to do what is expected of me, because I believe your name will not appear in any gossip column if you live an upright life, don’t be in a suspicious place at the odd time, let your yes be your yes and your no remain no anytime any day. Be at peace with all men. Most of the time that gossip column helps in calling your attention back. In a nutshell, I have not done what will warrant my name there.
Where has Francis Duru been up to lately?
I can say I have been a jack of all trade and master of all. I have pushed my brand beyond just acting films, I have been into the media, consulting; event management, community theatre or what you call theatre for development, civil society activities; charity and all that even the gospel of Christ and a whole lot of things which I wouldn’t want to mention, that is where I have channelled my energy to.
I have a project titled; Reach the Young, which is creating a platform for creating a culture of peaceful co-existence in the young minds especially in the ones in secondary school, from junior secondary three to senior secondary three.
You know, the issue of the recent violence, talking about bombing and all that, nobody is addressing these young ones and they are the ones who are going to take over the leadership of this nation in time to come. It’s only proper that we begin to address them before they are addressed by the wrong people, and thereby sow the seed of destruction in them and before long they will grow to become the dreaded monsters in the country.
The idea of the project is to institute this club in every secondary school in the nation, it’s an ambitious project. We have the platform with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the Coalition for Change and so many other international non-governmental organizations.
You know the issue of peace touches every aspect of our lives and everybody as well. We are also on Little Big Soul, it’s one of the charity organizations that identify with creating a sustainable awareness on victims of premature births. We take this campaign to hospitals. I have been into a lot, I’m still in the movie industry, jingles, I write and direct. Francis Duru is still the same.
People say you are fast becoming a politician. How true is that?
When people say you are into politics, it sounds vague and funny. People who make statements like that; when you look at them and what they represent you will understand why we are where we are today. What is politics? Even in our various families what happens there is politics, man is a political and social animal. What it means when one is into politics is that you are been hyperactively involved in a political cause that brings change. I can say it anywhere, no shame; no regret, no remorse and no apology to any quarter, I remain one supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda and till today, it’s not something done within this political period, I believe in the cause, in the man and whatever he represents and I will stick to that until he begins to change in his attitude, until he begins to betray the cause of that which we see in him.
So people who said that I’m into politics are vague, it doesn’t make sense. It is because people are naïve to political inclination that leads them into making all manner of statement, you cannot talk about leadership without talking about followership and when the followership is weak, leadership becomes poor. We are tired of god fatherism we need a change and the man who has come with the change we won’t allow him to work; it is unfortunate that Nigerians lack patience, we want things that were destroyed over the years to be fixed within a year but it cannot work. It’s important to state here that our president is working 24-7 but mischief makers are just trying to create problems where there is none.
How would you grade the present Nollywood?
Let me say it with this illustration, Nollywood is a phenomenon, whether anybody likes it or not, that is the person’s business. The industry has come to stay and it will not fall; and whether people like it or not, whether it’s crawling or not, whether our movies has only one leg or two, it’s no longer the issue, the point is that it has become a globally accepted commodity. It has become that which the Disapora, the black man out there has come to identify as the nearest source for his identity. I will simply say that we are not where we are supposed to be but we are not where we used to be which means there is progress. But in fairness, the problems we have in the industry are problems created by us the stakeholders and until we come down, humble ourselves, sit on the floor and dump as well as drop our so called cosmetic personality and keep away self glorification, until we tell ourselves the truth, we may not get there soon.
But I still believe the industry is getting better. It is easier and quicker for people to make a blanket statement! Are there good movies, yes, there are bad ones, there are people who are doing well. Just like in Hollywood, there are good and bad movies and that is the whole essence of life, it’s a blend of so many things but that is not to say we are doing well, no, we are not doing well. We need to have moved up to a larger extent. Our movies should have taken a different shape by now, we are not identifying with our God-given population, we are not identifying with our large fans who we have created all over the globe. People are looking out for us each day, Africans, Europeans and all that.
If we begin to identify with the power of this brand, how wide it has become, you will understand that we need to do something.
What constitutes the ups and downs for Nollywood?
Well, let me start with the downs, Nollywood is an industry without structures, modulation and control. When I say modulations I mean in terms of standard, the kind of product you are creating, ethics, discipline and all that. We are trying to like bend it away from that direction to the main film sector where you look at it from the perspective of film not just a home video but film in terms of position, what it tends to create in the society, how much it conditions the test of audience. So, these structures were not in place and now it is easier for anybody to just come in as long as you have your money, as long as you can make your registration now the question is, who are the actors? Who are the professionals? Do they understand the business professional ethics? How much of this professional ethics do they know? Or is it “well, abeg keep the ethics one side let me do my thing and collect money” and which is what is happening today. It has become another avenue for boys and girls to rise to fame, popularity and make their cool cash but the sector goes beyond that because if it has to be sustained, what sustains it is the control system, the professional ethics. You cannot wake up and join the medical, Bar or media association but that’s the order of the day in Nollywood. We are more or less like the proverbial large elephant which has fallen in the words of late Prof Ola Rotimi. Our major challenge right now is that we cannot control who comes in and out of the industry.
The ups is that; fine, it remains one of the biggest brand this nation has come to identify with, an instrument which has been able to uplift the integrity of the nation, our cultural heritage and has equally colonized the world. Go to places like Kenya, our language is on their lips, everywhere you go, Nigerian movies are in vogue. Let me tell you, the industry is drastically reducing unemployment in the country. To us personally, we receive favours from different places, you are travelling maybe on economy class, people will upgrade you immediately. You go the salon, free hair cut, free this and free that, it has really paid off. There is sweet, bitter and sour part of the industry but all put together, like I said before, we are not where we are supposed to be but we are not where we used to be. We have made progress and are still making.
Three decades in the industry, how has it been?
I started the work of art in 1989, so I’m not a baby in the industry. I’ve become an authority, and I will maintain that anywhere anytime. I speak with so much confidence without fear or favour, try me, and test me anytime anywhere I will prove it. This is one time I want to behave like an agama lizard; this is one time I want to blow my trumpet myself. Francis Duru, I have come to stay in the industry, take it or leave it, no remorse or apology to anybody, the man who made me is still there and he is still watching over me, His grace and favours are pouring over me 24-7.
Everybody loves Francis Duru, but who and what does Francis Duru love?
Forget that thing my sister, “no bi everybody love me oo, bad belly people don take my pictures go juju houses but when they reach, their juju go reject and the juju man go tell them say this one na juju himself, please take this picture away”. Jokes apart, that is, but it’s just the bitter truth, everybody cannot love Francis Duru, and some people will say ‘who is he? What does he think he is? But whether they like it or not, I don’t care, so I concentrate on people that love me, like the media, my wonderful fans, people have been following up on me, some are ready to die for me, so with all these people, “I dey kampe”.
I love God, I love mankind, I love anything that adds value to the next man out there. I love anything that makes the world a better place, anything that puts smile on faces of the masses, I love even my enemies.
Where do you see yourself and the industry going in the next decade?
First and foremost, Francis Duru will be a big time producer, turning out issues based movies, by this I mean the idea of making movies not just dwelling on frivolities of life or peripheral perspectives of life or things that don’t have pedestrian approach even if they must be, they must try to be the issue on prematurity, peace and society, war, name it; things that you can actually use to touch mankind, human trafficking. I see myself as one of the biggest Nigerians in the movie industry. I will be one big social activist using the power of movie to like make a point and change the world. I see myself as one guy who will be champion network in Nigeria. Remember me in your paradise. I will if you contribute to the paradise.
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