Sam Loco Efe
I am Sam Loco from Benin in Edo State. Many people misplace my surname for a Delta man. Efe is a Benin name although the Urhobo people popularised it. Efe means Wealth in Benin as it also means in Urhobo but it means Cloth in Ibo. My surname is fully pronounced Efeeimwonkiyeke, meaning �wealth has no time limit.� One can be wealthy at 90 when people must have lost hope. What actually happened was that my grandmother was having only female children and after so many years, she gave birth to my father at an old age and when he arrived, the name given to him is "you see now my wealth has finally arrived." I later inherited this from my father as I was the last of my parents� children and the only male child.
The beginning
I was born here in Enugu, but I spent my childhood in Abakaliki and a modest attempt at becoming an actor was what triggered my passion for the stage. There was a time, Government College, Umuahia came to Abakaliki with a production. We all got so excited and I said to myself that if these men can stay on stage before a large audience and render their lines without looking into any book or script, there must be something magical about it.
A few bold ones among us asked them some questions after the production and they said it was a matter of training and perseverance. So, when they left, I attempted a play that was larger than our collegiate level. I decided to produce William Shakespeare�s Julius Caesar. I acted Caesar and also directed it without any formal training.
Education
Going to school in the East then was tough. It was not like the Western Region where students got everything free. It was tough for us, so my nephew and I alternated street trading on a yearly basis to enable the other acquire education. But because of the staccato arrangement, I must confess that I had to attend so many primary schools.
I was a very good footballer and so I went to almost ten secondary schools playing football and getting scholarships here and there and I was stubborn as well. As I was being admitted into one, I was being expelled from another.
Challenges in Nollywood
I can say that the movie industry began with genuine theatre and movie people. As soon as things started getting better, charlatans found their ways into it. In their legion now there are a mixture of purpose, some are in Nollywood not because of the urge to be a Thespian nor the willingness to learn but I believe that as time goes on, we shall flush such people out. This is a house I helped to build and it would be madness for me to allow people with no history to rubbish the much that has been achieved.
Story lines of Nigerian movies
I would not say that I am satisfied but I would rather say that I am happy with the progress made so far. Critics in Nigeria like to jump the gun. How old is Nollywood? We cannot deny that the story lines are getting better, even as we cannot deny that the performers are also helping to make things get better. However, there is a need for continued training by the stakeholders in the industry. But we shouldn�t deny that progress is been made.
Best paid job
I think Langbodo was my first truly well paid job. Being a national production we were well paid. I was being treated like an egg because I played the lead role. On screen, I think it�s my best paid job.
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I became a dramatist through accidental discharge –Sam Loco Efe
He is easily one of Nigeria's most popular entertainers. Chief Sam Loco Efe is a versatile actor, writer and singer. As a trained artiste, Loco Efe at the age of 66 continues to be a trainer and moulder of future leaders especially in showbiz where he has excelled both on stage and screen.
At the just concluded 5th African Film and Television Programmes Expo (BOBTV 2008), held at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, Sam Loco Efe was the star of the moment. As the receiver of the prestigious award for legendary professionalism as a screen and stage actor, Loco's name topped the list of the Best of the Best Honours of the BOBTV. But he was not the only artiste who was recognized for excellence. Others include: Umar Farouk ( Kanny wood); Chika Onu (Nollywood); Antar Laniyan ( Film and TV production) and Tony Ikoku (Broadcasting and management).
Speaking from his " hot seat" as the star of the festival, Sam Loco took time to reveal his choice of acting as a career, his training as an artiste, his challenges and preferences as well as his love life. The veteran actor also disclosed how he could have ended up as a robber if he hadn't taken to acting.
Loco identified discipline as the hallmark of every actor. He attributed his success in his profession to dedication, discipline and adherence to professionalism.
" I believe that training starts when one is born and ends when one is dead," explained Loco, who observed that discipline goes with training in every profession. As a result, no actor can succeed without training and discipline.
His words:" Practice, they say, makes perfect. I sharpen my intellect on a daily basis and this is why there's hardly any lines or words that I cannot commit to memory even within a short period."
According to Loco, reading and simplicity have guided his career over the years, such that " I sell my clothes to buy books…this is why I prefer simple dresses…I prefer to wear simple dresses and read many books."
On what spurs him into action as an actor, Loco said," many things put me on whenever I act. Some of these things are a product of the training I received and the environment from which I grew or find myself. But I hate pretenders…people have to be real in their conducts. Today, many people join the acting profession because they want to be famous and this is why they all get it wrong. There is a difference between being a famous actor and being a great actor."
To Sam Loco, acting is a talent that has to be nurtured through training and this requires that a good actor should not only strive to speak good English, but should also 'talk' English the way the native speakers do. He argued that one of the avenues through which an actor wins his audience is by learning how to communicate effectively using English or whatever language that is required. He observed further " if you are a robber, the chances are that you would be a better robber if you are properly trained."
Recalling how he wrote, performed and presented his first play for a drama competition on October 1, 1960, Loco hinted that he became a dramatist "through accidental discharge." He explained with nostalgia how as a secondary school pupil, he was the only competitor whose entry came last but ironically launched him into drama without prior training.
On his dual personality as a man and an actor, Loco said he talks naturally from his heart as a human being but that his personality usually changes the moment he grabs a drama script. But the veteran actor is unhappy that Nollywood today parades more of fashion than acting,"
There is a gulf of difference between fashion parade and acting. Today, there are more stars in Nigeria than the whole of Europe put together. This why our emerging actors lose control the moment they get the impression that they've become stars. Majority of our actors today lose control on maintenance of stardom, forgetting that stardom kills creativity," observed Loco.
Asked about his attitude to wine and women, Loco Efe said: "Whatever gives you pleasure, please do it. I do not pretend on the issues of wine and women but I've always learnt to do everything based on my tenacity. I think one is free to do whatever gives him or her pleasure, provided one does not destroy self in the process."
While explaining the challenges of the stage and screen, the veteran actor said the entire structural design of the artiste is put into use on stage but that the screen requires facial expressions and sometimes, elaborate make-up to achieve desired effects. His deep knowledge of both the stage and screen has earned him success.
On his marriage and love life, Loco was quick to say that he once got married to a woman who later died in the United States. But that he also has children by other women after the death of his first wife. the expressed support for polygamy, saying " I endorse polygamy. It's a soft landing cushion to avoid promiscuity and adultery.
Unfortunately, we now avoid polygamy because of Christianity."
Loco's main regret so far is the failure to have replaced self by younger actors. He hinted that he isn't looking for actors who would exactly imitate him, but those who can attain his level of professionalism and discipline as against sacrificing creativity on the altar of commerce and stardom.
He explained, " very soon I will do partial withdrawal from acting. Since attaining the age of 60, I've tried to get myself replaced but it's been difficult. I will like to be remembered for how many lives I have impacted on positively and how many people I've trained …I would have been an armed robber if I hadn't taken to acting…despite the fact that every human being is an actor."
A graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan, Loco came into limelight when he was voted best actor for his role in Langbodo, Nigeria's only drama entry for FESTAC '77 directed by Dapo Adelugba. Also in 1996, Loco won three awards in the THEMA edition. Some of his popular works include: Picadilly Circus, Sergeant Okoro and Ukwa. He is currently national chairman caretaker committee of the Actors Guild of Nigeria as well as chairman, board of veterans of the same guild.
On 12th July 2010,"It is a season of major changes in the way the Nigeria LNG is doing its business! The company has decided to buck national tradition by focusing on some of the nation's truer heroes.
This year's Keynote Speaker and Special Guest is completely different from the norm. Moving away from a list that has included Senate President David Mark, former Biafran warlord Emeka Ojuwkwu, former General Ibrahim Babangida and others, the NLNG is looking inwards and inside the core arts industries in this year's edition, which holds on the 9th of October 2010 at the Eko Hotels, Lagos .
Sam Loco Efe, veteran actor and comedian, who is something of an institute, has been selected as the Special Guest – a decision which some writers and journalists have described as 'surprising'. The invitation, according to the company in a letter to the veteran performer, is essentially because this year's literature prize is for drama and there is no one, in our opinion, worthier of this honour than Sam Loco Efeeimwonkiyeke. "You have over the years changed your medium, but have not changed your gift for bringing smiles to the hearts and faces of our compatriots. You are an actor with whom everyone feels a special bond of kinship irrespective of tongue or tribe."
70 years old this year, and a graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan, Loco-Efe came into limelight when he was voted best actor for his role in Langbodo, Nigeria's only drama entry for FESTAC '77 directed by Dapo Adelugba. Also in 1996, Loco won three awards in the THEMA edition.
Some of his popular works include: Picadilly Circus, Sergeant Okoro and Ukwa. He was at a time national chairman caretaker committee of the Actors Guild of Nigeria as well as chairman, board of veterans of the same guild. Sam Loco-Efe has also remained a mentor and a role model to the youth. And in his private life, he has symbolised what is right about Nigeria, what is noblest and best and what human beings have pursued since the beginning of history – love for self, family, nation and profession.
"Many, many years ago, Nigeria hosted the world to FESTAC 77 and a Nigerian drama, Langbodo was staged to a full house at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos," said a letter from the company, signed by Ifeanyi Mbanefo, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager. "Sam Loco Efe was Akarogun and he gave a performance of matchless beauty. The silence when he finished was, I am sure, a greater ovation than any artiste had every received in that hall. It was so good that General Olusegun Obasanjo, then the Head of State ordered that the play be broadcast on network television every morning throughout the duration of the festival."
This year's Keynote Speaker is also another surprise. Taking over from Chief Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, this year's speech will be delivered by the Managing Director of the Company, Chima Ibeneche – based especially on his feat stabilising the company in a time of global economic crisis.
Inaugurated in February 2004, The Nigeria Prize for Literature, The Nigeria Prize for Science and The NLNG Grand Award Night have been well received by a cross section of our compatriots, especially the corporate world, the academia and literati. Both prizes have cash values of $50, 000 each.
The prize for literature rotates yearly amongst four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children's literature, while the prize for science is awarded to the scientist whose work made the most impact in furthering the frontiers of knowledge. This year's award goes to drama.
The decision to institute these prizes was reached after several meetings with some stakeholders, including representatives of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS), Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), writers, eminent scholars and literary critics.
Planned as a prestigious ceremony that will go into the country's cultural calendar, The NLNG Grand Award Night provides the forum for the award of the science and literature prizes and fulfils a major objective of promoting excellence in our national life.
The great Legend is being said people to be dead.. Could this be true? According to http://www.celebregion.com/2011/08/nollywood-actorsam-loco-efe-is-dead.html
Some of the videos of Sam loco are
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DOLQT1GPKfCQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DmdmccJigivs
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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