Award-winning film director and actor, Kunle Afolayan, has revealed in an exclusive interview with Qed.ng that he has no intention of ever joining politics.
While he sees nothing wrong with some of his colleagues going from the box office to the soap box, the 41-year-old told this newspaper an emphatic NO when the question was put to him in his office on Tuesday
“No. Never. I don’t want to join politics,” was his reaction.
That was not the first time the possibility of politics was put before him.
“A friend of mine actually who is not in Nigeria recently said to me ‘one day I will see you campaigning’ and I said no, never,” he told us.
He spoke further on the subject: “Just this November I have attended about three church events where I am not even a member but I was invited to give motivational speech. When you do that consecutively, you turn to a motivational speaker.
“The point really is I am interested in the growth of the country and I can influence that with what I do which is make films but I don’t have to be in a political office to be able to effect a change.”
Having set a new standard in Nollywood with productions like The Figurine, Phone Swap and October 1, Kunle is presently working on his next project tagged The CEO.
He revealed that over N200million has been spent on the movie for which shooting has been concluded.
“It is more than N200 million naira. There is no particular figure for it now because the film is still in production. The thing is you cannot ascertain what the final figure will be but so far we have spent more than we spent in the making of October 1.
Written by Kunle Babalola, the 145-minte October 1 is estimated to have cost N330million. It received sponsorships from the Lagos State Government, Toyota Nigeria, Elizade Motors, Guinness and Sovereign Trust Insurance.
It stars amongst others Sadiq Daba, Kayode Olaiya, David Bailie, Kehinde Bankole, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Fabian Adeoye Lojede, Deola Sagoe, Bimbo Manuel and Kunle Afolayan.
The CEO is a cross-continental movie which has seen the cast and crew travel to France, Amsterdam, Kenya and Nigeria.
Supported by Air France/KLM, it parades Angelique Kidjo, Jimmy Jean Louis, Wale Ojo, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Hilda Dokubo and Aurelie Eliam who co-hosted the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) 2015 held on November 15 in Lagos.
Watch out for the full interview with Kunle Afolayan on Friday.
