Clarion Chukwurah is back in the country after a trip to the US where she shot a new movie and did some episodes of a new documentary called Footsteps, which she says would soon hit the television screen. The talented actress was also at the United Nations with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and others to raise issues, some of which she said would feature in Footsteps. She spoke with PAUL UKPABIO on this and other issues.
What was your recent trip to the US all about?
I was in the United States of America to record a documentary series. It is titled Footsteps. I started the shooting in Kenya and then moved to Hollywood some months ago to continue shooting in five states in the US. We also hope to do some more shooting here in Nigeria.
Can you give us an insight into Footsteps?
It is a journey of Clarion Chukwurah in a reality show, to look at where Nigeria is as a nation, where the country is coming from, where we are now, and where we could be going to from here. The issues of leadership, football, music, Nollywood itself, foreign policies, and issues about the ordinary Nigerian, such as why we are so rich and yet so poor!
How long did it take you to do the shootings?
It is still work in progress. We are looking at starting broadcast in January 2016. We are still going to shoot more episodes. But because this is a self-sponsored project, researching, shooting, and travelling took me roughly two years to put together. It took me that long because I am involved in a lot of things. I have to do some work on Footsteps,’ act in movies, do my work in support of women and children; I am doing a whole lot at any given time, so I didn’t have the time to shoot Footsteps at a stretch.
Is it that you don’t have sponsors or you just want to carry the financial burden all by yourself?
It is not that I didn’t want sponsors. But there is something about Nigeria. I know I have put a lot into the system which should come back to me as brand equity, but that has not been so. In a country like Nigeria, I still have to struggle hard. I did a bit of looking for sponsors, but I didn’t want to continue wasting my energy. It is unfortunate that Nigerians only jump on the bandwagon of success. They are more or less waiting to see it succeed first before they indicate their intention to sponsor. That is the sad story.
We understand that while you were in the US, you also visited the United Nations. What was that for?
Well, I am a United Nations Special Peace Envoy, appointed in 2010. In that capacity, I was invited to attend the UN 70th General Assembly in New York. I had written a letter to let it be known that part of the reason I wanted to attend the 70th General Assembly and be part of Nigerian Mission Conference and the rounding off of the Sustainable Development Goals from 2000 to 2015 is because I wanted these two major events to be part of my documentary project. I also wanted to talk about Boko Haram, the issues that the permanent mission was looking at for this year. I was there; my visit and my interviews with some key people there form the episode two of Footsteps.
What did you see differently in the US?
I have always been visiting the US. This time around, it was not really the cultural differences that appealed to me but the issues where we are lacking as a nation. In Episode Eight of the documentary, which was filmed in Norwich, the place that the constitution of the United States of America was written almost 230 years ago, I developed an inner urge to film there. For me, the reason why I wanted to film in Norwich, Connecticut, is because the constitution that was written there has sustained America for all these while, in contrast to the Nigerian constitution, which has been re-written four times even while we are under 60 years as a nation.
We have written four different constitutions within that short period. Rather than write amendment, we keep writing new constitutions, and one is forced to ask why the American constitution, which has been written for that long, has kept sustaining America’s democracy for twenty-three decades while in six decades, Nigeria has been having new constitutions. This kind of issue disturbs me. Why is it that those who make the Nigerian football team Falcons are no longer in Nigeria? They are now either in the US or in the UK. And Falcons keep deteriorating.
Did you feel like staying back in the US for a while?
No, I didn’t, once I was through with shooting. I do go to the United States regularly. Sometimes I stay for a month, sometimes three.
Which other country do you frequent?
I go to the United Kingdom, where I spend two months at a stretch and sometimes three months. I go to China too. There, sometimes I spend a month or two.
Which of these places do you like staying most? Does weather determine where you go to?
Not really about weather. That doesn’t really determine why I like staying in any of these places. But I must say that I like staying in China the most, and that is because I see a people who 25 or maybe 30 years ago were called a third world country, but from sheer will power and determination, they have resolved to become a first world nation. I do ask, ‘why can’t we do the same?’ So weather is not what makes me to love a place; it’s the spirit of the people there that determines it.
What do you think of the lifestyles of Nigerians in the US?
Nigerian-Americans want a better Nigeria that they can come back to. Nigerians in the United Kingdom too want a Nigeria that is working that they can come back to. A Nigeria with constant power supply, a Nigeria with focused leadership, a Nigeria that when they wake up in the morning and later when they are going to bed at night, they will sit down and ask themselves, ‘how has the Nigerian government contributed to my life today?’ If the Nigerian government has not contributed to their lifestyle that day, then they’ll know that the country does not appreciate them as citizens. They do not feel that they should accept that. They feel it is not okay when it is said that ‘Nigeria is a country of resilient people.’ They feel that here we do everything by ourselves, so why do we have a government?
I noticed that your hair was in African braids in some of the episodes of the documentary you shot in the US. Was that deliberate?
Whenever I travel to the US, my hair is usually in braids. I wear braids a lot of the time. It looks good on me. I love wearing braids. But if you also noticed, I wore African clothes for the shooting. That was deliberate for the shooting of Footsteps. It was just the appropriate dress sense for a programme that addresses the issues that we took on in those episodes.
Between Washington DC, Atlanta, Connecticut, New York, Houston, Hollywood and Los Angeles, which did you enjoy most or which was the most hospitable to you?
In Atlanta, I have a kind of second home there. So when you ask me which place was most hospitable, I guess the home in Atlanta was. But if you ask me where I had the greatest time, then I will say that I had the greatest time in Connecticut. That is because I shot a movie there and we had a whole lot of fun on set. Yeah, that was it; real great fun!
I notice you were cruising in a fabulous red sport car in some of the scenes. The fabulous sports car must be yours…
(Long laughter) That was a rented car I used in New York and Connecticut. Over there, you could rent a car, travel from one state to another. New York to Connecticut is only a few hours. You do not have to fly if you do not want to.
It must have been a really expensive trip. How much have you spent on shooting this documentary?
For the first quarter production, that’s apart from the expenses on travel, I think I spent roughly $20,000.
What was your shopping itinerary like?
(Laughs) I really didn’t have time for that. Anyway, I shop all the time. I didn’t plan this time out for shopping like that.
Now you have taken on documentary and you are still acting. How about singing?
I stopped singing years ago. I stopped singing in 1999, I’m still acting though. Someone asked me why I have not been acting in a while and I replied that you are waiting to watch it only on African Magic. If you go into a store that sells movies and ask that you want to buy the latest movie of Clarion Chukwurah, you will be given at least five movies that are in the market right now, made into DVD in the last three months.
Do you see yourself returning to singing in the future?
No, I cannot come back to singing (laughs).
You are also an evangelist. How does religion hold all these?
In every way, my work in all aspects is part of one another. It’s all one big work. I am not doing one thing apart from the other. I am a multi-tasking, multi-talented person. Everything I do is an extension of me. They are all part of one another.
Let’s talk about beauty. Would you say there is the same definition of beauty for an African, an American or a Chinese?
Beauty is universal. You are as beautiful as your heart. Physical beauty is not what it is all about. If your heart is ugly, the ugliness in you will eventually drive out the beauty that is outside. That is because, you will find out that you will begin to age and you look ugly. But if your heart is beautiful, the beauty inside will continue to radiate outside and people will continue to say the older she gets, the more beautiful she becomes.
I’m sure a lot of people tell you that you are beautiful…
Yes, they do. It’s about the heart. I am as beautiful as my heart. If your heart is beautiful, you will always be smiling and radiating joy and you will continue to make people happy. So the beauty will continue to come out from the inside of you.
You also won an award in the US…
That one was called the Life Achievement Award. It was at the Golden Icon of Africa Movie Award. There were some other Nigerians there: Stella Damasus, AY, Rita Dominic. Lancelot Imasuen was flown down to the US specifically to hand over the award to me.
You featured a rich enclave known as Royal Oaks in one of the episodes of Footsteps. How did you feel when you got to see the palatial mansions in an exclusive estate in America where some Nigerian leaders have homes?
I was very bitter and angry to realise that in Houston Texas, an exclusive estate for the super-rich, that the top echelon of the government of former Nigerian president have homes there. This is a place where only the super-rich American movie stars live; super stars who made their money by dint of hard work. The Nigerian civil servants and government appointees who have houses there are those who stole money from the Nigerian people and went there to buy multi-million dollar homes just because they want to rub shoulders with foreign movie mega stars.
They have impoverished the Nigerian masses because they want to belong where they do not belong. There is nothing so much out of this world about the Royal Oaks except that the Nigerians who stole money to go and buy homes there want to show that they own homes there and rub shoulders with movie stars. It’s a show off.
How much do you think that homes in Royal Oaks go for?
It should be in the range of five million dollars. And that’s what Nigerian political appointees and civil servants afford because they were given opportunities to serve the people in government. It is sad. It is a luxury estate for exclusively rich Americans.
So, has your fashion style changed?
My fashion style has not really changed that much, I still love to dress comfortably. I know I am fashionable and I love it that way.
If the money is good, would you act nude?
It’s not about the money; as an actress, if the content is okay, I can act nude. If the script is good and I see that it will send the right message, I will do it.
How could a lady of your age still look so young? What are your health and beauty secrets?
(Laughs) Beyond watching what I eat and doing exercises, I would say it is natural. When somebody asked me the same question yesterday, I replied by asking the person if he is a Christian. I was born a Christian and a practising Christian, so I rely on the word of God. Psalm 91 says: ‘I will renew your youth as the eagles’. I take good care of myself. But beyond that, I live in faith.
What other passion do you have apart from acting?
One thing has always been and still is, I love risk driving, I love to go on the highway and race a car. I love speed. I love to drive long distances with the car music at the loudest volume. I love racing. I love history, forensic science, research and I love the sea. I love to go sit by the sea and meditate.
Any life regrets?
I wish my country had a better crop of creative minded leaders; a crop of more foresighted, more focused leaders, because any regret I have has to do with the fact that I have not been able to move as far as I would have loved to because of the bad leadership that this country has had. When you talk about Nollywood, you talk about the entire country as well. Nollywood is just a drop in the ocean. Nigerian as a whole is the ocean. If things are not okay in the legal arm of the country, then the other aspects cannot be fine.
