INTERVIEW: Social Media Pressure Fueling Depression, Suicide Among Youths — Bob-Manuel

Veteran Nollywood actor, filmmaker and politician, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, has warned that the pressure to project success on social media is taking a toll on many young people and pushing some into anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

In this interview with Justina SIMON of THE WHISTLER, the actor spoke on the dangers of online misinformation, celebrity culture and the growing obsession with social media validation. He also addressed controversies surrounding comments attributed to him about veteran actor Pete Edochie, the discipline he believes is lacking among some younger actors, and the future of Nollywood in a digital age.

Udokwu, who serves as Special Adviser on Entertainment, Leisure and Tourism to Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, also discussed why he believes collaboration with foreign film industries is key to Nollywood’s global growth. Excerpts …

How Did You Feel When False Reports Of Your Death Surfaced Earlier This Year?

Well, that is not the first time I have encountered such a thing. So rather than get angry, I just get rather disappointed that people take out time to engage in such falsehood. In African culture, I am an Igbo person, well brought up in the ways and practices of our people. In African culture, you do not joke with death. You do not ascribe such to a living person when there is no basis for that. And also in other cultures, we are able to understand this.

Today, we find that social media drives us to say all kinds of nonsense. In Western culture, most of us are educated in Western ways. We also know that it is a bad omen to ascribe death to a living person. So, I see it as part of the irresponsibility of some people in doing that without taking recourse to how such news, spreading such falsehood, will affect the person involved directly, his friends and his family. So, I think in all cultures, it is not something that is acceptable.

How Do You Feel About Rising Misinformation About Celebrities In Nigeria?

Some deliberately twist things. Some take it as a joke. But certainly it is not something to joke about. The one you are talking about was actually my children that brought my attention to it. It was early this year, around February or so. They brought my attention to it and they were upset. They know it is not true. They were angry. And at the end of the day, they were also the ones who said, just ignore them. By the time you attend one or two functions, people will also see.

But in the immediate aftermath, it is embarrassing because people call you, people get concerned. And if people call you and they do not get you, you might be in a function, in a place where you are not allowed to take calls. It makes the anxiety build in people who are trying to reach you. So, I think, it is sheer irresponsibility and something that should not be encouraged. I also feel anything that is without control is misused. I think that the government should also look into ways of sanctioning those who do such things, peddling false rumours.

It is the thing about freedom of speech. Sometimes we misuse that freedom of expression to malign and put out false information about people. Because I have an analytical mind and my background, people think, oh, he is just an actor and all that. I studied theatre, and because of that study, there is etiquette that comes with the training. You study aspects of mass communication and in that aspect, you know that you are not encouraged by these studies to put out information that you know is basically false. Because there are supposed to be sanctions. So if people know that they can be punished in whatever way the government deems fit for spreading false information, I think it will reduce and people will respect each other’s privacy.

Your Remarks About Nollywood’s Origins Sparked Debate Recently. What Point Were You Trying To Make?

That is basically what they do. They take your statement totally out of context, totally out of what you do not have in mind. I did not find it funny because Pete Edochie is somebody I have utmost respect for. There are some that are not even his contemporaries and some that are also his contemporaries. The likes of the late Justice Esiri, whom we all watched as kids and youngsters in Village Headmaster. People like Olu Jacobs. We watched him when we were quite young.

This is somebody who had also been in many productions outside the country, like Dogs of War. He lived in the UK for so many years, practising both stage and television. But when you want to put something in perspective, in context, situate it historically, it becomes clear. The story of Nollywood is something that people have written PhDs about. I know quite a number of people who come to meet me because I was there before the beginning of Nollywood. Because whether some people accept it or not, what we call Nollywood today began with the release of Living in Bondage in 1992.

I think what people should concentrate on is that landmark. It is not as if Nigerians did not have actors before then. After all, I was also acting, effectively already a celebrity, before Living in Bondage, which I also happened, by providence, to be a part of. But I was already playing a major role in a hit soap opera called Checkmate before I became part of Living in Bondage, which as a landmark serves as a timeframe to determine when this industry called Nollywood took off.

You have a year, you can now say this is when an industry like this appeared. It is like internet banking. Nigeria did not start internet banking out of the blues. There was a time people would go to the bank early in the morning and queue and wait, and they would give you cards to fill, paperwork upon paperwork. Today, the Gen Zs will probably roll their eyes if you tell them that there was a time they had to fill forms. There were no cell phones. A lot of things you do with your phone today were done manually.

An industry like Hollywood in America, which is number one and the yardstick internationally, has been there for more than a hundred years. From the beginning of the days of still cameras, black and white, grainy images that people could hardly see properly. They kept refining it until the era of moving pictures, which is why it has been called movies, because still photographs started moving. With no sound yet. The era of silent movies. These are things you can check on the internet today.

Why has it become a problem that I mentioned the timeline for one to say, this is where our own industry took off? And then some person, looking for whatever reason, went and put such quotes out of context. Of course, those who know me know that I am too disciplined to say uncomplimentary things about somebody I know is my senior in age and in life. So it is sad.

How Do You Protect Your Family From The Pressures That Come With Fame?

I deliberately kept my family out of publicity so that they can live their lives normally. Of course, those who know them, right from when they were young, know that I am their dad. It is not a big deal. They were born to see that their dad is popular, so they are very proud of me.

But we silently agreed as adults that we do not overtly write things about ourselves and live our lives on social media. It also makes them conscious of what they do, knowing that if you do something, somewhere down the line people will get to know that this is a person’s son or daughter.

For instance, when my daughter was in Queens College, she won the Miss Africa beauty contest that they normally do as a commemoration of the African child. Of course, that one is inevitable. A lot of write-ups will say, “Bob-Manuel’s daughter becomes beauty queen,” because that is the headline that will sell. But after that wave passes, they keep living their lives.

What Values And Lessons Can Younger Actors Learn From Pioneers Of Nollywood?

Discipline and hard work. Respect. In African culture, you respect age. You respect experience. Somewhere along the line, our youths, because of exposure to Western style influences from social media, begin to imitate the wrong things about the Western lifestyle. But a lot of them have not even travelled out of the country to understand it.

Like when we were growing up, they told you that once you are 18 years of age in the Western world, you leave your parents. That is not really true. Lots and lots of families, like 90% of families, stay together. What makes you move is school and work, when opportunities come that you have to live elsewhere, which is not far removed from what we get here in Nigeria.

For instance, I was born and brought up in Enugu. School, especially university, took me away. After that, youth service took me to other states. By then, I was already engaged in Checkmate, which was being produced in Lagos. So naturally I drifted to Lagos. Until I got a political appointment in a number of states and came back to my state to work. Who knows if I will become an ambassador tomorrow and live outside the country. So it is the rhythm of life and the pursuit of excellence that will determine how you move in life.

Like I hinted, I just finished a major production where I played the overall male lead. The film was shot in Ibadan, entirely inside the University of Ibadan. I played a professor role. It was directed by Jude Idada, a one-time winner of an LNG award. One of my co-stars is Kassim, and then Fabian Kolawole, who is a Nigerian that for many years appeared in Jacob’s Cross, produced in South Africa.

So for the first time it was like a reunion. These are veterans. There was mutual respect and understanding, respect for personality, craft, and what we stand for individually. The younger ones who acted with us were in awe of us. They were able to see the type of discipline we displayed, whether on set or off set. We were not always bent over our phones when we were supposed to be running lines, getting into costumes and all that.

A lot of discipline is required. And restraint too. There is always room for improvement. People should not just think that with the popularity of being in one or two films that the public will embrace them. Consistency, discipline and focus. That is what keeps me up there and apart from the crowd.

More Nigerian Actors Are Uploading Movies To YouTube. How Is This Impacting The Industry?

What they do is short stories, skits and all that. It is all part of expanding creativity. It does not really have any bearing on major movie productions. Producers and directors do not bring you into their production based on small budget productions put on the internet.

It is your craft as a professional. Age, experience and professional work put out there is not something you achieve overnight. The viewing public knows that. The production companies know that. Even colleagues know that. When the crunch comes, people look for those who they can effectively say are professionals in the industry, able to tackle any challenging role that is thrown their way.

The main subject matter of the film I just mentioned is paedophilia. It was not in the public domain as a discourse before in this country. Awareness is coming. With films like that, we hope it will generate discussions and awareness about such things. People will begin to see that there are certain signs that do not always show on the face but are right there.

Either learned or part of that person’s inner making. Society will be better off discussing it and being able to find solutions to problems like that. When you talk about abuse in the church, it is a taboo subject in this country, in Africa. But at some point, the Catholic Church in the international arena has faced a lot of embarrassment, when those who are supposed to be guardians of youngsters are the ones taking advantage of them, both sexually, verbally and otherwise.

Such topics are forbidden for discussion. You meet people who will tell you their own terrible experiences and you are like, wow, so this thing also happens here. We are all human beings. No society is immune to some of those things.

What’s Your Response To Critics Who Dismiss Actors In YouTube Productions As “YouTube Actors”?

In every society, in every country, filmmaking is capital intensive. People have to survive. YouTube also gives incentives in terms of cash, so people want to do whatever they can to access such a reward.

But in a passive way, films made for YouTube’s sake may not necessarily be used as a benchmark to judge people’s creativity and performance. People just have to survive.

What Does Nollywood Need To Become More Competitive On The Global Stage?

The industry needs more collaboration with other industries. I said this a long time ago. Nollywood has really not been able to hold its own internationally. We need more collaboration with other industries, like Hollywood, Bollywood, and other filmmaking nations.

It is beginning to happen gradually. We are seeing, in June, a film called On Different Grounds. The promo is going on gradually now. Last Saturday we had a private screening for some stakeholders who were part of the support for the film.

I was there alongside a renowned Indian actor who was my co-star, and another owner who lives and practises her acting in Los Angeles, California. We are also hoping that the sequel to On Different Grounds will be shot in India.

So I try to encourage our people to know that the way to grow internationally is collaboration with other film industries, not just Hollywood or Bollywood, but hopefully British films as well. We have a lot of Nigerian actors in the United Kingdom with Nigerian heritage. This keeps showing Nigeria’s relevance in the filmmaking community of the world.

What Advice Would You Give Young People Chasing Quick Wealth And Social Media Fame?

Today’s youth and young adults are really so much influenced by the optics, in other words, what they see. Social media is a place where the greatest fake news happens. Unfortunately, this is where these youngsters are always found.

So you find young people seeing things being done on social media and feeling that they are missing out. Young people start having high blood pressure. They start suffering psychologically. And some even commit suicide because they feel that they are not adequate enough. Meanwhile, those who post all kinds of glamour on social media hardly live that life.

So I will advise young people to live life with restraint. Take everything you see on social media with a pinch of salt. You do not swallow it. Make your acceptance of such things be like the way you accept perfume. You smell it, but you do not swallow it.

And anything that is given free of charge, what is the rush for? To make money just to show off on social media is of no substance. And the truth is that those who are rich all over the world, you hardly hear from them. They hardly show off.

Let me use a young man in America, Mark Zuckerberg. You hardly see him wearing things that are outlandish. He wears, most times, t-shirts and jeans, which is a traditional American way of dressing. And you find somebody who is still struggling here looking for designer labels to wear, even if they are fake, just to flaunt on social media and say that they are doing well.

Why do you not also aim to live a life that will impact fellow youths? Every generation has people who help to make positive changes. So I would advise young people to focus on being agents of positive change and contributing positively to society, instead of just wanting to be seen as a celebrity.

Those who have through their work attained celebrity status are always, to use a word I hear from the public sometimes, perceived as hiding. Someone will see me in a place as open as an airport and say, “Bob-Manuel, you think you can hide.” I laugh. I am not even wearing sunglasses. I am not even wearing a hat.

But because they do not see you too often in public, because you just want to do your own thing, get your ticket and go on the aircraft like everyone else, some will feel, oh, he is hiding. That is okay. You are a celebrity, all right. After the film you are doing, you are back to living your normal life.

But these young ones do not think that way. So if you have to imitate, imitate in the right way, not in the way that leads to showing off. Even as the English say, pride goes before a fall. Even the Bible, as Christians, encourages us to be modest. Pride is one of the things that God hates.

Who cares if you have arrived? If you arrived, others arrived before you and other people will arrive after you. You do your own bit and let the rest be.

What Does Legacy Mean To You At This Stage Of Your Career?

I guess it means the totality of the positive impact an individual, or even a group, leaves on society, which stands the test of time. That is what legacy means.

Would It Be Accurate To Say You Are Fully Back In Nollywood?

I never left the industry. I never left the industry because I was a politician doing other things. And I do not think there is any veteran actor of my generation that you see in every film that comes out now. That is because we do not act for acting’s sake.

When we were younger, when Nollywood was in its early days, we were always there because most of us were freshly out of school, we were single, and we were creating a new industry. Today, most of us have greater responsibilities. When scripts change and storylines change, not every film is one you have to be in.

For me to be part of a story, I read the script and know whether it has any meaningful message to society before I accept the role. So I never left.

I want to use this opportunity to tell people not to jump to the conclusion that someone is no longer acting just because you do not see them in a couple of films. Did the person write a tweet saying they are no longer acting? Did the person give an interview saying so?

I have not seen anyone in Nigeria say, “I quit,” or “I am going on a break.” If you are not on a break, you do not need to make an announcement. You just go.

I have always been acting, but I let my work speak for me, because the work is quality work. I was still in government when I did the TV series It’s a Crazy World, which is a family comedy on Netflix. I was in government when I did Hijack 93, which is also on Netflix.

So as for the work, if it is something I want to do, I do it. And another one I am going to shoot, I am still trying to conclude with the production details. We are trying to do quality work, not acting for acting’s sake. Where people see or hear that you are doing a production, they know they are going to get quality work.