No girl should be dreaming of marriage with me —Michael Ogolo

Upwardly mobile dude and one of the eligible bachelors in the Garden City, Michael Ogolo is famed for entertainment and showbiz in Port-Harcourt. Michael’s foray into showbiz dates back as far as 2009 when he berth the Odudu Music Award. The award which has helped to shine spotlight on Port-Harcourt born stars, the likes of Wacomzy, Burna Boy is in its fourth year. The on-air personality of rave programme, Funky Four Plus One in this interview with Mercy Michael speaks on his passion, relationship with women, entertainment in Port-Harcourt and other things: 

WHAT was your involvement in entertainment before Obudu Music Award?

I’m a Theater Art graduate, from university of Port-Harcourt. After that I did some practice. Did one or two clips but it wasn’t my line so I concentrated on doing the corporate emcee’s and comedies out there in Port-Harcourt. I had a short experience with KORA Awards. KORA Award is one of Africa’s most recognized music Award. I worked with Ernest Ajovi, the owner of the award while he was in Nigeria. He made some attempts in Calabar. He made other attempt in Lagos; a few things didn’t work so he left. I gained some experience from that and I berth a music award in Port-Harcourt against the backdrop of the poor experiences we used to have in Port-Harcourt then. A lot of you then in Lagos use to think people don’t move around in Port-Harcourt in those days when we had the militancy, the camp struggle, so on so it sent a lot of shows and companies out of the town.

Business was not moving smoothly for us anymore and a few of us came together and said to ourselves, we have to reinvent entertainment in Port-Harcourt. We have to tell the world that Port-Harcourt still got some talents that everybody can see. We needed to tell the world that Port-Harcourt is not totally dead; it’s still an entertainment centre in Nigeria just like Lagos and Abuja. That was what actually gave the push to start the music award. I thought to myself, I’m a comedian; if I start a comedy award how many of us are here, few of us. And for me, I think that the bedrock of entertainment is music, so if we start a music award we will reawaken the city because we have a lot of musicians with a lot of fellowship, a lot of listeners.

And all the radio stations, TV stations, they all depend on music and not comedy so music is for me like the mother. So haven’t learnt a few tricks from KORA Award and being an entertainer so we decided to start a music award. And that led us to the kind of award we wanted to do. We didn’t want to do a popularity award. We wanted to do an award based on the quality of music and the genre.

Today Odudu Music Awards is like the Headies award in Port-Harcourt. Initially what was it like breaking in?

Breaking through a fresh idea is usually very difficult because the people you are coming to talk to are usually skeptical about what you are coming to tell them. They are not even sure you can pull through what you have proposed on your paper. I know that because I’ve done some events that I attempted to get sponsors but they never came through. I muted this idea a very long time, 2003. It only happened in 2009, six years after. That was because of these problems of raising fund to do an event of that magnitude. It was a big problem. I tell you a secret; I do some small contracts here and there. So I did one for NDDC. They paid me. I made some profit. I used the profit to do my first show instead of buying a car, land or something.

I did job very well. My job is there. It speaks for itself because I was building a name. And I’m still building a name. I know people will make references to certain things you’ve done before in case of tomorrow. So I’m very careful about the things I do when it comes to public things. I spoke to my governor. He was in America then. He was on vacation. He said he was going to just give me something from his pocket. He did. Very small but it helped. It went a long away because at that point, like a week to the show I was drained financially. One naira wasn’t coming from anywhere. All I wanted to do was do it first so that I can say, I’ve done it before. Here are pictures. This is the video. That way people will listen to you.

So I had to manage myself to do the first show. Second show I went back to those same people and told them I have content now because no sponsor will give you money for nothing. This time they took the proposal from me. But they were still not able to help. So this time, I now used my personal relationship with some of the commissioners in the government because I’ve always worked for them. And some of local government chairman that were my friends before they became chairman and they helped. The governor didn’t give me a dime this time. He was watching. But I was able to put all I got together. Fortunately the NDDC job I did, I was paid my retention so I used the money to do the second Odudu Music Award.

As a celebrity in Port-Harcourt how to you relate to your fans?

I try to be very humble and I think that’s an escape for me. I cannot say I am not a celebrity but I’m very down-to-earth with everybody. I’m actually not a snob. So I think I find people appreciating the fact that I could talk to anybody, eat anything anywhere so it makes me acceptable to the high and low but there is one thing I do not compromise. The way I dress. The way you dress is the way you are address. If I have an event to emcee you have no idea how far I’m going to go.

If I’m paid for instance, N500,000 I spend sometimes, N200, N250 just to dress for that particular event. I do that. I have a number of suits that I’ve not worn more than once. To manager yourself through as an artiste in port-Harcourt, there certain places I don’t go to. Even If I go to those places, 10, 5 minutes I’m out. Before I’m in I’m out. I’m a Port-Harcourt boy, born, bread and schooled there. So I know a lot of people. I’m also a member of the Port-Harcourt Polo club. It’s an elitist club. A lot of people can’t get to come there so it gives me a hiding place most times. When people are somewhere drinking I’m in there on the pitch or on the field with a few friends gisting. You want to place yourself in a class but even if you place yourself in a class that does not mean you’ve become a superstar. Try and relate with everybody the way they are. Give everybody there respect. It will come back to you.

You present a show on Radio Funky Four Plus One in Port-Harcourt. Tell us a bit about it?

I tell people my problem is not Odudu Music award. In Port-Harcourt my problem is the show I do on radio, the Funky Four Plus One. We are four comedians. The plus one is a natural presenter of Rhythm 93.7 in Port-Harcourt. He speaks Pigin while the rest of us speak English. Now, that programme is the only satire problem in the whole of Port-Harcourt. You discover that most radio people end up praising singing the government. But you don’t help the government that way. Government is everybody. So why do you praise yourself if you’re government? For us what we do on that problem is we call the governor’s or public officers at it were, we call their attention to certain areas that we believing he’s forgetting.

How easy is that when you dine with them?

That’s were creative comes to play. I’m a former staff of Radio Nigeria. So I’m a trained broadcaster. Now, we dine with them, we are emcee’s for them yet we tell them Oga, this road was not well done. This road was done with sand instead of bitumen. Why ask questions,” Oga who did you give this work to? “We suspect that you gave this work to someone you were dating he’s sister when you were not yet Governor. If you think I’m joking, do me a favour ask anyone in Port-Harcourt, Funky four plus one, we call names on Radio. We say so, so, so, company what you’re doing for us is a bad job. We say Governor your aids are not helping you.

We call commissioners. For instance the commissioner for education, you know they built new school in Port-Harcourt. So they contracted the security to a company and that company has not been paid therefore the company did not pay the staff. The staffs then locked up the schools. Teachers and students were outside. Oh come and see us on Friday, how we embarrassment the authorities in charge. We raised questions, “how can students learn outside?, Commissioner please come and explain. Those are the things we do on radio. So that’s where the problem is for me, not Odudu Awards.

As a celebrity how do you handle the female folks?

We are very careful so we don’t get a bad name. And the Port-Harcourt scenario is different from the Lagos scenario. Port-Harcourt is so small that sometime you virtually know everybody. As someone on the street, I don’t want to use the word celebrity, if you get down with one girl and you are trying to get down with another, the next girl will know. So it’s so small. So most of us are very careful with the things we do with women.

Are you married?

I have a daughter. I attempted marriage…Let me just make a blanket statement here. No girl should be dreaming that it will work. Marriage is far off my agenda for now. I have a mum to take care of us. I have a daughter to take care of us. I have an elder sister that lost her husband and her children to take care of. I have an elder brother. I have a younger brother who is in the university to make sure he gets through school. I go come carry one woman put for house now come begin carry her own wahala. I wouldn’t want to marry a woman who will say I’m doing this job because of this or because I have to take care of the home.

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