Follow Us on Google
By Brown Chimezie
Nollywood actor, Longinus Anyaechiechukwu Anokwute, aka Chief Imo can dance, sing, act and perform as MC and stand-up comedian.
Chief Imo, who recently released his latest movie, Village Councilor, started as a costumier in the industry. Going down memory lane about his humble beginning, he said, “Everything started when I was in primary school and extended to secondary school. Each time I came out to talk, people would start laughing. On many occasions, somebody will ask question and I would respond in a funny way and end up cracking them up. From there, I started gaining popularity. After my WAEC, I registered with the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and joined Nollywood fully in 2000.”
The comic actor had his turning point when he produced a movie where he mimicked his village people. This brought him into the limelight with a new nickname, Chief Imo.
“The movie was entitled, Iko Nso. It was written, produced and sponsored by me eight years ago. And from that, the name Chief Imo came on board,” he recalled.
On challenges he encountered, the actor stated: “When I started, even my wife became discouraged when she saw how things were going.
At a time, I began to get frustrated especially when I saw that nothing was coming out from the work, and that no help was coming from anywhere.
“One day, I was rehearsing a drama with some students who used to come to my house. We were about to present the drama at the local government. As part of the play, somebody died and we started crying. But the people around thought something happened and they ran into the compound. Everybody was afraid but later saw that it was all drama, they almost slapped us.
They abused me, saying that I don’t want to be responsible. They said all my mates are useful but I don’t want to be useful for myself. ‘Is this what you gathered boys here to do? You are very useless.’ They began to say a lot of things. At a time, my boys started challenging them and it raised a dust. The youths rushed in and threatened to set my house ablaze. My mother was crying. But one day, the man that abused me then called me from the United States that he was opening his new house and wanted me to be his MC. First of all, he started appreciating me, telling me how far I’ve gone, saying God will bless me. When I ended the call, I started crying. I later told my wife all the things this man had said about me. From there, I started thinking and that’s when I wrote my next work.”
Talking about his new movie, Village Councilor, the comic actor said: “The movie talks about a young man in the village who is a born again Christian. Everybody wants him to represent them at the local government, because they see him as a responsible person who lives uprightly in the village. Everybody wants him including the Igwe of the town, but he says no. But along the line, one thing prompted him and he said okay. Immediately he became the councilor, things changed. He became arrogant and began to demolish people’s houses, taking people’s properties. Even the Igwe who was promised that a road would pass through his palace started seeing a different thing. What they expected from this man as a Christian was not what they saw just like other politicians.”
