Veteran Nollywood actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo has revealed that
a voice once told him to jump into the river and kill himself.
The popular actor who made the revelation himself said it
happened when he was very young and lived with his brother and his wife in
Enugu State.
Kanayo pointed out that the incident happened at a
time when he was going through serious suffering and had to hawk agidi over a very
long distance and finish selling all his wares or face severe punishment at
home.
Explaining further, Kanayo stated that whenever he was
unable to finish selling the agidi, he knew the type of beatings to expect from
his brother’s wife despite his young age.
Luckily for him, the 60-year-old thespian said he ignored
the voice that came to him at the Abakpa Bridge in Enugu State.
“I haven’t done anything bad but people who see us on TV
don’t know that we had done menial jobs to make ends meet.
“When I look back, I sold agidi. And my brother’s wife,
whom I lived with in those days in Enugu, didn’t want to know your age. She
would pack dozens of agidi on my head and God save me if I returned home with
some unsold items with the kind of beating I would receive that day.
“If you are familiar with Enugu very well, I used to hawk
agidi from New Haven to Abakpa, a long distance.
“One day, I got to Abakpa bridge and as a small boy then I
looked down into the water of about 30 feet deep and a voice said to me, ‘why
don’t you jump into the water and end the whole thing’? I was a small boy
carrying this heavy thing on my head. But I didn’t listen to that voice and
luckily for me, I finished selling all the agidi,” he told Vanguard in an
interview.
Speaking further, Kanayo explained how he did many menial
jobs including digging pit toilets in order to make ends meet and take care of
members of his family.
He cautioned parents not to spoil their children by giving
them all they ask for, instead he urged parents to train the children well and
give them only what they need so they can understand the realities about life.
He said: “The next day, I was given Akamu to go and
sell in the streets. That’s one part of my story. I remember vividly when I was
in my village in Oboama Ezinihitte Mbaise, I used to dig pit toilets.
“Then, you have to do something to contribute to the family
economy. These days you take your children to school in air-conditioned cars.
It was not so during my days.
“When I remember that I had to dig a pit toilet just to
contribute to my family’s economy, I say to myself, I have come a long way. I
also did other menial jobs just to support my parents.
“These are stories about me that are not just the beautiful
or handsome faces you see every day on the television.
“We have been through the thick and thin of life. I wasn’t
born with a silver spoon in my mouth. But I want to make sure that children
don’t go back to where I started from.
“However, my children need to understand that there is a
street where people are coming from. When you come from that street, it hardens
you to a lot of things.
“And on that note, I want to advise every father and every
mother to avoid giving their children all they asked for. Give them all they
need, not all they want.
“It’s very important because when you hear about most
people who are on the street, they are more focused on business.”
