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Comedy fans appreciate the wit of Francis Agoda aka I Go Dye, but few know that he was a victim of cruel poverty. The comedian, who became a known face about eight years ago, reveals his life experiences in this interview with ‘NONYE IWUAGWU

 

Many people know you as I Go Die, what other thing is there to know about you?

 

Let me start by telling you a story. When I was growing up, I had five friends – Preye, Rukevwe, Temi, Onriode and Wemi. We always sat down to discuss what we wanted to become in the future. We were very close. We all had our dreams, beautiful dreams. Some wanted to be doctors. Some said they would be engineers and all that.

 

Preye’s dream was to travel abroad. As for me, because I loved Michael Jackson, I wanted to be famous. But suddenly, in 1999, during the Ijaw/Itshekiri crisis, violence took over and my friends lost their lives. One of them joined the militants and his members betrayed him. He was shot dead. I watched all my friends get killed. All of them were shot, even their families. I was shot too, and I thought I was dead. But in the midst of the crisis, a stranger gave me a ride to Warri. That was where I began a new life. That was how I Go Die came into be.

We learnt you have documented the story.

 

Oh yes. I needed to tell the younger ones that life is not all about carrying guns. I needed to tell people that they have to dream. You can achieve your dreams if you want to. I wanted to be famous and I achieved it. In fact, it was just Preye and I who succeeded in fulfilling our dreams.

 

Preye used to tell me when we were growing up that he wanted to travel abroad. I told him I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be known all over the world. When I saw Preye in the US last year, I was shocked that he had finally fulfilled his dream of going to America. I also feel that I have fulfilled my dreams. Like I said, I wanted to be popular. So, when I started seeing people coming around me, wanting to take photographs with me and wanting to get my autographs, I felt I had fulfilled my dreams.

 

But as popular as I am now, most people do not know my story. They don’t even know the stories of the most popular people in Nigeria or even in the world. Many people may think I never had it rough. But I tell you, I am a living example of somebody who had it very rough while growing up. Still, I was able to fulfill my destiny.

 

So I feel this is the time to tell my people that if they believe in their dreams, they can make it.

 

Why did you want to be famous?

 

I had a very poor upbringing. I come from a very wretched background. But then, my dad was a bank manager.

 

That sounds contradictory. How could you have come from a wretched home when you had a bank manager for a father?

 

I was denied access to my father. I come from a polygamous home. After my mum and dad were divorced, she tried her best possible to see how she could train me and my three siblings.

 

Did your mother remarry?

 

Yes, she did. In fact, I never knew her husband as my stepfather. I thought he was my father until he passed on in 2002. It was during his burial that I got to know. I felt so sad.

 

When did your mother remarry?

 

I don’t know. I was in the village. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought my grandmother was my mother until my mother came and took me away to the city.

 

So how was life while you lived with your mother?

 

Hmm…. My mum really struggled. She owned a restaurant. At least, that made me to know how to cook very well. I would wake up as early as 4 a.m. and start cooking. But one day, I told my mum it was time I moved on with my own life. I love my mother so much. I had to tell her she had tried for me.

 

That means you could not further your education?

 

Ha! Where was the money? But I was a brilliant chap in primary and secondary schools. In my secondary school days, I was the zonal project manager of the Junior Engineering Technician Society. I constructed many items when I was in secondary school, including an hair dryer. But there was no money for me to further my education. Things were really difficult.

 

How come you didn’t think of raising money by foul means?

 

I didn’t think the only way I could become successful was to become an armed robber. I didn’t believe the solution was in becoming a militant. Gun is very easy to operate. It is not because I am from the Niger Delta. Anybody can operate a gun. It is just a matter of pulling the trigger. But if I had resorted to carrying arms, I would have been dead by now. What if someone turned around to use the same gun against me? What you need to fight for is your life.

 

Tell us more about life while you were growing up.

 

We lived in one room. My parents never had the privacy to share their love. I can proudly tell you that I have made money, but till date, poverty still affects me. If you give me a king size bed to sleep on, I would fold myself like a crayfish. When I was growing up, there was no space for us to stretch out when we slept. It was just one room that accommodated close to nine people. The room contained two chairs and I was sleeping in one of the chairs. I had to adjust myself to the space the chair provided. I slept in the chair for almost 20 years. So, you don’t expect me to change overnight.

 

You earlier said a stranger took you to Benin during the crisis in Warri. What did you do when you got to Benin?

 

The owner of Prest Hotel, Tony Prest, adopted me. He saw the talent in me, so he said I should be an in-house comedian.

 

I didn’t have a place to lay my head. There was no shelter. I didn’t have anybody. There was no uncle or aunty I could live with. I was on my own. After each performance at the hotel, I wouldn’t have anywhere to go. I would hang around the hotel. I would pretend as if I wanted to swim. I would roam around, and when night came, I would enter the club and start grooving.

 

In the early hours, I would sleep under the staircase of the hotel. I slept there for a long time.

 

But there was a day Tony Prest saw me and asked me if I was sleeping under the staircase. I said yes. The man couldn’t believe it. He told me that I was too talented to be sleeping under the staircase. He gave me money and I went and rented a one-room apartment. I took some of the money home to my family. I told my mum not to worry, that things would get better. Today, this is I Go Die.

 

Life is not about opportunity. It is not about chance or luck. It is about knowing what you want to do and going all out to achieve it.

 

Were you ever a militant?

 

I was never a militant. It was just that I was a part of the crisis in Warri as at that time. Everybody in the Niger Delta was a part of that crisis as well. That did not make me a militant.

 

What gave you the impression that comedy would give you the fame you desired?

 

People always saw me as a funny person, probably because I was a village boy. When I left my grandmother’s house and came to the city, I couldn’t even speak Pidgin English well. I was a real village boy. People felt I was easing their stress. I then realised that if I could improve on the act, people would always want me around them. That was how I started reading mock news on Delta TV. I was doing it with one of my friends, Osas, now known as I Go Save.

 

I found that immediately I started doing the programme, I became popular. People were coming to my house even though it was a one-room apartment. They wanted to see me. They wanted to touch me and be with me. That was when I decided to expand. That was when I said I wanted to be more popular than Michael Jackson.

 

What is your relationship with your biological father now?

 

We have a very good relationship. He is my father; I cannot deny him. He is human. He had his reasons for acting the way he acted. I thank God he denied me when I was a kid. If I had stayed with him, I don’t think I would have achieved all that I have achieved today. Everything has reasons for happing the way it does.

Interview with I Go Die

Francis Agoda,

popularly known as I Go Dye

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