ALL NIGERIANS IN SPAIN

 

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Do you still give him money?

 

Oh yes. I give him money. We see every minute. He is my dad and he will always be my dad. I am not in the position to ask him why he behaved that way to my mother. We have moved on with life. Like I said earlier, if things hadn’t happened that way, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

 

What of your stepbrothers and stepsisters?

 

I don’t know what you mean by step brothers and stepsisters. As far as I am concerned, they are my sisters and my brothers. We share our dreams together. They prefer advice whenever they can and I help them whenever I can. We are all together as a family.

 

Don’t you fear that your name, I Go Die, could spell evil for you? What if you dropped dead?

 

I don’t really believe in names. There are some people who were called ‘Goodluck’ and ‘Success’, yet they never experienced good luck or success till they died. A name is no more than a label. I Go Die is a name I carved from my surname, Agoda. I needed a stage name that would be very catchy. I decided to call myself I Go Die. I don’t believe the name can bring any negative thing. The name has opened many doors. A lot of people say when one door closes, another one opens. But I don’t believe that. I use one open door to open other doors. If I try coming back to a closed door, I may not have the key to open it again.

 

When did the big break come?

 

The big break has not come yet. But then in 2000, Opa Williams wanted me to perform at his Night of a Thousand Laughs. That was after the Ijaw/Itshekiri crisis. He said people had been disturbing him to allow me to perform. Then, they were doing pre-selection for the main event. After that, Azuh Arinze, the editor of Encomium magazine took me to the main award. I think I performed very well, because I started getting invitations. Night of a Thousand Laughs made me to become a household name. That was when the break came.

 

It is really amazing that you have overtaken many comedians who started before you...

 

I believe that in whatever you do, some people are still better than you. It is now left for you to get serious. I think it was my seriousness that brought me to this level. I took this job as serious business. I didn’t want to joke with it.

 

What inspires your jokes?

 

Day-to-day happenings. If anything happens in the society, I try to see how I can turn it into a joke.

 

Has any of your jokes put you in trouble?

 

None of my jokes has put me in trouble. I am not praying for that. Before I crack a joke, I try to get the picture of where I am. I try to put myself in that position and think of how the person would feel after I had cracked the joke.

 

Now that comedy has brought you into the limelight, are you likely to leave it?

 

No way. It is part of me. I am addicted to it.

 

How did you feel when you made your first good money?

 

My dear, nobody is poor. My mum ensured that we had three square meals. Since she had a restaurant, we could afford to feed well. Poverty is a thing of the mind. If you believe you are poor, then you are poor. I always believed I was not poor. I always had it in mind that I was eating what others were eating. The only difference was that we were living in one room. But even if you lived in a duplex, you would also sleep in one room. Poverty really didn’t stop me from achieving what I wanted to achieve in life. When I was growing up, I already knew how to make money. I was a shoemaker.

 

How come?

 

There was this man my mother introduced me to when I came to the city. He was the one teaching me the alphabet. He was also a shoemaker. I was always watching what he was doing. One day, I needed money badly. I brought out a table in front of the house and became a shoemaker. It was not everything I would ask my mother to give me. I needed money to buy my school books. I needed money to move on with my life. I tell you, money cannot make you to be what you want to be. What makes you to be somebody is your ability to think and know what you are doing.

 

Do you still hope to further your education?

 

Of course, I am not an illiterate. Thank God I went to primary and secondary schools. One day, I will further my studies.

 

When are you getting married?

 

Very soon. But I guess you know that I am married to my microphone for now. I have children that I take care of. These are people who have lives. They just need somebody to support them. If I can buy a dog and show the dog love, what stops me from showing love to a human being?

 

But you are not married?

 

I am married to my microphone.

 

Continuation Interview with I Go Die

By NONYE IWUAGWU

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