Lari Williams Lectures In UNICAL If the young elements that parade themselves as officials of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) think that they can frustrate living legends like Lari Williams of The Village Headmaster fame and other sitcoms and soaps that held TV viewers in Nigeria glued to their sets out of existence by denying them roles in the Nollywood, then they are joking. Williams, who was trained as an actor in Essex, London, has found himself a fresh vocation.
The grandmaster now lectures Acting at the University of Calabar (UNICAL). We ran into the first generation actor at the departure lounge of Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, last Saturday, and he did not hide his disdain for the state of home movie industry. First, he disagreed with the recent report that Nigeria is now the world second movie producer. Hear him: “I have not read the report but how can anybody on earth say we are second in the world when all that we produce is home video?” He also lashed out what he called tribalism in Nollywood, alleging that if you are not from a particular section of the country, the new generation producers in the industry will never feature you in any movie. Though, he confessed that he is enjoying his lecturing job in UNICAL, he regretted that he is yet to find the kind of accommodation he wants. “I am a small man, but I always like a big place where I can have space to play my drums,” he concluded, as he made to board his Aero Contractor flight to Lagos.
