After the last Interview with Tchidi Chikere concerning statements he made about his wife and children,Nollywood movie director Tchidi Chikere comes out to clear the air for the last time.
How did you feel when you first saw the controversial interview?
I felt like dying. I felt like I live in an unfair and mean world where people rub salt on already bleeding injuries. I felt like maybe God was too slow in meting out judgment on evil people like that and so they thrive and do more havoc. But then my manager came and spoke to me. He quoted the Bible in several places and I felt better. I was reassured that God sees all our hearts and that at the right time he would fight for me while I hold my peace. He will not give me up to the will of my enemies and scoffers.
Once and for all, tell us how important your kids are to you.
I hold them sacred, second only to God.
A lot of people believe you are too arrogant. How will you describe yourself?
I’ m not arrogant. I just protect myself, because too many friends bring entanglements, distractions, trouble and betrayals. I don’t smile with everybody. I don’t believe in having friends upon friends because that wasn’t how I was brought up. I grew up basically in my room, reading novels and building worlds of fantasies around myself in my imagination. I love my own company. I’m very close to my father though. I love my daddy to bits.
I would describe myself as a very deep person. What works for other folks don’t work for me. I guess that accounts for why a lot of people misunderstand me. And when you don’t understand something, there arises the need to make up stories to fill in the blank spaces, even if they are lies. What people don’t understand is how deeply they hurt other people with these made up stories and how somehow somewhere in this life, they’d pay for every careless word, every careless lie. I have an unshakeable faith in God. I was brought up in a strict catholic home. I was an altar boy at mass and later thought I’d become a priest, but I guess the world of make believe stole me and kept me.
Is your divorce affecting your career in anyway?
I’m human and it has affected me. I haven’t written a script in three months. No one knows what I do when I’m alone in my room and take off the celebrity mask I wear in public. Nobody knows how I hurt. We are talking about ten years of my life here. But I’m not going to wear my sadness on my face and die so that haters will laugh. I find consolation in the fact that I still love and respect my family and whatever I do next will be as my happiness dictates. We are all solitary birds in this world, nobody will die with me, whatever will make me happy tomorrow, I will do it, but in all, to respect my family, even as I move on. That is why this will be my last and final interview on this matter.
What are your dreams for the future?
My plans for the future… I want to get a PhD degree if possible. I’ve had a master’s degree since 2001 and I’m beginning to really feel stagnated. I ‘m very academically inclined. That and other things I can’t say here, for obvious reasons.
You are rated as one of the best directors in Nollywood. What kept you on top for so long?
Among the best directors in Nollywood? People say I am, but I don’t know if I am. My mum thought me modesty, so I don’t know how to assume airs. I’m just doing my thing as best as I know it. I always want to be better. So I guess by always trying to be better and not getting comfortable with where I am, I unintentionally stay relevant and solid.
So many people believe you are living with Nuella and that she is pregnant for you. Are you really living with her now, and is she pregnant for you?
On the issue of whether anybody is pregnant for me at the moment, I believe my publicist has issued a statement on that saying it is false and I have not moved in with anybody. And that is same thing I’m telling now, the answer to both questions is” no, no” this is my second and final statement on this. And I ask that this be laid to rest and my privacy and that of my kids and Sophia be respected by all henceforth. I need to focus, I need to rest. Enough said.
Back to work, what are you working on now?
I no longer talk about what I’m working on next or not working on, because Nollywood is full of unhealthy rivalry and people who don’t want you to grow. So I’d rather just be a surprise package and not talk about my plans. What you see is what you get. One thing I know is I want more, I hunger for more challenges, and I’m restless like the sea in turbulence.
Words to your fans?
To my fabulous fans, thanks for believing in me and loving me through the gloom and the glory. God richly bless you and may your good dreams come true.
Anything else you’ll like to add?
I want the press and public to leave us alone. We are not the first couple in the world that have had marital issues or whose marriage didn’t work out for. I still have respect for what we had, the home we had, the smiles we shared, the happy times we shared and whole other things. Right now I want to focus on the future. I need to take my life and career further. I won’t forever be pre occupied with what has been, and have people talk about us every day as if they have perfect homes or lives themselves. It didn’t work between us, yes, at least I was brave enough to opt out respectably. Lots of couples out there are living in pretense and false lives. We are not false people. We are real people and we know the respect and friendship that still exists between us is better than what we had when we were married.
We wish you the best.
Thank you so much.
Click the link below to go to…
