NaijaTalkTalk- IACT ACEDEMY: ARTISTE UNCENSORED: I have positive attitude towards everything –Osita Iheme

Osita Iheme,

Osita Iheme, fondly called PawPaw made good his plan to become an actor with a lowly role in ‘Cold Blood’. How did he turn his diminutive nature to a virtue?Osita Iheme, fondly called PawPaw made good his plan to become an actor with a lowly role in ‘Cold Blood’. How did he turn his diminutive nature to a virtue?

Only a really close encounter can unfold the creative depth of Osita Iheme, fondly called Paw Paw, following his character in a 2003 home video, Aki na Ukwa. The actor who hails from Mbaitolu in Imo State could be summarised as a ‘great being that arrived in a small package’.

But it has never deterred him, as he was cut out for stardom from the onset. “I do not consider my size as a disadvantage. I do not even remember it when I am dealing with people, so I have a positive mental attitude towards everything I want to do. I knew I wanted to be great and something always told me I would be a great man. In those days, I had it at the back of my mind that I would be a great man”, he says.

The search for greatness brought him to the movie industry in 2000 when the opportunity to face the camera came in a movie, Cold Blood, being directed by Emma Ogugua, the current acting national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria. Though it made a crucial impact, it never landed him where he was aiming. It was a Herculean task but serendipity played a crucial role in launching him to stardom, when his paths crossed with Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki) in a low budget movie, Aki na Ukwa being produced by Amayo Uzor Philips, one of the budding directors in Nollywood. It was a movie project no one believed in, nor cared to give a chance. Everyone involved in the project had something bigger he or she ARTISTE UNCENSORED was pursuing. But when Aki na Ukwa saw the light of the day after dragging for many months, it became a hit, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. It changed the course of history for both the producers and the lead actors- Osita Iheme and Chinedu Ikedieze.

They instantly became celebrities and roles started coming their way. “So many producers commissioned writers to do scripts with us in mind. Because of the success of that movie a lot of producers, with the plans to replicate what happened in that movie besieged us with movie roles”, he says. “It has continued till today”.
And since then it has been a steady rise to the top for Osita Iheme who was born in 1982, availing him one of the tightest schedules in the industry.

However in spite of the tight schedule which involves moving from one location to another sometimes beyond the borders of Africa, Osita returned to school for a degree in Mass Communication which he obtained from the Enugu State University. “Education is the foundation of everything; it is the pillar of success. That is why I made efforts to complete my degree in spite of the very tight schedule. It was not easy to combine, but I am happy I did.”

Of course, he must have been spurred by his partner, Chinedu Ikedieze, who graduated from the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu. While their partnership blossoms, it has been subjected to several half-truths. But the basic fact is that the duo has an enduring screen relationship that metamorphosed into a business partnership. How have they sustained this? “When they want to refer to Aki in my house, they call him my brother. That is also the way they see me in their house. We got so close that we have a lot of things in common, including the Aki and Paw Paw Foundation, which was set up to take care of children. We were also living in the same apartment until he decided to get married. May be we would be living together had he not been married.”

How does he see the rumours which have trailed them over the years? “Well it is natural that when people do not have anything to say, they manufacture it. They said we were having a beef because the government gave him an award before me, and that he married before me, all those things were fabricated. We are still as close as we have always been. And we still do a lot of things together.”

His influence in the motion picture industry has not only earned him recognition all over the world but also a medal from the Federal Government of Nigeria, who in 2011 honoured him with Member of the Federal Republic, MFR. In 2007, he clinched the Special Life Achievement Award in African Movie Academy Awards, AMAA.

His kinsmen from Mbaitolu, however took another bold step by bestowing a special recognition award on him, while they were celebrating their cultural day at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Imo State. Iheme was honoured for his contributions in human development in Mbaitolu Local Government Area in the area of an annual quiz competition for all secondary school students of Mbaitolu origin aptly known as Osita Iheme Quiz Competition for Secondary Schools with the theme “Readers Are Leaders” with prizes which include laptops, educational materials and cash rewards. Another programme is the scholarship awards which he offers brilliant students to study in universities of their choice. The award by Mbaitolu Students Union also confered the patron status on the star actor. “It is a good thing to be so honoured by one’s people. I ask God to grant me the ability to always affect my society”.