By Sylvester Asoya
In his life and career, Kanayo O. Kanayo is one man who consciously deploys never-say-die approach to life. For those who know him, success matters a great deal to him.
He also loves victory especially when it is hard-earned. This explains his belief that everything, no matter how difficult, must be done for success, individual improvement and personal accomplishment. One is therefore tempted to sometimes believe that he is driven essentially to win at all costs. Luckily for him, he continues to triumph. The fact that he also makes absolutely no pretence about his desire to succeed always, reinforces this belief. That is why Kanayo can afford to travel the jungles and mountains, move at an ungodly hour, go out of circulation, lose sleep and any comfort for the ultimate price.
KOK, as he is fondly called actually started out without a tertiary education or any physical exposure to the more developed countries of Europe or the United States. All he had was a strong desire to win. Today, Kanayo O. Kanayo is a champion, not just in Nollywood, Nigeria’s movie industry and the entertainment sector where it all began but also in other spheres of life.
With multiple diploma certificates in different disciplines, a first and second degrees in arts and social sciences, a degree in law and admission into Nigeria’s Outer Bar, this great actor known for bravery, versatility and good acting, has indeed, evolved.
The performer who began professional acting at the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA Aba, Abia State where he worked before coming to Lagos, remains one of Nigeria’s leading actors. In 2006, he received the esteemed African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in the movie, Family Battle. He is also a recipient of other local and international awards.
Aside interpreting scripts and adhering to instructions from his directors on movie locations, Kanayo is also a television anchor person and a consummate advertizing and public relations man who loves to make presentations to his clients.
His life story looks strange; it reads like fiction because of its many twists and turns. But Kanayo’s success story actually began in 1992 with his appearance in Living in Bondage, a flick that changed Nigeria’s movie industry in a most remarkable way. That year, Kanayo’s life and budding career also took a new turn. Since then, he has not looked back and the success story continues even till this day.
He once told a reporter that he loves acting for many reasons. However, he revealed that the most exciting thing about his life as an actor is that he is paid and pampered for doing the thing he likes best, which is acting. Therefore, he takes great pleasure in acting because it is not only fulfilling, it also brings him joy and puts food on the table for him and members of his family.
Apart from being United Nations ambassador and a recipient of Nigeria’s National Honours, (MFR), Kanayo was a former Director-General in a government agency during the last dispensation. He has his eyes on politics, no doubt but the future holds the key.
(This article was first published in alice, the in-flight magazine of Air Peace).
• Asoya is a senior journalist and prolific art writer.