The Global Achievers Issue 11/2020 | Page 20

admitted there. Today I am glad I picked that university. My experience in Ife was wonderful.

It was from Professor Wole Soyinka that I picked my arts direction. I decided early on that I was not going to do art for art’s sake. Art has to have an impact in life. It has to have a change effect. It must play a role in the life of people who are receiving it. Even if it is pure entertainment, there must be something in there that makes a positive impact in the life of the receiver.

Under Soyinka’s leadership, we did society-oriented arts; performances that critically reviewed the society and the leadership. All these have influenced my artistic life all along. During my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program, what I did was theatre. I was the president of a theatre group in Kwara State, which was attached to the NYSC Secretariat. We did a lot of educational stuff around the state, focusing on schools and, of course, the public. I really enjoyed the service year; it was fun and also satisfying. We were able to reach out through the theatre and touch a lot of lives there.

Back to the world outside the NYSC. I went back to NTA and it was a different experience entirely. I came back full of energy and creativity. I had learnt a few new things and was ready for bigger challenges. I got a task which was the production of a series to be syndicated not just within Abeokuta but in quite a number of stations around the nation. I was still young, but I was up to the task and still had people encouraging me at NTA. Akin Sofoluwe was still there with a number of other experienced professionals. The series turned out to be such a huge success − such a huge,