Veteran Nigerian actor Kanayo O Kanayo shortened ‘KOK’ speaks on his suffering as he was young struggling, was frustrated and out of misery nearly committed suicide.
The popular actor who is now a fully registered and a certified Lawyer (Attorney) with all the freedom he is currently enjoying after being blessed with the skills of acting which helped him become richer than before tells his sad story.
KOK in a recent interview with Vanguard Nigeria, delve deeper into his past and revealed some shocking secretes most of us never heard before.
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According to him, he nearly committed suicide, and that was while he was staying with his elder brother after moving from the village to the city and then started hawking on the streets selling Agidi.
Agidi (Eko) Nigerian Agidi also known as Eko is Nigeria’s Jello sort of. It is made with cornflour. The process is very similar to how to make Ogi but with a slight difference.
According to the actor, he has been through a lot, and while staying with his elder Brother at Enugu, he will attribute the life he was living as someone who was going through child labour which almost got him frustrated.
Speaking about his darkest moment, he disclosed that he nearly took his own life, he said was about to cross the Abakpa Bridge to hawk Agidi, he looked into the deep water when a heard a deep voice telling him to jump into the water and put an end his suffering.
He added that his brother’s wife was not that friendly with him, she would pack dozens of Agidi on his head to go and sell, and he would be in deeper trouble, take some beatings should he return home with some of the items left unsold
“I haven’t done anything bad but people who see us on TV don’t know that we had done menial jobs to make ends meet.
“When I look back, I sold agidi. And my brother’s wife, whom I lived with in those days in Enugu, didn’t want to know your age.
“She would pack dozens of agidi on my head and God save me if I returned home with some unsold items with the kind of beating I would receive that day.
“If you are familiar with Enugu very well, I used to hawk agidi from New Haven to Abakpa, a long distance.
“One day, I got to Abakpa bridge and as a small boy then I looked down into the water of about 30 feet deep and a voice said to me, ‘why don’t you jump into the water and end the whole thing’?
“I was a small boy carrying this heavy thing on my head. But I didn’t listen to that voice and luckily for me, I finished selling all the agidi.
“The next day, I was given Akamu to go and sell in the streets. That’s one part of my story. I remember vividly when I was in my village in Oboama Ezinihitte Mbaise, I used to dig pit toilets.
“Then, you have to do something to contribute to the family economy. These days you take your children to school in air-conditioned cars. It was not so during my days.
“When I remember that I had to dig a pit toilet just to contribute to my family’s economy, I say to myself, I have come a long way. I also did other menial jobs just to support my parents.
“These are stories about me that are not just the beautiful or handsome faces you see every day on the television.
“We have been through the thick and thin of life. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. But I want to make sure that children don’t go back to where I started from.
“However, my children need to understand that there is a street where people are coming from. When you come from that street, it hardens you to a lot of things.
“And on that note, I want to advise every father and every mother to avoid giving their children all they asked for. Give them all they need, not all they want.
“It’s very important because when you hear about most people who are on the street, they are more focused on business.” He told Vanguard.
Before concluding, Kanayo O Kanayo also disclosed that he tried his very best even after all that he went through at his childhood days he was able to saw to it that all his sisters went to the University to get educated before he furthered his own education.
Also Read; Kanayo O. Kanayo speaks: “Never receive counsel from unproductive people”
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