Who doesn’t know Kanayo O. Kanayo? The iconic, and prolific, Nigerian actor who has featured in more than 250 Nollywood films since his debut as Chief Omego in 1992’s Living in Bondage (for which he earned a paltry ₦1,500) is nowadays far removed from the childhood he described as ‘Spartan.’ Yet even that doesn’t give you a complete picture of the journey Kanayo O. Kanayo has covered; to get that, you need to get back to his home state, Imo, where as he recalls, he had his first paid job, digging pit latrines. He doesn’t know how much he was actually paid.
But the man from Imo State, Nigeria, by sheer determination, managed to secure an education, earning a diplomas in Mass Communication, Law, a degree in Philosophy, and a Masters in Political Science, all from the prestigious University of Lagos.
All dapper now, Mr. Kanayo O. Kanayo seeks to inspire the youth to great achievements, and provide a platform upon which they can more easily realize their dreams.
We had a chat with Mr. Kanayo and here is his message to our younger ones.
“My message to these younger ones is that you can be whatever you want to be in life, and you have nothing to limit you to your dreams.
Education is the future, especially when you take your education seriously; nothing should actually be a stone in the way of your progress.
We need to tell the younger ones that the future is bright.
The Kanayo O. Kanayo Mentoring Academy, KOKMA, is a platform for mentoring, and when I talk about mentoring here, I am talking about finding support for youths, for young adults, especially the ones in secondary school. It’s my own gift to the world.
My team and I have set up a five-year program to ensure that we launch out all around Nigeria, and into many other areas in Africa.
We are planning to launch this project very soon. We intend after that, to visit some secondary schools, to meet with the students and talk to them, tell them the primary and the currency of education. After that, we’ll make presentations to the schools and the students.
Thank you very much, for celebrating me as an actor.
I will also like to thank our government for supporting us in this initiative and global companies like Transfast and all our other partners for helping us inspire our youths to great achievements.
If I can make it in life, they can also make it”.
