What I Quickly Did When They Told Me There's No Money in Entertainment - Okey Bakassi

Nigerian comedian and actor Okey Bakassi who will later this year be celebrating three decades (30 years) in the entertainment industry is today opening up just a little bit about his journey into the entertainment industry, and what he did when he was told that there is no money in this industry. Here is what Okey Bakassi said.

**Before reading on, please make sure to like and follow my Facebook page (Jide Okonjo) so you don't miss out on any new and interesting lists, articles, and stories that I post every single day. I have a really fun page. If you like my page, you will have fun too. So what's stopping you? Like my page and let's have fun together!

Speaking about how he got into the entertainment industry and what he did when he found out there was no money in the industry, Okey Bakassi said:

OKEY BAKASSI: I arrived Lagos from Port Harcourt in a night bus to commence my NYSC orientation. I had only N750 on me. When I landed in Lagos for the first time, I didn’t know where to go or stay. I asked people for directions to the NYSC camp in Iyana Ipaja and. I settled down like every other youth corper for the orientation. After our orientation, I started serving at the Nigeria Industry Development Bank. During that period a lot of things were passing through my mind.

I loved entertainment even though I read Engineering. Now, I am done with youth service, do I pursue a career in Engineering, delve into the entertainment world or struggle for the bank to retain me. I was confused because I didn’t even have a foundation. I was dealing with a lot of issues and I was still very young. At a point, what made sense to me was to approach a friend who was the MD of a finance institution at a time. I remember visiting him in his office, having gone for a job interview somewhere in Apapa. I shared my concerns with him but before then, I had featured in a TV series, Fortunes on NTA, produced by Zeb Ejiro. I starred alongside Ramsey Nouah, Regina Asika, Liz Benson and others. I was enjoying the buzz though he wasn’t paying me.

Later, I complained to my friend that there was no money in entertainment and that if I eventually secured a job following the interview I attended, that would be good-bye to entertainment. My friend advised me to follow my heart and my happiness. He told me, ‘you would suffer for some days without an income, but you would have begun your journey very early and if you work hard, you will succeed. On the other hand, if you pick up a lucrative job, you would have an income at the end of every month to play around with. The choice is yours’. I thought about it; the uncertainty and the hurdles. The showbiz, which I don’t know where I am heading to. At the end, I started what I called ‘Today in Pursuit of my Happiness’ which is going to be the title of my concert coming up later this year to mark my 30 years in the showbiz industry.

That was how my journey started. The moment I decided that I was going to pursue my happiness through entertainment, I remembered what my friend told me that I wouldn’t be sure of an income. So, what I did then was to place myself on a salary that I didn’t know where it would come from. I checked the salary of my friends who had lucrative jobs and placed myself on the same salary scale with them. But this time, I had to make the money.

Wow! And now, all these years later, Okey Bakassi is earning just as well as those who work the lucrative jobs. What do you think about what Okey Bakassi said? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

That's All.

I hope you’ve had fun. Don’t forget to follow my page (Jide Okonjo) if you don’t already for more stories like this, the fun never end

To catch up on other content you might have missed, click here.

Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your day