From my very first movie, what was my concentration, my inspiration, was I didn't want to narrate something, I didn't want to tell a story. I wanted to show something, I wanted for them to make their own story from what they were seeing.

I didn’t come into filmmaking from, as you say, watching other films and then wanting to be a director. Fundamentally, it was my love of the medium of film as a tool to capture the moment, the moment that’s happening right now. When film was first invented, there was that excitement about its ability to capture a moment in time, the here and the now. And that’s really the starting point for my interest in the film medium.

I think I was around 17 years old when I had my first parts in feature films and that’s when I really started to get interested in all of cinema, not just acting. After high school, I went to film school for 2 years. That was a great moment for me because I discovered a lot of directors from around the world and a lot of different types of genre. It would’ve taken me a long time to make these kinds of discoveries on my own without school, so I’m really thankful. At the time, I wanted to express myself with my own films as a director, but as I was getting more and more offers as an actor, I had to stop those studies to focus on acting. I feel trapped now because I really enjoy acting. But it’s true, I wake up every morning with this idea stuck in my mind that I want to write and direct my own film one day. As I work more and more on different sets, I see how hard it is to be a director. It’s insane the amount of work and confidence that goes into it. I’m so respectful of filmmakers and I admire what they do. I hope that one day I’ll find the right subject and the confidence to try it. I’m still young.

I approach all my films as my first. If you carry that innocence, it reflects in the camera. I know I have become a star but I don't want to believe it. I want to be that simple, no fuss guy who approaches a film as if it is my first movie.

As they say in the movies, I got here the hard way, with no education and no dough, and whatever I am I am because I wrote it.

When I made my first film, I think the thing was probably helped me the most was that it was such an unusual thing to do in the early 50s for someone who actually go and make a film. People thought it was impossible. It really is terribly easy. All anybody needs is a camera, a tape recorder, and some imagination.

I didn’t choose painting … It chose me. I didn’t have any talent. I just had genius.

I was frustrated waiting tables when I knew I could make video... I didn't have any professional experience or a portfolio of work, so I decided to make stuff on my own for free.

That first experience of making movies was like being in heaven. I was so happy. Everyone treated me so well. I was so curious about acting; I love watching movies, so I really enjoyed it. Once, I was rehearsing on the set, and I felt so sad that people were leaving at the end of the day, but then I was relieved that we could keep doing this on the next day.

My journey into the movie world can be described as a miracle because the truth is that I stumbled upon acting when I was in search of a job to raise money for my school fees after I gained admission to study Mass Communication at the University of Lagos in 1996.

Now, before you make a movie, you have to have a script, and before you have a script, you have to have a story; though some avant-garde directors have tried to dispense with the latter item, you'll find their work only at art theaters.

I was stepping into land unknown. But for my love for fashion and a passion for what I was about to venture into, I really knew nothing. I had no formal training or experience in the industry. It was my love for it, my determination to see it through and I guess my ‘naïveté’ that spurred me on.

I never wanted to go into filmmaking. It was just that I had the opportunity... I found the visceral nature of it very appealing... [Y]ou're in the middle of something directly experiencing it at the same time as studying it... [T]hat was really interesting to me.

I come from a popular environment. I don’t have a deep knowledge of auteur cinema. My wish as a director has always been to make films that I would like to see in theaters.