Lasun Alagbe
Popular comedian, Tunde Adewale, better known as Tee A, has said that he is not earning any money this month because all his functions have been cancelled.
He says this is a cross that many Nigerian entertainers have to carry due to the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was supposed to have worked all through April. Some of the programmes had been fully paid for. Some had been deposited for, while others had been simply booked. But all had to be cancelled. So, there is no money in April,” he says in an interview with ‘Channels Television’.
He, however, adds that, in the whole of the challenge, what matters most is safety.
According to the comedian and master of ceremonies, the best thing to do during this scare is to stay at home.
“Although the more we stay at home the more our small savings are getting depleted, survival is the ultimate. Once there is life, there is hope,” he adds.
Tee A concedes that a good number of entertainers make cool money, but their business style hardly allows them to save.
He explains, “A major lesson for all of us is that we need to be saving well. As entertainers, our lives are projects-based. You make this money, you immediately begin to think of another project. We are not the saving type; we believe the following week, another money will come.”
Beyond the financial lesson, the comedian also believes that the coronavirus disruptions have taught the world a new business model.
He says, “One thing is very clear now: we waste a lot of time in doing business. There are too many meetings. This is apart from the fact that you stay in traffic going to this and that meeting. Now, everyone is doing conference meetings.”
He is convinced that this will continue even after the pandemic might have gone.
“There are some things we are gaining from this. If it is not absolutely necessary, there is no point gathering people. It will soon end, but life, as we know it, has changed,” Adewale notes.
He is also part of the leading comedians who are organising some palliatives for younger colleagues who are likely to be facing hard times during the current lockdown.
Others include, Ali Baba, Basketmouth and Gbenga Adeyinka.
Incidentally, President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the restriction by another two weeks in Lagos – where most Nigerian entertainers reside – Abuja, and Ogun State.
