By Olaide Akinseye
I’m not really interested in making money. That’s always come as the result of success, but it’s not been my goal, and I’ve had a tough time proving that to people-Steven Spielberg
My dear fellow Nigerians, I know I have lost MOST, if not, ALL of you with this quip by Steven Spielberg who happens to be the world’s second richest film director with a net worth of 4 billion USD. George Lucas is the richest film director in the world and he is worth 5.4 billion USD.*
This quote aloft by Sir Steven Spielberg is akin to what Oprah Winfrey who is the world’s richest talk show host, the richest African-American of the 21st century and “the Queen of All Media”, worth 3.2 billion USD as of September 2022, said about money also.
Hear her:
The reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.” Money is created by finding a way to bring more value to other people.
Hear her again:
I would have done it for free. And that’s when I made my peace with money. I decided that no matter what job I ever did, I wanted that same feeling I got when I first started in radio—the feeling of I love this so much, even if you didn’t pay me I’d show up every day, on time and happy to be here.
Small wonder she also said the following:
You know you are on the road to success when you would do your job and not be paid for it.
We Nigerians will ALWAYS find, much to our chagrin, that uber and ultra-rich artists/artistes who are worth billions in USD ALWAYS declare that money is NOT what goads, fillips, impels nor vouchsafes them the impetus to make and create Art in the first instance and place.
So, my dear fellow “so-called” Nigerian artists/artistes, I KNOW FULL WELL that Steven Spielberg’s epigram aloft is the proverbial “thorn in the flesh” for you and probably makes you detest and loathe me the more. Be that as it may, moi, OLADS THE VOICE!, will NEVER EVER relent from nor stop ululating and vociferating a tad rambunctiously and rumbustiously to the High Heavens and even the Seventh Heaven the manifest fact that Art is NOT done primarily for pecuniary reasons… Art is done primarily because one loves it and one will and is eternally committed to do it whether one makes money or not and finally, the True Artist/Artiste does Art in “Deo Gratias” mode…Deo Gratias is Latin for “thanks be unto God.
Ire o!!!
After.
*Ciao and God bless.*
