Veteran Nollywood actor, Afeez Oyetoro, popularly known as Saka, has shared how financial instability in his early career affected his confidence and made it difficult for him to approach women.
In a recent chat with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Saka recounted the challenges he faced in his early acting years, revealing that despite his love for the profession, it wasn’t financially rewarding at the time, and actors were rarely taken seriously.
He explained that he couldn’t afford basic things, including a car, which led some women to question his future and dismiss his career path.
“I didn’t have confidence. It took me a long time to start toasting women,” he said. “There was no money in acting then. Nobody recognised the actor. We were just doing it out of passion, and they did not teach us how to make money from the theatre.”
Saka recalled one particularly painful experience with a woman he had hoped to marry. According to him, she made it clear that she wouldn’t consider a relationship unless he owned two cars.
“I had no car, so obviously when you call a girl to marry, they will say no, there’s no future for this man,” he said. “In fact, one of them told me, ‘Why don’t you quit acting? You’re wasting your life. Leave this theatre. Go and do something relevant with your life.’
“The one that I was actually supposed to marry was demanding that I must have two cars before she’d get married to me. Then something told me, ‘Afeez, this is not your wife.’ So I ran away from there. It was when I got to the school, I got married.”
The comic actor, now celebrated for his work on screen and stage, said the difficult moments helped shape his journey and taught him the value of patience and purpose.