Popular Actor, MR. LATIN, Takes Over As President Of TAMPAN

•Reveals His Plans ForThe Association

At the recent General Elections of TAMPAN, popular actor Mr. Latin, whose real name is Bolaji Amusan,emerged as the National President of the national body of the association. He took over from Mr. Dele Odule. Mr. Latin’s emergence was well applauded by all members because he has been an active member of the group since inception.

He is also seen as a great team player who has the gift of being able to carry disparate people along. It was the natural leadership traits that the elders of the association saw in him that made them annoint him to take over from Mr.Dele Odule. A few days after his emergence as National President City PeoplePublisher, SEYE KEHINDE and Head of Graphics, SOLA BAMIDELE spent quality time with him at his Abeokuta home during which he spoke about his career and new assignment at TAMPAN. In this interview, Mr. Latin reveals his plans for TAMPANas the new President. Below are excerpts of the interview.

You’ve just been elected as the National President of TAMPAN. How does this make you feel?

I feel highly honoured. I feel elated. I see it as a reward for hardwork. It is challenging and it is tasking. But I know God will see us through. We are up to the task.

What should we expect from you?

Discipline. We need to introduce Discipline into the industry. We want to begin to screen people with shady character from coming into the industry. We want to make sure that there will be a synergy between our association and other sister association, so that whatever we decide in our association will be binding on them and whatever they decide will be binding on us too. We would all try to sanitise the industry.

Members of your national exco like Odunlade, Femi Adebayo and Fathia are all young people who are vibrant and forward looking. Were they all chosen deliberately?

That is the key, we have like minds working together. When I started nursing the ambition of becoming the national President, I made up my mind that it is not going to be business as usual. It is going to be business unusual. I am trying as much as possible to bring people with integrity into the running of the association. So that for the 1st time members will have that trust and believe in us. With the involvement of these people you mentioned and more people like Toyosi Adesanya, people will believe in us that this people are serious people. They know we are all busy people. They know we are commercial actors. They all applaud the fact that we are leaving our comfort zones and coming to the hot seat.

How did you see the election process and how you emerged?

Initially we were 3. There was Antar Laniyan, Yemi Solade and my humble self. With all due respect, they are my very very senior colleagues. I know what I used to do. I know I can move the association forward with the support of eminent people that really matter in the industry. We have the Chairman, Board of Trustee, Adebayo Salami, Prince Jide Kosoko, Yinka Quadri, Ogogo and others. I believe with their support we can really move the association forward. I am the youngest among them.

It will be verydifficult for Antar Laniyan to go to Oga Bello and say i need this thing. It will be difficult for Yemi Solade to go to Yinka Quadri and ask for something. They are colleagues. They will talk to him as colleague to colleague. But I am the youngest. I can enter a room prostrate for anyone of them and beg for support, please support me. I want to do this thing. They all pledged to suppor  tme.

I hold all of them in high esteem and they know. I went to Yemi Soladefirst and then I went to Antar Laniyan. I told them my plan. And I told YemiSolade I know you have your own plan as well. He said what do you want me to do for you? I told him to support me. I told him to allow me to go and do it and for him to give me support. He said you have my support and he had campaigned for over 3 to 4 months then.

He agreed just like that. I started crying. Then around October, I went to Antar Laniyan, I said Oga Antar, you are a man I respect so much and you know it. You are a complete entertainer, you are acomplete actor and a disciplined leader. But this association, I have been in the Entertainment industry for over 30 years now. You have been there for over40 years. But I have been in administrative aspect of the industry for the past25 years. So, I know the nitty-gritty.

I know what it entails. Can you please give me the support and allow me to go and try my best to sanitise the industry. I will see you people as my back up. The implementation of law is the problem we are having. We put sentiments into what we are doing. 15 years or 18years ago, when we were still in ANTP then, when they get you suspended, thatis the end of your career. So, we were all serious minded. We conducted ourselves with a lot of self respect. It can still happen. This industry is moving on fast. Our movies are being watched all over the world. Our movies are now on the Internet. That means anybody can just watch it any where in the whole world and people are complaining. The way our ladies dress, they are complaining.

The way our guys dress, they are complaining. There are a lot of fraudsters in the industry. There are a lot of ladies who have turned themselves into prostitutes in the industry. And we have very many decent people amongst them as well. We have very decent, hardworking young men and young ladies that are really doing well. We don’t need people that can stain us. We want to clean up ourselves.

When we want to use a house for shooting, the woman of the house will say No, No, No. I don’t want my husband to be exposed to your girls. Just go, go, go. When we say ok, Uncle can you allow usto use your house for shooting he will say no, no, no I have a wife at homeooo! Those your fine boys will start dating my wife. So, it is as bad as that. We want to stop and curb all our excesses. We want to bring back that honour. Look 7 to 8 years ago, when any known actor is coming to LTV 8 the people in the community will troop out and come out enmasse. They will say I want to see Ogogo, I want to see Yinka Quadri. It is no more like that. They now see us aspart of them. We need to change all that.

But we can’t do it alone. We need to reach out to other associations informing them of our elections and why we need to work hand in hand, to tackle the issue of piracy and all other social vices affecting the industry.

How do you plan totackle the issue of piracy?

We need the support of National Assembly. In the past, we didn’t approach them the way we are supposed to approach them. TAMPAN has state governors in about 12 states now. We have Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Abuja, Rivers, Kano, Osun. We have like 12 to 13 states functioning. In all the states we have 3 Senators what we want to do is to go and meet those Senators to support us in enacting a very strong law that will help us to fight Piracy.

How do you want tocombine all your roles as an actor, movie producer and President of TAMPAN?

They are all related.They are all entertainment related. I am still in the entertainment industry.All I need to do is to schedule my appointments. There is time for everything.There is time for TAMPAN meetings. There is time for shooting. There is timefor personal issues. Everything is planning. Once you schedule all youractivities one won’t affect the other. There is time to eat. There is time tosleep.

I have aides i can send. I have a Chief of Staff. The immediate past National General-Secretary is my Chief of Staff. Because of his experience andexposure, I asked him to please come back to serve as my Chief of Staff. He isa known face. He is eloquent. He is educated. He is capable of representing me.I can’t be everywhere all the time.

Do you have any plans to bring in the elders in the running of your administration?

Yes. I have started that already. We are all one be it ANTP or TAMPAN, AGN, NANTAP we are all operating in the same Entertainment industry. I am trying as much as possible to bring in the elders, the Lere Paimos. Jimoh Aliu just came back into our association last October.

And he said I am fully TAMPAN now. We celebrated him. We gave him a standing ovation, this last October during our convention. So, he is now our grandfather now. We are bringing Lere Paimo. We are bringing Baba Wande and other elders. TAMPAN is their home. That is where their colleagues are. That is where their children are. TAMPAN is the new platform where every theatre practitioner is, now. So, we don’t want to leave behind anybody. We need our fathers and mothers to come and  join us. We don’t want to leave anybody behind.