Nosa Rex Okunzuwa, popularly known as Babarex started out as a promising actor, back in 2010, when he made his acting debut, but today, the handsome actor has become one of the most talked about skit makers in the Nigerian entertainment circuit. The Edo State-born actor delved into skit making during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, after nobody was ready to give him the opportunity to showcase the other side of him to the world. Having made it happen by himself, Nosa is best known today for his comedy videos on Instagram and TikTok than he’s popular on the big screen. In a recent live chat with Vanguard on Instagram, the father of three children revealed why he ventured into skit making and the challenges that come with the business. He also talked about his father’s death, what he taught him, his family and the women around him.
Shock of my father’s death
I lost my father some time in February, but God decided to bring him back with the birth of my baby boy. That’s why I said my dad has come back to life. The pain of his death is still fresh in my mind. I was very close to him and he was my best friend. But I just realized that I am an orphan now. I have always been a family-oriented and serious person. I just have to double my efforts now. This is because I have so many responsibilities now, with my young ones looking up to me. I am now the decision maker in the family, I have so many people looking up and waiting for me to make the decision on how they will live their lives. It’s another phase in my life. Those things I didn’t do when my father was alive, I won’t do them now. I’m still going to be that cool, responsible and family-oriented person that I am known for.
Lessons I learnt from my late father
My father taught me a lot of things. He taught me how to be patient. In every situation, my father would always say it’s well. What I would miss most about him is the fact that my father always prayed for me any time he called me on the telephone. I studied engineering and decided to delve into acting. You need a supportive father to be able to follow your dream. I learnt a whole lot of things from him and I pray that God will help me.
London trip with my family
It was part of the good life we wanted to experience. My family demanded it and I gave it to them.
Discovering my other side during COVID-19 lock down
First and foremost, I would say that the best decision I have ever made in my life is to delve into skit making. It was the direction of the Almighty God. I have always had that funny side of me but the opportunity to unleash it never came my way until the COVID-19 lock down era in 2020. I started my career in 2010, and since then I have done a lot of movies, but 2020 was the year God decided to announce my funny side to the world. While people were indoors playing with their phones and watching movies on YouTube, I was busy creating content with my wife and those that were around me then.To me, the journey has been smooth and great. I believe in step by step, I don’t skip the process. But switching to the comedy side was just a happy moment for me because I enjoy what I do now. I’m not forcing it, that’s why it’s not stopping. I have just carved a niche for myself . For those people that know me very well , they know that this funny side of me has always been there. I just needed the opportunity but nobody gave it to me because when producers want to give me a role in movies, they don’t put my funny side into consideration . Babarex TV was just an opportunity to let the world see the funny side of me and now that they have seen it , every producer wants to give me a funny role in his movie. I took advantage of the corona-virus lock down to unleash my funny side to the world.
Pressure arising from content creation
The bad aspect of content creating business is pressure and being consistent. When you drop a hit skit, you need to sustain the tempo. What I have done for myself is that I have never allowed anybody to put me in any kind of pressure. I am not in competition with anybody. If you want to be the best , that’s when you start having problem. So, if I don’t conceive an idea, I would drop nothing. But when it hits me then I drop it. I don’t allow people to put me under pressure. I roll with my own pace and that’s where some content creators miss it. Just because they want to be dropping content back to back, they will start to do things that are not in line with what they should do. For me, I roll with my pace and that’s why when I drop a content and somebody asks me where the continuation is, I would tell the person it’s not ready yet. I can’t force it. I might shoot the content now and go back to re-shoot it. It has to be funny to me and to my team before I can drop it. So, the pressure in content creation is one of the problems I don’t like about the business.
Pressure from the female fans
Pressure from the female fans will always come, but I am a married man. The whole job comes with its own pressure especially with the kind of content I drop which has some sexual ingredients. But even at that I have many women around me.
Seeing women around me
God blessed me with my wife. She’s a very understanding woman. Sometimes, I wonder if there is any woman that would understand me the way my wife understands me. She was supposed to be the first problem I would have had in this journey. But she’s even the one that always recommend the ladies I should feature in my comedy series. In fact, before I put any content out there, my wife would be the first person to see that content. And she understands that this is a hustle for me. So, whenever I bring any woman close to me, she has to be in the know.
My love life before I met my wife
I was in a relationship before I met my wife, but the relationship was not stable. What attracted me to my wife was the fact that she believed in me from the outset. When she met me, I wasn’t earning anything as an actor. I met her in 2013, and I joined Nollywood in 2010. The only thing I had to my name then was the City People award, which I won in 2013 as a new actor. I don’t know what gave her the courage to believe in me, even though I had a strong passion for entertainment. She saw the drive in me and knew that I would make it some day. She won my heart with her patience and sincerity. When I saw her sincerity, I decided to end another relationship I was involved in. Interestingly, she’s the only Igbo girl I have dated in my life. I was the one who said that I wouldn’t have anything to do with Igbo girls, but I ended up marrying an Igbo girl.
