I got pregnant at 16 and dropped out of school-Tonyi Alausa, actress

Are you barely 16 and you are a victim of accidental pregnancy? Hmmm, that's life for you. But hold on! Are you on the verge of aborting it because you think life is now meaningless? Then you need to read this heart-touching story of  Toyin Alausa, actress

She is one of the popular faces seen in most soap  operas in Nigerian television. This super screen diva has indeed calved a niche for herself. Toyin Alausa is a personality with numerous fans. She tells ADAEZE AMOS some challenges she had scaled through in life and how she still keeps her shoulder high despite the storms she went through:

Excerpts

A bit about yourself?

I’m Toyin Alausa from Ijebu Ode in Ogun state. I’m the fourth of six children. I’m from a polygamous family. And I’m my mother’s only child. I attended Ogun State College of Education just for a year before I dropped out

Why did you drop out from school after a year?

I dropped out to take care of my child. I got pregnant.

After having your child, why didn’t you go back to school to continue from where you stopped?

I didn’t go back because of challenges. So, I had to take a decision on what to do and the decision I took was to watch and take care of my child. A baby boy. He has grown now and he makes me happy.

Tell us the genesis of your acting career?

I started acting in 1996/97 but before then, I had taken part in various television  programs and the very one I still remember very vividly is a TV program titled Memorial  Hospital. So,  when this home video thing came out, I started going for auditions but what I thank God for is that I started from a scratch. I did not just get there one day. I started going for auditions, in fact, we toured the whole of Lagos going for auditions.  Then, gradually, I started gaining grounds. Gradually I started getting jobs. I struggled to get auditioned and jobs. I know I have paid my dues.

Can you reach out to young ladies who accidentally got pregnant out of wedlock and they think life is all over?

I was pregnant when I was extremely young, I was barely 16 and even though I had enough reasons to abort it but it didn’t work for me. It crossed my mind, I got that kind of advice but it just did not work for me. And I would not advise any teenager in such a situation to go and do abortion.  Instead, sacrifice a few years of your life to that life your are carrying. Keep that life, protect that life, tomorrow that might be the only child you may have.  No one would see my son today, no one would see Emmanuel today and I tell me that I don’t have a precious valuable son.  I thank God for his life and everyday I look at him, I thank God that I did not make an attempt to abort him. My advice to such girls is to be strong, you have made the mistake of getting pregnant, just face it and make correction but not by taking a life.

Any hope of getting married?

Sure! I believe in love and I hope to get married very soon if the right man comes. I’m believing God for my ideal man to come my way.

Talking about your ideal man, what qualities do you expect from him?

My ideal man should be a real African man to the core. I don’t like she-male. If you are my man, be an African man and then have the fear of God. Whatever it is you want to do as an African man, just have the fear of God.

When you say African man, is it somebody who is dark-skinned, macho with muscles here and there? What exactly do you mean by that?

Yes, he should be dark-skinned but not in colour, I’m not talking about colour I’m talking about mentality and his way of life. And somebody who is caring too.

Can you reach out to up-and-coming acts?

Just forget about waking up and becoming a star because that is the trends now, that is the mistake most of the young ones are making.  They would tell you what is Genevieve Nnaji acting, that they can act better. What is Rita Dominic acting, that they can act better. If you want to work and get there, be rest assured that it is going to take a gradual process.  You don’t just wake up one day and say you are going to be a star. It doesn’t work that way. You are going to work. Some people don’t want to work. They just want to rub powder, wear gold jewelry and say they are big girls and all of that. But they are not talented, there is nothing inside of them and all that. Acting is not just about going to school to study it without it being inside of you. You may be talented and have flair for acting but you need training. And you need people that would help you develop it which was what happened in my own case. It is not as if I’m a Theatre Arts graduate but I happen to see myself in the hands of good directors who trained me. I did good jobs and I have got my talent out. When you work with some directors and they scold you and call you names, they just want to get the best out of you. When you are rehearsing and you forget your lines, by the time they finish tongue-lashing you, you would learn to sit up. They do that because they want the best out of you. If you find yourself in an international scene, all those things that they are doing that make them good, you can do it. But some up-and-coming ones, not all of them can take correction. Not all of them want to stoop or be humble.  They think they have appeared on television for once or twice and that has made them stars and they begin to raise their shoulder with people anyhow.  Know it that you are not professional. It does not work that way.

Is it true there is sexual harassment in Nollywood?

You are addressed the way you are dressed. Remember the way people see you and perceive you is based on how you portray yourself. If they try you and they are lucky to have you on a platter of gold, fine! People keep saying directors and producers harass actresses sexually, it is not always true. When they try you and you refuse, they would leave you alone. Nobody would force you into doing what you don’t want to do. They won’t rape you, they would only ask you and it is in your opinion to say yes or no. Even when they come pressurizing  you, it’s a normal thing. A man would pressurize you, it’s left for you to either accept or reject. So, to me I don’t see it as anything.

Have you been sexually harassed in this industry?

Yes, while I was coming up, I experienced it. A script was suddenly taken from me on the grounds that I was invited to see a person in his house and I didn’t turn up. I didn’t bother myself about that. I forged ahead. When I later became popular, the person started giving me jobs when he saw that I had arrived.

What is your worst fear?

The fear of failure is my worst fear and that is why I keep working hard so that such a fear would be doused.

Who are some actresses you admire?

I have been following some people in the movie world and when I stopped seeing them, I started missing them. Well, I love Taiwo Ajayi -Lycett, I love Liz Benson so much. Then for this generation, I love Bimbo Akintola.

What are some of the works you have done?

Treasures was my first soap opera  apart from some works I did in Nigerian Television Authority such as Tales by Moonlight and Memorial Hospital. Then another popular soap I featured in was Family Ties, Edge of Paradise. I also did the second to the last episode of Super Story. Then for movies I have done both Yoruba and English movies which dated back to the time of Time Bomb, Abuja Connection, Women in power, Executive Crime, Beautiful Faces to mention but a few.