‘Dad’s Samanja role made me cry as a child’

Daily Trust: How would you describe your father?
Abubakar Usman Pategi: Truly, I lack the words, because he is a good father who always tries to meet up. Whenever one is with him, he gives fatherly advice and puts you on the right track. Whenever I think that one day I will be separated from him, I become unhappy because I don’t want to. He normally advises us on how to live with people and what to do in life and that has helped me a lot. There is a strong bond between us. He loves his family.
Whenever you sit down with him, he always tells you about himself. He has told us that he was once a mechanic, a bricklayer, and all of that. He often told us that we should not be too selective.

DT: What trait of your father would you say you have inherited?
Pategi: The only thing I will say I have inherited from him is his character, because I’m very close to him.

DT: How old were you when he was acting the part of Samanja, and do you really remember the role he played back then?
Pategi: I’m youngest, so I became very attached to him. I do remember the time he was acting as Samanja on TV, even though I was a little boy. There was one of the episodes wherein he played a role where children were following him shouting ‘thief!’ After watching that episode I started crying, protesting loudly that my father is not a thief. But I began to understand the nature of his job, and what the programme was all about, when they explained to me that it was just make-believe.
I quickly understood that he was an actor and a comedian and that the roles he was playing were not real.

DT: How do you relate with your father after his acting career?
Pategi: Very cordially. His life as a comedian is still evident in everything he does, even at home. But at other times, he could be very serious, because his ex-military life is still in him. However, he often makes us laugh.

DT: What is his favourite food and colour?
Pategi: He likes Amala. As for colour, he loves white, because I grew up seeing him always wearing white Babbar Riga.

DT: What core values of your father have you transferred to your children?
Pategi: My wife just gave birth to my first child, so that hasn’t happened yet. However, I will transfer his simplicity to my children. He is a very simple man and I love him for that. Also, he carries everyone along and I will transfer that aspect of his lifestyle to my children, too.

DT: What personality does he have outside that is different from the one he exhibits at home?
Pategi: His lifestyle outside is not any different from his character at home. He lives a life of comedy all through.

DT: What kind of books does he like to read?
Pategi: He likes various genres. But due to his sight problems now, he hasn’t been reading. But among his collection, there are works of fiction, storybooks and religious books. I got many religious books from him that one cannot find easily. I’m reading a number of them now.

DT: How has he been coping with his sight problems?
Pategi: He is strong-willed, and he does not let it dampen his spirits. He still tries to do things by himself and we assist him with whatever he cannot do.

DT: How old is he now?
Pategi: He is 74.

DT: He was always playing military roles. Has this resulted in any problems with military authorities?
Pategi: None at all. Mind you, he was once a military man himself. I remember during the regime of late General Sani Abacha, after an episode of Samanja aired, a Lagos-based fan sent him a newspaper clipping of a story that said the then-Head of State cautioned him. That is the closest thing I know in that regard. By and large, he had a good understanding with the military because he knows the sector very well.

DT: Your father worked in Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna and you too are working in FRCN Kaduna. Do you intend to follow in his footsteps?
Pategi: I also do drama in FRCN Kaduna, and presently I’m the assistant producer of the programme called ‘Duniya Durawa’. So, yes.