“Nudity is not talent if you want to preach nudity you cannot go far” – Foluke Daramola

Foluke Daramola spoke with New Telegraph, the ‘The Place’ thespian giving her take on some up and coming actors and actresses defined nudity as a form of art, stating that, “All I can say is that they don’t have anything to offer. If you believe that the only thing you want to do is preach nudity, automatically you cannot go far in the industry.

Nollywood actresses Foluke Daramola, says artists who act nude have absolutely nothing to offer and can never go far in the industry.

This was just after a budding actress Maria Peace Francis featured in a movie bare breasted and later defended the act, saying she was just being professional.

According to the ‘Morning After’ television anchor, people should be concerned about how they appear on screen.

 “Like I said earlier, there will always come a time for the back stage, when it comes, why do you want to preach; nudity? When you get to a state that you are about 40 years and your body isn’t appealing as it ought to be, what do you want to preach?

“We have people like Ayo Mogaji, I am sure she did not preach nudity in her time. When I was doing ‘Barber’s Wisdom’, an Mnet new direction movie, the Americans that came referred to Ayo mogaji as the Whoopy Goldberg of Africa. So from that perspective, you know that that person has raw talent to give and not nudity.

“I don’t believe that until you go nude is when you preach an act. During our own days until now, it’s not about nudity, we are still trying to make a difference in whatever we do. Foluke Daramola has come of age, I started acting in the 1990’s and for me to still stay relevant till now, it’s not about nudity,” she added.

The film maker went further to say the movie industry in Nigeria does not have a structured system.

On the challenges confronting the present day Nollywood, Daramola said, “There are a whole lot of things that have not been in place.

“We do not have a structured system and the reason why we don’t have a structured system is because even with the so-called celebrities, without pointing accusing fingers on anybody particularly, are not as well read as they ought to be.

“So most of the time, first thing that a lot of us lack is formal education and then, two, there are no structure and because that, we are not making the money we ought to be making from the industry.

“Again, the government looks at us as low-lives, they don’t understand the efficacy of what we do. The weight we carry in Nigeria can never be over emphasised or quantified, but the government does not see us the way we ought to be seen; so a lot of these things are restricting us.

“If they understand the efficacy of the art in the society, then they will be able to understand that this is where we need to take it from. This way, we move to the next level and then they will be able to organise a structure and even build schools where people that are not privileged to go to school before they became celebrities can go and brush themselves up to improve the lot of other people coming behind them.

“But at the end of the day, when you have someone that is not well read and has gotten to a place, the younger generation will feel that, I can get to that place without going to school. So this is something that calls for concern.

“If you look back and say, what other thing can I do apart of acting, as a celebrity you should be able to diversify and still make a success story out of it. So first and foremost, we need to have a structure and the government needs to realise that this industry is a gold mine and it will help us,” the actress added.