Nollywood actor, Uzor Arukwe, has opened up on what led him to the movie industry. Recalling how he was sacked by the popular telecommunication Company, Etisalat Nigeriain 2012
Etisalat was one of Nigeria’s four largest telecommunications before it announced its brand name change to 9Mobile in 2017.
According to our source, Uzor, in a recent interview with media personality, Chude Jidenonwo, said he was dismissed while hoping for a promotion from specialist to manager after many years with the telecom firm.
The thespian stated that he ‘took the fall’ for an incident in his department since he was the team lead but failed to explain what transpired.
He said, an attempt to get into the movie industry also failed, seeing that he was jobless from November 2012 to November 2013 with nobody calling him for movie roles.
However, he eventually started getting roles, with little pay as low as N1,000, N2,000, and N10,000 and even received “thank you for coming” as payment at one point.
He said, “I worked in telcos. I worked in retail and sports. To be honest, I was fired from Etisalat, actually. I do not think my mum even knows. I was fired sometime in 2012. Something happened in my department. I was heading the team at the time. Then something happened I had to take the fall as the leader.
Five years after, when I came to a place where I was hoping to become a manager, I had become a specialist, and then this happened. It was one of the hardest things ever. They stripped me of everything that makes you think you have a job. I tried to get into film sometime in 2012, but it was really slow.
“The only jo I got between 2012 and 2013 when I got my second job was some stage drama. Seyi Babatope got me the gig. That was the only gig I got between November 2012 when I was fired till December 2013. I was at home for one year and had no job. Nobody was calling me for films. It was terrible.
“I. I dusted my certificate again. And somehow I got a job again. There then for another five years. And then in 2018, I left my company in April 2018 and got my first gig with Iroko on August 28, 2018. At this time, I was broke, busted down, and had no money. It was so bad that I was saying prayers at noon.”