Micah Chibuike Chidozie, popularly known as MC Ice Water, makes our day most evenings on Eko FM with his programme, Jolly Jolly Avenue. YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine’s JULIET IKEOKWU took him up recently on his life, career and more. Enjoy…
When did you decide to do comedy?
It has always been an in-born thing in my family. I was born into a family where we all have this spur of the moment attitude. Funny enough, whether by hook or crook, all the men in my family, our initials go with M.C. We have like four guys and everyone of us has that. Mine is Micah Chibuike Chidozie. Seeing the likes of Ali Baba and the rest making huge sum from it, I was like okay, even though the money wasn’t coming in then, the attention they were getting attracted me. There was this guy on my street that used to MC all the birthdays around my area then, in Dopemu, Agege. And when he grabs the mic, all the girls will be like yeeh! Big shout out to him, if he is listening to this. I was like this guy is becoming a super star just because of this. Also, my elder sister reads Hints and Hearts and I’ll go buy them for her, N40, N50. On a certain day, I sent a letter to the editor which was published and the same guy (Goodlife) saw me. He said ah, Chibuike (my Igbo name), you wrote this letter, you are bad and I was surprised. I was like the same guy that I looked up to is now envious of me. I think that’s how it all started. We got into the same university, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State. I think he dropped it later, but I continued.
What’s the challenge you face as a comedian?
I remember granting an interview to an Ibadan-based newspaper and the headline was ‘I am not a comedian but an entertainer’. Meaning that I hate being called a comedian, even though I am funny. And when the story came out, many of my colleagues were asking me why did I deny comedy. But I like to see myself as an entertainer. It’s more like I do too many things. I do voice over, I’m a presenter or on air personality, I’m a businessman. To answer as an entertainer, I don’t think there is any. But at times I wish they come because they actually help you to get to the next level. When you don’t have challenges, you may not get to the next level. They help you to grow. So, for me, I don’t see them as a challenge. I have not had any that shook me.
What inspires your jokes?
Things around me, friends, things that happen around me. Sometimes I take a walk, see something, write a joke about it. I try it with my friends and see if it is funny before I go on stage with it.
If you were not an entertainer, what would you have been?
While growing up, I used to say a conductor, but with the kind of money in entertainment, I know that would have been stupid. Seriously, I know I used to envy those guys; the kind of money they make daily. Right now, with my level of maturity, I will say teaching, because I used to teach back then. Even though it’s not that juicy. It’s a profession I know that I will always go back to. But financially speaking, entertainment is better. And no more conductor.
Tell us about your radio show.
Okay, I have two radio shows. One is on Lagos Traffic It is called Lunch Time Waka. We take traffic report and we add fun to it. We say it’s the only traffitainment show, because we bring entertainment and information together while people get to their destination. And it’s on air Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 12-2pm. The other one is on Eko 89.7FM, Jolly, Jolly Avenue. It airs 4pm, Monday to Friday. It’s a potpourri of some sort. Anything that happens in beer parlour happens there. We no dey send; we talk everything we want to. There is a new one coming up on Lagos State Television, which is like the analytical part of me. Any moment from now, the promo will start running on TV.
How long have you been into entertainment?
Eight years, doing my thing. But if you talk about the first time my voice went on radio, I’ll say maybe 10 or 11 years ago, when I did my IT in Eko FM. But I started my own radio show, April 28, eight years ago. I thank God for His mercies.
Apart from making people happy and the money involved, what else do you like about your job?
The work of an entertainer is very, very difficult. Last year, my wife was very ill. After giving birth to our second child, two weeks after the dedication, she took ill and it wasn’t funny. I used to like orobo (fat) women and she was getting slim. But now, she is fine. That happened over six, seven months and I will leave her in the hospital and go crack people up at functions. How God did it, I do not know, but at times I’m on auto mission and when I’m on auto mission, it means that I do things that ordinarily I couldn’t do. I was going on air, doing my programme, making people laugh and once I got home, my wife was dying. Different tests. We went to different hospitals, churches, but we thank God she’s fine now. When we crack jokes and people don’t laugh at times, it’s because what the person is going through is bigger than the joke you are telling. For the fun in the job and meeting those that maybe in my life I wouldn’t have met. Like the first time I had Aunty Onyeka Onwenu on my show. I told my mum and she was like it’s a lie. I showed her the picture. These are the people she grew up with; they are super stars. Meeting all these people like King Sunny Ade is no longer a big deal. That’s what being an entertainer does for you. It might not really bring the money, but that privilege you have to rub shoulders with governors, people will see you and think you don chop, but na lie. Nothing.Na film trick.
You talked about your wife, how did you meet her?
I met her in a funny way. Now, I am a man of principles, but not as my late father. These days, I am beginning to bend my rules. Prior to when I got married, I used to tell people that I will never go out with a fan. I’m the shy type; people don’t know that. But those who have the opportunity of working with me or I have the opportunity of working with will tell you that. I don’t want it to look like I’m taking undue advantage of my fans, so I rather they see me as a role model. I met my wife through a comedian friend named Crying Baby. He is in Dubai right now. There was someone that my P.A brought to my house and he was eyeing that one and I was telling him to behave himself. It was my manager’s wedding. Before you knew what was happening, he had a lady he was trying to woo there. As God will have it, it didn’t work out. The lady had a friend who was a staunch listener of my midnight show, Ice Na Wah. I never knew. So, we became friends. It was when we had already gone far that she let me know that she was an ardent listener of my show. But that is how God planned it because if she had let me know earlier… But I’m enjoying my marriage.
What’s her name?
Esther Isioma Aruocha. She is from Delta state.
What happened to Ice Na Wa?
It lasted for five years. When I reflect on it now, I wonder how I managed to bring super stars by midnight to the show. We had ardent listeners of the show. Then, it was 12 to 1 am. I had my first daughter and my mum hadn’t come for omugwo and I felt the baby and the mother needed me. So, I used style to drop the programme. It was a difficult decision, with some other things that happened. I just took the decision and I’m better off for it. It gave birth to Daily Jolly Jolly.
What do you consider your weak point?
Ah! If I talk that one now everybody go come dey use am against me. If I have any, it would be that whenever I see a lady on leather pants, it turns me on. Even when I was in school. Also I used to get angry a lot, but now maturity has come and my wife is helping me out. I think it used to run in the family. Not that I destroy things when I get angry, but I can say things that will make people say dis your mouth, dis your mouth.
What was your childhood like?
Growing up, my dad didn’t buy a generator. Maybe because there was light once in a while in Lagos. I cannot say that I had a privileged childhood, but they tried giving us the best they could. I come from a family of nine; two gone, my dad and first brother. May their souls rest in peace. I attended Lerato International School in Dopemu. For my secondary education, I moved to Anwal Islam Model College on Oniwaya Road, Agege, from 1993 to 1999. I didn’t clear my SSCE. I was trying to do my GCE, so my mum encouraged me to go into teaching, to help me read always. Maybe that did the magic. I taught for like three to five years and I was earning like N750 a month. If you do lesson for the kids, you collect N200. That was how I had my first bank account. Then, if you were not up to 18 years, you will not be allowed to open an account. I had to go and plead because I was 16. I still use the account till today, Union Bank Plc. From there, I moved to another school and I was paid N1,000 or N1,500 and it was like the biggest thing on earth. I got admission into the university to study Mass Communication. Prior to that, Eko FM, my station, I can listen to it from morning to night and wished to work there. During my IT, I didn’t know anybody. So, I went to MITV to submit my letter, but they didn’t take me. On my way back, looking dejected, a colleague from OSU told me that Eko FM will take me. I went and they accepted me, stamped everything. I spent six weeks, but when I came back people thought that I spent like a year there.
How do you relax?
I relax by working. When I go to anchor a programme, when people are having fun, that’s relaxation for me. These days, I think I’m getting my flair for writing back. There was a time I used to write. I was a columnist with Hints magazine, but writing is too difficult. I like editing. Watching movies with the kids, jumping and playing Mickey Mouse with them.
Tell us something about you that many people don’t know?
I have a cheque that I don’t use because if I sign it, you cannot use it. I’m sorry, but I get so embarrassed when I go to a bank and they tell me that my signature is irregular. They always ask for my account officer. So, I just transfered it into my wife’s account or other accounts that I use because the company account, Ice Water Entertainment doesn’t use ATM.
What advice can you give to the youths that look up to you?
Ah! I am still looking for advice. Well, it is simple. They say Rome was not built in a day. Let’s take it home. Even Abuja was not built in a day. In Lagos, they are still destroying some places and rebuilding. For every dream you have, do not enter into it with the attitude that you must make it. Making it is a relative term. Like some people listen to me on radio and they find it difficult to believe that I can speak good English without error. Because I’m so good at what I do on radio with pidgin English. But this means we are doing this interview in English and not Yoruba or Igbo, so my own is just be good at what you do, be focused. It might not just happen the way you plan it. But endurance and tenacity will definitely pay off. I keep using Saka as a point of reference. This man has been there. Go and watch old movies, you will see that many of the people he acted with became superstars even before now. Fast forward 15, 10 years later, he is doing Etisalat advert and from there, he ported to MTN. He also teaches. Endurance pays, no matter how long it takes.
How many languages do you speak?
Pidgin, Igbo, Yoruba and I can abuse in Hausa.