I Was A Rascal, But God Arrested Me - Elvon Jarrett

Elvon JarretElvon Jarrett, actor, director and media consultant, in this interview with BAYO ALADE speaks on his mission, relationship with Mount Zion Film Ministry and what keeps him going in life. Excerpts:

Who is Elvon Jarret?
Elvon Jarret is an easy going person. A media practitioner, movie-actor and director.

You are a familiar face in Mount Zion movies. What is actually your relationship with that ministry?
I am part of them as an associate for about twelve years. I was not part of them from the beginning. As an associate whenever there is a project, they invite me. When they were still at Ife, I went there for production. I think it was just a synergy of spirits, it was God that ordained it; I did not solicit for the associateship of the ministry, they invited me.

How many movies have you done with Mount Zion Film Ministry?
Ah! my brother, I may have to start counting. Basically, I was not in Agbara Nla and Ide Esu, but from The Story Of My Life to the current ones, I was involved. A lot of people make the mistake of saying they have not seen me in their movies of late. But we have the front camera and the back camera. I sometimes switch from acting to directing.

Do you have your own company?
Yes, I have the FOG Media (Friends of God Media) and I also run the Elvon Jarret company. FOG Media is to reorientate the society through God-inspiring media, total media. The Centurion currently running on GTV Abeokuta is meant to sensitise the society, both the police and Nigerians about security in our society and how to tackle it.

How much support are you getting for that project and from what quarters?
The police have been supporting us but it is basically logistic. The past commissioners of police in Oyo State like Jonathan Johnson have supported us and we also look forward to support from the IG and several other people and we can really blow it up to serve its purpose. Very soon it shall be coming up for viewing in home videos and the rest. It’s not only the police we are looking up to for support, we also want support from banks and individuals.We know what is going on in our society today and we know that the police cum security has been neglected to a large extent and we need to make the policing profession more honourable so that policemen can have a higher self-esteem, such that members of the society can begin to respect them as they ought to be. We also have other projects we are working on; we did Strongholds and it is about teachers. It talks about restoring dignity to teachers in our nation as well as parental guidance. That’s what we set out to do in our productions, to have correct approaches to the society.

Before you became born again what was your lifestyle ?
Well, at that time like everybody, I was in the university and I thought that what life was all about was struggling and getting as much money as possible. I was studying Anthropology with Theatre Arts and I was interested in the arts. Like every young man I had my own share of stubbornness and adventure. At that time in UI, we weren’t really womanising; I was only a little rascal, there was nothing I wasn’t involved in right from confraternity to all sorts of things. It was God who stretched his hand at me because He really wanted to use me for his Glory. There were risks I used to take as a young man but God helped me.

I have seen you a few times working with other Christian groups who are into movie production, which groups are these ?
Basically, any group that needs my services if I feel a leading to go, I will work with them because apart from being a film maker, I am also a media consultant. I have a Master’s in Communication Arts.

Would you say you are fulfilled doing what you are doing?
I would say yes. Fulfilment is in stages. I have a joy in being able to pass messages, when I walk into a place and people appreciate me they do so, not because of who I am but what I do, the message I’ve been able to pass across; that gives me fulfilment. Recently at the Abuja airport I met somebody, who told me that I had been a blessing to his family and home. I felt close to tears, we are not talking about money here. We are talking about life-changing things that have happened. I came across a couple who said, “That film you did was what had given us children because of such and such a thing we had done.” Things like that. What more can one do than using one’s talent in glorifying God and being of use to mankind.

Where is Elvon Jarret going from here?
I see myself going to please God more in whatever capacity He wants me to serve and being of a blessing to my generation.

Eddie Did Not Sacrifice Himself For Me But... - Nancy Kalembe

Nancy Kalembe Nancy Kalembe, is one of the contestants at the just concluded The Apprentice Africa. She spoke with Tope Olukole about her experience at the competition and other issues. Excerpts:

How were you able to live with the C.E.O’s constant threat of eviction throughout the episode?
The threat of eviction was there for all of us, so I did not have to deal with it any differently. I just tried to give my best every week in every task.

In episode 10, you said Blessing and Eunice told you that they considered you a tough competitor, how did this affect your relationship with the ladies?
Everyone in the house was picked because they had potential(s) to be tough competitors. Regarding my relationship with the ladies, it was a normal professional one with exchange of ideas, sharing of responsibilities, healthy disagreements and hardwork. Their relationship with me was just as normal but I think it can best be found out from them. Being a sportswoman all my life, I have taught myself to always learn from those that are with me in competition and not keep away from them or develop unnecessary grudges, for it is with this constant relationship that you get better at the game.

Do you think Eunice ganged up with others to implicate you after the failed task in episode 10?
Episode 10 turned out the way it did because Zulu was better, that’s it, and by the rules of the game, someone had to be fired. It happened to be me and there’s nothing else to it. It is a possibility but one I haven’t put much thought to. If they did or did not, it doesn’t really matter. It just means they played their cards better than I did. Cheers to them.

In episode 9, you were responsible for the error in financial projection by 1,000 per cent...and Matrix Corp lost as a result...how did that incident make you feel...knowing that Eddie was fired in a bid to protect you?
Eddie took a conscious decision to say what he said and I am sure he had his reasons for it. It made me feel that I needed to work harder but when you work in a team there are too many variable entities beyond your control. But to set the record straight, I was in charge of the financial tasks and I had done my calculations right, which were approved by Eddie. That error was typographic, one by Regina who was responsible for the compilation of the final document for presentation. As a team player, I knew how much hardwork we had put into everything and when the error was noticed I decided to just let it pass because I did not want to put Regina who had been very instrumental to the whole project on the line for such a trivial matter. Eddie did not take me to the boardroom that time because he knew what had actually happened and as the project manager he called the final shot. Previously, he had already let me know that he wanted to return to Kenya for personal reasons. By not taking me to the boardroom, he was only doing the right thing as a gentleman of integrity. I think that act alone says a lot about him as a person. He knew if he had taken me to the boardroom I would be fired instantly but he chose not to take the advantage of the situation but rather stand by the truth he knew.

Eddie sacrificed himself for you in episode 9, could you have done anything remotely close to that for any of your team mates?
As I just said earlier, Eddie did not sacrifice himself for me but rather did a very noble thing by not taking the advantage of the grey area as many would do to get ahead. I would do the same for all my team mates given the same situation because at the end of the day, this is just a competition, a fragment of my life and is not worth throwing my reputation away just to get ahead.

If you were to start a company with two contestants at The Apprentice Africa, who would you pick, and why?
This a very interesting question. I think I would start my company with the winner and runner-up of TAA if they would be willing to work with me, of course. The reason is quite simple: they would be the best of the best from the mansion, so why look any further?

What was your most exciting moment at the show?
Meeting for task 1; new people, new aims, new work and with very clear rewards and consequences.

Who were your closest friends or confidants in the mansion?
I had many friends, especially my team mates whom I had to work with closely, so it’s had to pick out just one of them as we all respected and worked with each other.

Do you think your firing was justified?
The CEO’s decision is beyond the question you are asking me. But to answer you, my firing was justified because my team lost.

Are there decisions that Biodun Shobanjo made that you disagree with?
Not much really, except for one or two of his bow ties!

If you were a gambler, who would you bet on to emerge Shobanjo’s apprentice, and why?
Am not a gambler, but I think the person with the most resilience, hardwork and consistency will win it.

Now that The Apprentice Africa is over for Nancy Kalembe, what next?
Put the lessons learnt from TAA into practice in my working life, and see what happens. I must say that this has been quite an experience. I would have said back to business as usual but this is not the Nancy before TAA. I am looking at life now from a very different angle and I know it will never be business as usual ever for me again. I am certainly going to work on the projects I had started on but had stopped for fear of the unknown in the business arena having been at the feet of a wise business man like Mr. Shobanjo; this has opened my eyes like never before. I am truly grateful for all the things he taught us during this period and I will take all his advice into account. I am not saying much about my plans, I would rather ask you to watch and see for yourselves.

If you were given an opportunity to return to the show, what would you do differently?
I would actually change very little. I will pay more attention to details and how they affect the day’s business. My strategy was “Trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, but in everything acknowledge Him and He shall direct my path.” It was by choice not to have alliances or connivance with anyone in spite of a few invitations from people who wanted me to work with them to get rid of another contestant. This would be against my very principles. I wouldn’t have done anything differently because I believed my path was well- guided. I am grateful for reaching episode 10 in spite of holding the record for the boardroom appearances. In as much as being in the boardroom is a bad thing in itself, I believe in positive thinking and I know that everything has both positive and negative sides; nonetheless, I survived boardroom after boardroom hot sitting. I am glad I met all those wonderful people. Though some people’s characters were almost blurred on account of the need to win; I understand it was the pressure of the USD 200,000 job. Above all, I got along well with all the contestants and had no personal issues with anybody, which I see as a good thing.