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Nollywood legend, Zack Orji, has opened up on his earlier dallying with marijuana, music, and long years spent as a smoker.
He said;
“I quit smoking because at a certain time, it was no longer pleasurable. As a matter of fact, I discovered that anytime I smoked over the years, I fell sick.
Nollywood legend, Zack Orji, has opened up on his earlier dallying with marijuana, music, and long years spent as a smoker.
In a chat with PUNCH, the veteran actor revealed how the friends he kept introduced him to Indian hemp..
He said:
“I wrote a song in 1978 and in Enugu, there was this band they called IK Mudodo; they were the resident band in the 82 Division soldiers’ club.
I used to go there to sing and perform with them on their Friday gigs. The band leader then was the one who introduced me to smoking Indian hemp and that was the first time I tasted Indian hemp, in 1978. I really cannot explain how I felt.
I tried it a few more times before I made up my mind that it was not good for me. It did not agree with my system, so I dropped it. “
After Indian hemp, came cigarettes–an addiction he lived through for many years, but he eventually quit when he found that it no longer pleased his wife; the lifestyle was no longer a pleasurable one. And so he had to reinvent himself.
He said;
I gave it up the first time for three years, then I relapsed but I finally stopped three years after I got married. I just discovered that anytime I smoked, I did not feel comfortable with myself, so I gave it up. I only smoke now when my character as an actor requires me to pick up a stick of cigarette.
To be honest, I tried marijuana as well but it did not agree with my body system. One thing is certain; you must know your body. You cannot be foolishly doing something knowing very well that it is affecting you negatively. It also has to do with peer pressure.
“When I quit smoking cigarettes after our marriage, my wife was so happy. When we were courting, it was okay with her but after marriage, she did not like it so I had to stop.”
And why is he telling this story now? The actor cites the rumoured cases of drug addiction among young artistes, which he blames on poor parenting.
If parents do their jobs well, there are greater chances that their children would not fall off the ‘right’ path, he said.
“I would say the problem of drugs in the entertainment industry especially with young musicians is a problem of poor parenting. We must inculcate in our children a good moral compass. When they go wrong, we must not fail to correct them.
We should not condone certain things and make our children feel like they can get away with certain things. That is one of the problems we have with the so-called influential people in the society. They are always ready to bail out their children irrespective of what the children did, not minding the fact that whatever your son does to another person, that is also another human being…
I know a number of young Nigerians who are heavily on drugs; some of them have gone for rehabilitation. A lot of it has to do with poor parenting, negative peer pressure and a feeling of insecurity; believing that you have to do something to belong to a certain class.”
Well, his advice to those who want to find their way back, who wish to reinvent themselves and lead clean lives, he said:
“You must believe in yourself, that you are somebody and you don’t need anyone’s approval to live your life. You don’t need to live up to anybody’s expectation and that is the problem with a lot of young stars.”
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