Azizat Sadiq

BEFORE fame came her way, Azizat Sadiq was like any other ordinary lady found on the streets of Lagos. But providence changed all that the day she filled a form to partake in the Amstel Malta Box Office(AMBO) reality show. From no less than twenty thousand youths that took part in the screening exercise, Azizat emerged as one of the ten lucky persons that made the final.

And for the more than six weeks the reality show lasted, she left no one in doubt about her talent as a budding artist.
And she, indeed, excelled at the end of the show, a feat which fetched for her N2.5 million, courtesy of the winning prize. In addition, she got a role to feature in Sitanda, the movie which was also sponsored by the makers of the malt drink.

Not deterred by being an orphan, the Kogi State indigene realised the importance of education and was determined to attain it. After secondary school, she worked towards and gained admission into Lagos State Polytechnic, Isolo Main Campus to study Marketing.

Afterwards, she worked with a Lagos-based company as a sales executive. Even then, her talent never got lost in transit, so she found her way into the movie industry. Of course, she hasn't regretted that decision; not just yet.


"One of the things I learnt at the AMBO house, human relations that is- greatly helped me relate with other cast and crew too on set of Sitanda," enthused Azizat, who once told us "some people say I look and smile like Geneveive. But I want to break out of it. I respect Genevieve; she has done so well for herself. I want to do so well for myself and I don't want to be seen as a second Genevieve. I want to be seen as Azizat".


It's so good to see you today. How do you feel?
It's a privilege being here and being celebrated like this. It's really an honour on my part. I ve always believed I would be famous one day but I never thought it would come so quick. So, I'm grateful to everybody who has been helpful.
Did you say you always knew you were going to be famous?
You know, it's good to dream big. Even though it (success) doesn't come like that, it comes gradually if you keep on working at it. If you're hardworking and you put God first, everything will work out.

At what time in your life did you see signs that you were going to be big?
Well, when I went into the movie industry.


Let's talk about your experience on set.

On set, it's a wonderful experience. It was tedious. We just had to work at it because we knew what we wanted to achieve. You know Jos is really cold. Sometimes, we had to only wear leaves and leather wrapped around our chests like you saw in the movie. And there was plenty of mosquito bites in the freezing weather. But it was great because we knew what we wanted to achieve. We were striving to achieve the best, and I'm happy it came out this way. We achieved the best.

Given the harsh weather condition and other challenges you encountered, did you at any time feel like giving up on set?
Yeah, when we were up there on the mountains. Sometimes, we were there for three days. We didn't get a chance to go back to the hotel to rest and have a bath. There was no chance to take care of yourself, so you had to work. Sometimes, I got really tired and I'd be like no, no, no, I want to go back'. But I knew I had to finish it.

You wore leaves and leather in the movie. Did you ever feel freaky or...
(Laughs). Wearing leaves was really painful sometimes (because) it tore my skin. But they didn't really hurt me that much. So, I wasn't also that badly hurt.

Now, what was underneath the leaves?
We had stockings cut short into some sorts of pants and wore them. It was good. It was an experience of a lifetime.
Can you share with us your experience working with established actors. What was it like?
They were wonderful and very supportive. Ireti Doyle kept on encouraging me, telling me not to worry; that things would work out fine. She was wonderful. I didn't have an opportunity to work with Stephanie Okereke because we were not on the same set. She was in the town setting while I was in the village setting. But it was good. When I saw them, they encouraged me. They just kept on pushing me.

You were quite close to Sitanda...
(Laughs) Yeah, I was. You have to be able to develop that rapport if you're going to bring out the best in your work. So, that was basically what we did. We had to become friends before we could work very well. Everything was wonderful.

Now tell me, what did you do with the money?
Which money?
The one you won at the AMBO show
That was a long time ago. It's almost a year now.
Yes, what happened to it?
Well, I invested it and used a little bit. I bought a couple of things and that's about it.

It's all gone?
No, I invested part of it and bought a car. I've also been taking care of myself. You know, living up to expectations.
Let's talk about relationships. What has it been like? Did you have someone before this whole thing started happening?
Did I have someone before this whole thing started happening? Yeah, but I'm going to keep that out of this.

No, let's get this straight, is he still there?
Yes, he's still there, very supportive and still my best friend.
How have you been coping with the other admirers you've met?
Basically, I have to concentrate on my work. I don't waste time on admirers because I can lose focus. You can lose focus if you are not careful in the movie industry. So, I have to concentrate on my work and that's what I'm doing right now.

How long are you going to spend concentrating on your work?
As long at it takes.
There's a general notion that actors or actresses don't stay long in marriage.
No, I don't think that's true. We have a lot of people like uncle Jacobs and aunty Joke Silver...



Fifteen percent?
Yeah. Fifty percent?
Fifteen.
No, no, no, I wouldn't say fifteen percent. I would say it depends on how you, as an individual, are able to work your relationship and how you're able to stay in it. If you're determined to make it in your relationship, you will make it. But it's silly to make that general statement that actors or actresses don't last in marriage. It's an unfair statement.

What is it like with the men outside? How are you coping with them?
I've got good friends, very good friends. Admirers? Well, yeah, they come but it seems I'm very busy. A lot of times, I have little or no time to spend chatting with guys. The ones that are my friends are very good and supportive and I really don't have time for those who try to go beyond this level.
What about the bad ones, those ones that are quite aggressive?
(Laughs) I don't think I've had any of those.

Filmography: Suicide Lovers, Sitanda