“HOW LATE ACE COMEDIAN BOMA EREKOSIMA INFLUENCED ME” —-NIGERIA’S BEST COMEDY CLUB WINNER ACE COMEDIAN- ANGEL D’ LAFF REVEALS

He is tall, chocolate complexioned and handsome looking, loaded with wits and having been born a humour merchant better known with his stage name Angel D’ Laff but born as Ishmael Angel Attah of Nembe Bayelsa state parentage. This Petroleum Engineering graduate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology Nkpolu Orowurokwo Port Harcourt now Rivers state University Port Harcourt on Tuesday 4th of February, 2020 opened his Port Harcourt Office complex to www.towncrier.ng Media Team as he revealed for the first time how he met and proposed to his wife in the presence of popular musicians Timaya and Wacomzy and fellow ace comedians inside University of Port Harcourt Campus where he went for a Comedy Show.
Petroleum Engr. Angel Attah, Comedian of the Federal Republic is the host of the Port Harcourt Comedy Club with his 1st Wednesday every month rib cracking at The Platinum Lounge of Hotel Presidential Port Harcourt Rivers state capital. The award winning “Best Comedy Club in Nigeria 2019/2020” actually celebrated his 40TH BIRTHDAY on Sunday 9th of February, 2020 with the launching of his auto-biography book entitled “My Life Journey”.
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EXCERPTS

Que: On 3rd of February 2020 you turned 40 years, how has it been so far?

And my birthday was yesterday, February 3rd, 2020 and happened to be my 40th birthday. Part of the activities to celebrate these four decades on earth February 3rd happened to be on Monday we had a communion service on the 5th of February, 2020 we had Moment to Party at Port Harcourt Comedy Club. On the 9th happened to be birthday celebration and my book launch it is called “My Life Journey”, I will be dropping a book which is my first written book. It is something the society People out there should get a copy as it is a story to inspire the young generation and give hope to those who feel that they are hopeless as every finished product you see has gone through a process. It is good we know these things so that these young ones will not be carried away by the fantasies of life and think that people who are successful got to every position they find themselves overnight but with a lot of hard work and a lot of determination. But some persons give up that is why we don’t celebrate them and couldn’t hear about their stories today. We decided to keep pushing and pushing with resilience, persistence and perseverance all these had brought us here.

Que: From your book “My Life Journey”, what is it all about?

It is autobiography that tells very in-depth story as this is the very first time that I will be telling my life story at this length as it has been very rough at the beginning but with great testimony. Like I did say I have been a product of grace wherever I found myself today it is all about grace. I just want to share this story, I know that to some persons, this would be a motivation to produce or bring forth great men and women in our society. My childhood was not easy as it was a very difficult part with beautiful memories. These are all the stories. I am from a polygamous family. And you can understand from this part of the country and having not to live for too long with your parents thus moving from one relative to another, this time from very distance relative to another. You can understand what such child will go through, very difficult part where you are considered second in the family and the leftovers are left for you. It is a difficult story but with perseverance I keep having those dreams of being on the top that was what enabled me to keep on pushing even when all hopes are lost but the dream, the faith kept me going. The book is rich.

Que: What formed your choice of studying Petroleum Engineering in Rivers State University of Science and Technology Nkpolu Orowurokwo Port Harcourt now Rivers state University?

In growing up everybody has this desire most especially in this part of the country you want to be something big because of the influence of the Oil and Gas within our environment and coming from oil rich community and I felt that if I study Petroleum engineering with the number of oil wells within my community that I will quickly get a job but I now realize that these things don’t always happen like that. There so many crude Oil wells within my community Nembe in Bayelsa state. But after studying Petroleum Engineering,…my brother there was no job(Laughs). But the truth about the matter is that right from my year 2 in the university I came to realize that there is no job. And in order to make an impact in the society it is not because you work for a multinational but touching lives is the best way you can only be remembered for the Psalmist say we can only be remembered by the works we have done and comedy gave me that vehicle platform for me to reach out to the world. And not just because I became a celebrity comedian but because I became a Comedian with a difference not just making jokes and making people happy but transposing that happiness to be meaningful in the hearts of others. I happened to be the first comedian to run charitable Foundation, I run Prison Ministry, I discover talents in Nigerian Correctional Centers (Prisons Yards) I took talents to Prison Yards e comedians to Prison yards for the first in Nigerian History. I run Foundation for people with Autism, Down syndrome, and people with Cerebral palsy and just name them. I run Foundation for the Home for the Elderly people. I can go on and on. All this is a call for service.

Que: Being an entertainer as a comedian what drives you of being a writer?

Of course the educated part of my life of having gone to school, having studied and met with different class of people I come to realize that people always feel that the creative industry, the entertainers are people who don’t really pencil down their creativity. You see them do their stuff as we have known them from the musicians who sing their songs, Song writers, Composers, Producers, Actors, just name them people do not know these class of people as people who could actually bring the intelligent side of them and the creative side of them in writing and put up a book together. They said maybe I am the second comedian to come up with a book after ace comedian Julius De Genius Agwu who came up with a book. I am yet to get this fact right maybe I am the second comedian to come up with a book. There will be more to come as there may be a time where young entertainers, young comedians, young people generally seeing the flashy things of life and they feel you can wake up overnight kidnap people for ransom, go into criminality, go into illegal oil bunkering, because you want to make ends meet including the women. There is high level of prostitution today…digitalized prostitution today which they call ‘runs’, so you can see a girl in her mother’s house and a cab is coming to pick her out and if you check social media you will see the girl taking pictures with different kinds of hotels and she is still living in her parents’ house. And her family they like the pictures ‘oh this place is lovely and this place is beautiful’ and your daughter is just selling her body all round the nation. As you see them in flight plane travelling from one point to another which business meeting ‘wey they go’? No business meeting ‘na man dey buy the flight ticket as they are moving from one place to another’ and they are posting as you see them with bags in aircraft and they don’t have jobs What are you going for that they will pay a flight ticket for you. We should begin to say these things the way they are, so the idea of this book is that you can make a decent living. Put creativity into play and be patient the right will definitely come. Nobody is saying that it is going to be so easy.

Que: At what point did you discover this humour and comedy side in you?

The truth of the matter is that humour is humour from childhood humour is humour as it is not something that later part of your life you discover that you are hilarious. When you are in Primary School the day that you don’t go to school and people will miss your absence in class it is then that you know you are hilarious and your presence matters. I was that kind of person if I don’t go to school the classroom will always be bored and all that as I had always brought laughter to the classroom and most times our names are always in the noise makers’ lists. So, when I was in the secondary school as the first part of my secondary school I attended mix school as I became the only boy in a dance Group where we go to entertain people, as I was the only boy in a dance group where we go and represent the school and all that in the midst of girls I was the only boy. And people begin to ask why will I go and be in this group? But I saw myself ‘being given’. I got influenced by late Boma Erekosima so I started from that line of entertainment where the parables “Njakiri”…and all that. Late Boma Erekosima was someone who affected this apart of the journey positively until he is dead.

Que: How did you get married being so handsome and well educated and an entertainer?

I think the Bible said he who finds a wife finds a good thing as it is the duty of a man to find a wife. And every man knows when he sees his wife…You know there is that instinct as there Is something inside of you maybe a hormone got created that tells you that this is the right person and ones you make the wrong choice you will suffer for it for the rest of your life. I want to be so privileged that I made the right choice. I first met my wife when my friend Wacomzy the man who sang ‘Iworiwo’ and Timaya we did a show together then in Port Harcourt and I was the Master of Ceremony –MC. So, while the show was on we had a break for a fashion Show and there came this beautiful model walk past the aisle as I was with Wacomzy and Timaya and I said ‘This is my wife’. They were the first set of people that I told that ‘This is my wife’. You know as entertainers we laughed as we just wanted to enjoy. So, I went to the designer. I went to their changing point that Nigerian celebrity designer Zalima and I said that I want to see that girl and he said ‘no no no you can’t see that girl that she is here to show case my wears and not here for that. But I said to myself that time will come and I will meet that girl again. That same year about few months after that year we went to Uniport (University of Port Harcourt) for a show myself and OrisaFemi so while we were together waiting for the Show to kick off the students’ environment I saw her with her friends from a distance with her friends and I sent a junior comedian colleague of mine to say ‘Go and call this lady tell her that Angel de Laff is calling her So when he went there and he said and she said that Angel de Laff eh no get leg come waka meet me?’ So, I heard that word and walked up to her and I said ‘I do ooo and I get leg ooo’. So, the joke came into play eased that tension and laughter came in and I started talking with her and in my dramatic nature I knelt down and I said ‘You are my wife… marry me” That was our first meeting and I was telling her to marry me . So while I was with her a lot of celebrities who were with me Arinze Baba came and joined me, Prince Hezekiah came and joined me and Tatafo a lot of celebrities were with me on the floor so she could not hold it and she now said ‘stand up’ I was on my kneels as I said ‘”Marry me’.

Que: Where is she from?

She is from Kwale in Delta state. I am From Nembe in Bayelsa state.

Que: How has inter tribal marriage been so far?

It has been very sweet I think like I said earlier our culture is no more different from each other like I did say when you marry the right person you will enjoy every bit of your marriage so your in laws are more of a family to you than being in laws. So we are blessed with two children.

Que: What is exactly do you expect to leave behind at the celebration of your 40th birthday?

What I expect is to impact more to the society and leave a legacy that is the greatest wealth I can leave behind legacy for my children. Good name I am not talking about leaving riches for my children…You know they will find their feet. But one of the things I promise to leave behind for my children is a name , a name they can stand and protect and celebrate any time any day because that is all we will be remembered for our good works. So, I want to leave good works behind and the next phases of my life is all about impacting and increase the spirit of charity and help put smiles on the faces of people as there are people out there who are looking for just a smile from someone who are looking for shoulder to rest their head. So, in everything we do in life let us know that our actions and inactions will affect positively or negatively. So, we want to make our lives count and one way we want to make our lives count is to Love. Love; with love we can heal the world. We can make this global environment a small community as one family.