Veteran Nollywood actor Jide Kosoko has expressed his disappointment over not attaining great wealth despite his six-decade-long career in the Nigerian film industry.
Speaking on The Honest Bunch podcast, the 71-year-old actor admitted that while he is financially comfortable, he does not consider himself rich by Nigerian standards.
Kosoko highlighted the detrimental impact of piracy on the Nollywood industry and advocated for stricter penalties against those involved in the illegal distribution of films.
According to him, “I have been in this [movie] industry for this long. I thank God that I can eat three square meals. But can I claim to be a rich man by Nigerian standards? No.
The punishment in the copyright law for piracy is still not strong enough as far as I am concerned. Somebody who has been pirating people’s works for years is a billionaire, so how much do you want to fine him?
“Fine him N500 million, and he will just bring it out of what he has sold. But if you attach a 20-year jail sentence to it with no option of a fine, people will refrain from piracy.”
Jide Kosoko began his acting career as a child actor in 1964 in a television production named Makanjuola.
Since then, he has featured in hundreds of Nollywood movies in both English and Yoruba languages.