“A Voice Told Me To Jump Into The River And End It All’ – KOK Recounts Tragic Childhood
Nollywood veteran, Anayo Modestus Onyekwere, wildly known as Kanyo O. Kanayo has narrated how he almost took his life while living with his elder brother in Enugu.
The actor cum lawyer in interview with Vanguard gave startling revelations on his travails before fame and money. The thespian narrated how he hawked Agidi on the streets of Enugu as a source of livelihood.
One of those gloomy days of hawking along the Abakpa Bridge, a link between the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army and Thinkers Corner axis of Enugu, Kanayo noted that he stared deep into the flowing river and a voice nudged him to dive into the 30feet deep water.
Kanayo who was exposed to child labour recounted series of times he had to resist the urge of taking his own life. While Burbles Media spotlight celebrity success stories, Kanayo’s parvenu tale is one that is even more punctuated with struggling, frustration and misery.
Sharing his story on Vanguard KOK said: “I haven’t done anything bad but people who see us on TV don’t know that we had done menial jobs to make ends meet.
“When I look back, I sold agidi. And my brother’s wife, whom I lived with in those days in Enugu, didn’t want to know your age.
“She would pack dozens of agidi on my head and God save me if I returned home with some unsold items with the kind of beating I would receive that day.
“If you are familiar with Enugu very well, I used to hawk agidi from New Haven to Abakpa, a long distance.
“One day, I got to Abakpa bridge and as a small boy then I looked down into the water of about 30 feet deep and a voice said to me, ‘why don’t you jump into the water and end the whole thing’?
“I was a small boy carrying this heavy thing on my head. But I didn’t listen to that voice and luckily for me, I finished selling all the agidi.
“The next day, I was given Akamu to go and sell in the streets. That’s one part of my story. I remember vividly when I was in my village in Oboama Ezinihitte Mbaise, I used to dig pit toilets.
“Then, you have to do something to contribute to the family economy. These days you take your children to school in air-conditioned cars. It was not so during my days.
“When I remember that I had to dig a pit toilet just to contribute to my family’s economy, I say to myself, I have come a long way. I also did other menial jobs just to support my parents.
“These are stories about me that are not just the beautiful or handsome faces you see every day on the television.
“We have been through the thick and thin of life. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. But I want to make sure that children don’t go back to where I started from.
“However, my children need to understand that there is a street where people are coming from. When you come from that street, it hardens you to a lot of things.
“And on that note, I want to advise every father and every mother to avoid giving their children all they asked for. Give them all they need, not all they want.
“It’s very important because when you hear about most people who are on the street, they are more focused on business.”
Read full interview here
