John Ikechukwu Okafor, a.k.a. Mr Ibu, is unquestionably one of Nigeria’s most talented comic characters. Okafor in recent times is best known for his humourous acting which is often characterised by stupidity, hilarious imbecility and a sharp disconnection from reality.

He was born into a humble family in Ankanu Local Government Area of Enugu State and attended Community Central School, Eziokpo. During my elementary school days.

He was so fortunate; whenever he committed an offence that warrants severe punishment, my teacher would ask me to do something to make the class laugh. It may be to create effects with my stomach or to shake my buttocks in a comic style.

" So, whenever I did as requested, I’d gain my freedom inmmediately.

The whole class would reel in laughter and that remained my saving grace till the end of my early school years. I grew up under the tutelage of my grandfather, who was my source of inspiration in what I have become today"

Acording to Nigeria Movie .net, while he was growing up in Benin, there used to be a popular TV comedy programme called Hotel de Jordan. He used to go and see the actors and crew members during shootinng. So, on this fateful day, it happened that as we watched them do their thing, one of the artistes asked me to come on set and play the role of a farmer in one of the episodes. That was how he became an actor and made his first appearance before the television camera. From that point anytime he heard anything that had to do with drama, he would jump at it.

Later on, he found myself in Onitsha where he got himself acquainted with the major entertainers in town. These people were always kind and willing to assist him.

When the Anambra State Broadcasting Service (ABS) came on board, he was involved in some productions until 1994 when he did what he consider his first paid acting job.

"The title of the film was Rolling Stone produced by Solomon Eze and directed by the late Kenneth Egbuna. I was paid N5,000 for the job," he said

This is Lagos

After he moved over to Lagos and discovered that many jobs were available and that once you are able to prove yourself, you would not lack jobs. His first job in Lagos was Don’t Cry for Me. After that he did Banana Girls. He came down to Lagos not to go into acting per se, but to be behind the scene. However, each time anyone billed to play a lead role in a movie failed to show up, he would be asked to stand in for him. Before he knew it, people began to take notice of him and he felt, well, if  people want me to come to the front seat ,why not. So from that point I was invited to act in other movies," he said.

How he discovered Jim Iyke

During the shooting of Woman in Jos, Georgina Onuoha was discovered on his set. He thank God that she still pays me homage till date. After returning from Jos and we were preparing for the shooting of Vuga, Jim Iyke walked up to me and showed interest and commitment in becoming a seasoned actor. He put him through and he acted in about eleven scenes in Vuga and he proved himself. He have played motivational roles to many up and coming artistes in this business and most often many of them see me as someone who is approachable.

Most outstanding movie

" I consider Uncle Wayward as my best movie so far though  I am not supposed to rate myself. I think Mr Ibu is more popular in the market even outside the country. Many Nigerian families have copies of Mr Ibu in their collection and most people call me Mr Ibu anywhere they see me. And well before the movie came, people already knew me as Ibu. It is a name I inherit from my grandfather," he e said,

Getting into character

When he was given a very good script with a fantastic story line and other good artistes playing alongside or supporting him, he tend to come into character quickly. But in a situation where probably due to lack of funds on the part of the producer, he see himself playing the major role and the script is also poor, all he do in such circumstance is to come up with an attitude that is unique. That was what he did in School Boy. ‘I read the script and I found out that it was rubbish. But because I was broke at that time, I decided to act as a stammerer in School Boy,"

Clash of marketers and mega stars

"This crisis is very unfortunate. There is something we must believe in  this industry, the fact that the movie industry is making waves today is to the credit of the pioneering marketers who took the risk of putting their money into the business. They gave us jobs and as we worked we were being paid and with the money we earn, we are able to look good, put food on the table and take care of our other needs.

We should see ourselves as two elements that need to be balanced, because without the marketers, we would not have made it this big and without us the actors, the marketers too would not have made it so stupendously. So, there is the need for us to appreciate the role we are all playing towards the growth of the industry," he said.

Embarrasing moment

Last December, he went to a town to see a football match just like every other human being. But to his shock, when the crowd saw him, they left the football match and started running after him to the point that even the referee had to stop the match to also catch a glimpse of him. "The way the crowd was surging towards me. I had no option than to escape to my car before some of my friends rescued me. They were trying to show their love but it was too dangerous to stay back," he said