Why celebrities should keep families away from social media – Dokubo

Veteran Nollywood actress, Hilda Dokubo, who recently completed a PhD in Literature at the International Institute of Technology and Management, Lomé, Togo, shares with GODFREY GEORGE how she achieved this feat despite being a Nigerian filmmaker and mother

You have just obtained a doctorate in literature from a college in Togo. What's it like to add that extra feather to your cap?

I really don't know, but I just know it's an added responsibility. Whenever I receive something, I always tell people that for every new gift or addition to life or its achievement, it is an additional responsibility. It's something that puts me in front of people again and gives me extra tasks. I am so grateful to God for this opportunity. It's a call for more work.

How were you able to combine school with acting and parenthood?

The key to success is not far away. It's in his ability to connect and stay committed and consistent in what he believes in. Don't take your eyes off the lens. Will you take on challenges? Yes. Is it going to be intimidating and demanding? Yes. You may be happy some days and not other days, but if you stay committed and focused on what you're doing, it will happen. Education is top of the scale for me. Anyone who knows me knows that I love education very much. In fact, people make fun of me a lot. Really, I enjoy reading, writing and gaining additional knowledge every day. There is no knowledge overload.

Hasn't your relationship with your family and friends suffered since you had to mix Togo and Nigeria?

As far as relationships with people are concerned, it has been constant work. Acting is the profession that I describe as the most disciplined profession. This makes you an expert in human relations. Every character that we play as actors is a human life somewhere. By playing this life, you have to find the connection between this life and the other life on this stage or this screen. Now, in doing this you have to understand how human beings relate to themselves and how they relate to others and their environment. This learning or that extra effort that you have to put in all the time while doing your job teaches you that everyone you meet, whether young or old, deserves your respect. Even when some of them seem not so decent, you don't forget that it was a lack of understanding that justified this kind of behavior. So you try to teach them how to behave properly. This is only done by showing them real examples of what the right thing should be. I am my happy self. I am in no way pretentious. When you're not doing the right thing, I'm happy to humbly present to you the picture of the thing you're doing. We all make mistakes and appreciate people when they help us understand them.

You've been playing long enough. Why didn't you go further with graduate studies in cinema or directing? Why literature?

The starting point of theater or cinema is writing - creative writing. I love the art of storytelling, and that's what you find in literature. It helps to connect with history, cultures and people. It gives a word for the image that would be created. They (acting and literature) are literally the same thing. This is how we are able to create the images we want. Additionally, I have a performing arts degree; a bachelor's degree in creative arts; a master's degree in theater education; another master's degree in Theater Acts before my doctorate in Literature.

You mentioned earlier your love for education. What makes you really obsessed with learning?

I won't stop learning. There are things you like as a person. For me, it's education. I like education. I am an educator. I teach people. I love this act of having an impact and learning. I love the act of communication. I'm not stopping anytime soon. It's just sad that we come from a place where we messed up our education system. I wish that we still have an education as beautiful as it was in my day. That's even how I got into entertainment. I was scouted at school. If I hadn't been to school in the first place, I wouldn't have been found. I knew that to be relevant in the theater world, I had to be three times bigger than everyone else. So the adults who raised me taught me to take my books seriously.

What is the ultimate goal in all of this? Do you plan to teach after a while?

I will. I already run a training and mentoring center where I work with a lot of young people. So, I'm going to keep doing this and I'm sure I'll end up in a formal class, that I...