Veteran Nollywood actor Afeez Oyetoro, popularly known as Saka, has opened up about how financial struggles early in his career affected his love life and self-confidence.
Speaking in a recent interview with Chude Jideonwo, Saka recounted the challenges he faced as a young actor, noting that despite his deep passion for theatre, the industry offered little in terms of income or respect at the time.
He said many people didn’t take actors seriously, which made it even harder to build a stable personal life.
He revealed that his lack of financial stability impacted his ability to approach women, as he couldn’t afford basic necessities like a car.
This, he said, led some women to question his future and even advised him to abandon acting altogether.
“There was no confidence. It took me a long time to start approaching women,” he said. “Back then, acting didn’t pay. Nobody respected us. We were in it for the passion, and nobody taught us how to earn from the craft.”
He also recalled a painful memory involving a woman he had intended to marry.
According to him, she insisted he must own two cars before she would consider marrying him.
“That day, something told me, ‘Afeez, this is not your wife,’ and I walked away,” he said. “Eventually, I met my wife while I was in school, and that’s when everything fell into place.”
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Saka’s story highlights the harsh realities of pursuing passion over profit in the early days of Nollywood and the personal sacrifices many actors had to make.
