Nigerian comedian Sabinus reveals his father once rejected his comedy career, calling it a “stupid business,” before later giving his blessing after success
Nigerian comedian Emmanuel Ejekwu, popularly known as Sabinus, has opened up about his father’s initial disapproval of his decision to pursue a career in comedy.
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Speaking in an interview with VJ Adams, the award-winning skit maker revealed that his father strongly wanted him to become a lawyer.
However, after repeated attempts, he was unable to secure admission to study law and instead opted for Linguistics and Communication Studies at the University of Port Harcourt.
Sabinus explained that it was during his time on campus that he discovered his talent for content creation and began making skits, even though it yielded no financial reward at first.
He recounted that after graduation, he kept his comedy pursuits hidden from his father for about a year.
The truth emerged when his father started seeing his face on posters for comedy shows — a discovery that sparked anger and disappointment.
According to Sabinus, his father felt he had wasted money on his education, dismissing comedy as a “stupid business.”
He said:
“At first, my dad never wanted me to be what I am today; he wanted me to be a lawyer. I tried my best but I couldn’t secure a law admission, so I had to settle for Linguistics and Communication Studies at Uniport.
It was on campus that I saw skit making and I decided to try it out. Money wasn’t coming.
After I graduated, my dad never knew I was a comedian because I was hiding it. One year after school, he started seeing me on comedy show posters.
My sisters confirmed to him that I was into comedy. He was very furious. He fumed: ‘Which comedy? Stupid business. Look at the boy I sent to become a lawyer.’”
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The comedian noted that his father eventually had a change of heart after Sabinus began to achieve success and started gifting him money from his earnings.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
