Saratu Gidado, popularly known as Daso, has been a household name in the Kannywood fi lm industry for a very long time. With contemporaries like Hajara Usman, late Aisha Dan Kano, Ibrahim Mandawari, Shehu Hassan, Lubabatu Madaki and many others, Daso is known as an aggressive actress who defi ed all odds to rise to stardom. Aside acting, Daso is presently the Protocol Offi cer (Magajiya) to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II. In this interview with ALIYU ASKIRA in Kano, Daso talks about acting, marriage crisis, her appointment as Magajiya and many more
You were of recent appointed as the Magajiya: Female Protocol Offi cer to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sunusi II. Could you tell us what entails of this your new assignment? Firstly, I would like to register my sincere pleasure to this newspaper for promoting us and our activities. Also, I am happy to put it on record that this paper has assisted many of us – old and upcoming actors and actresses –
for exposing us to the world. Coming back to your question, my functions as the Magajiya to the Emir of Kano is mostly to advise him on some of his decisions like people to meet and other things.
Above all, I serve as a link between the palace and the society, especially in matters of the less privileged women and other members of the society: For example, I facilitate the opportunity for them to see the Emir and get assistance from the Palace. First of all, as a fi rst class Emir, coupled with the fact that he was a former Governor of CBN, there is no doubt that Sarki Sanusi is a man of letters – both in Islamic and Western education.
Also, as his female Protocol Offi cer, it is my duty to see that he runs his offi ce successfully according to the dictates of our culture and religion. So, how is your husband coping with all these and is it true that your fi rst marriage was contracted through the social media and that when the man fi nally came to Kano to take you to his country, the marriage ran into itches and it packed up? It is true my present marriage is the second one. Th at means all in all, I married twice. About the fi rst one, allow my enemies to say what they want to say. All I know is that I got married to somebody I loved and later it crashed.
So let’s leave it at that. Th e society is always looking at our negative side instead of them to pray for us so that we could correct our mistakes. My present husband is not a young man and he has accepted to allow me to continue acting after our marriage. He trusts me the way I also trust him. For example, I learnt that your wife is a proprietress of a secondary school in Kaduna.
Th at means she is a full-time worker and is always dealing with diff erent people. Th is means it is not possible Y reg this n and ou to put i assisted m actors and the world. Coming b functions as t h Kano is mostly decisions like pe Above all, I serv and t he society less privileged of t he society: opportunity for assistance from First of all, with the fact th of CBN, t here i a man of letters education. Also it is my duty successfully acc culture and relig So, how is y these and is it tr contracted t hro when t he man fi to his country, t it pac ked up?
It is true my one. Th at mea About t he fi rst what t hey wan got married to cras hed. So let’s always loo king them to pray fo our mistakes. M young man and to continue acti me t he way I I learnt t hat yo secondary schoo is a full-time wo diff erent people Saratu Gidado, popularly known as Daso, has been a household name in the Kannywood fi lm industry for a very long time. With contemporaries like Hajara Usman, late Aisha Dan Kano, Ibrahim Mandawari, Shehu Hassan, Lubabatu Madaki and many others, Daso is known as an aggressive actress who defi ed all odds to rise to stardom.
Aside acting, Daso is presently the Protocol Offi cer (Magajiya) to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II. In this interview with ALIYU ASKIRA in Kano, Daso talks about acting, marriage crisis, her appointment as Magajiya and many more. for you to monitor all the people she is relating with. She can be going for seminars and workshops outside Kaduna and in most cases, they will put up in hotels.
Th ese scenarios exactly apply to us in Kannywood – If we go to places that we have to put up in a hotel, we have no choice but to stay in the hotel and in the process, we relate with diff erent people with diff erent characters. the most important thing is for one to be sincere to himself and remember that whatever you do, the society is watching you. Recently, you featured in a fi lm called Mata Zalla, meaning “Only Women”, as a bus driver with Hauwa Waraka as your conductor.
Th at looks rather awkward. What message are you passing to the society? I am happy you are not only reporting what is happening in the industry, you also fi nd time to watch our fi lms which in any case, will put you in a better position to report about the industry. Well, the fi lm ‘Mata Zalla’ was produced by Muhibbat Abdulsalam, who herself is a former actress. Her husband Hassan Giggs is a fi rst-class director and producer.
If you watch the fi lm, you would discover that I was properly dressed like a married woman, my conductor too dressed decently and we don’t take men into our bus but only women. Th is is to tell you that we can have female commercial drivers that can drive commercial buses in our cities and the drivers can even be married women like what I demonstrated in the fi lm. Th e time has come where women need to come out and engage themselves in all professions so that even if their marriage packed up, they can still put food on their table. Even though this is not possible in an Islamic society like ours, what we did is to create awareness that it is possible to have female commercial drivers like our men folks. How old are you and do you have children because you mostly play roles that other ladies don’t want to play?
Forget about my age. I am not looking for a job or a man to marry, I am happy with what I am doing. My husband and my family are happy with what I am doing, I think that is okay. At least jobs are still coming my way from producers. But, not all of us will be doing same roles. Th ere are ladies that are good at acting love fi lms, some are good at acting comedy, while others prefer to act as married women. Some prefer to feature as police women, while others prefer to dance.
So it depends. As for me, I have no time for love fi lms, to dance in a fi lm, or to play lead role in a fi lm, producers and script writers know the roles that will fi t me. I can be an Okada rider, bus driver, a palace guard, a security personnel, and any role at all that is not against my religion. I don’t need to compete with others because God created me diff erently from others. Some of us are cute and pretty while some are ugly and aggressive. Yet, all of us have diff erent roles to play in a fi lm, that is why I am still active and I will remain in the industry as long as possible.
Even my children, if it is their wish to join Kannywood, will be allowed because there is good money in the industry. One thing I know for sure is if one wants to be useful, he will be useful to himself and if one wants to be useless, he will be as useless as possible. It is alledged that very soon, some of you will be out of jobs if producers stop producing fi lms and concentrate on producing series for television houses. What is your take on that?
Production of fi lms in series will not aff ect us. Right now, we have just fi nished shooting television series for Abubakar Rimi Television. Also, most of the series being produced for Dadin kowa in Arewa24 we have all hands in. So people like us are well experienced that it is not easy to do away with us, if you want your fi lm or series to be successful.
We started acting when people do not like acting and we were called all sort of names and today, there is nobody watching Hausa fi lm that would tell you he does not know Daso, Alhassan Kwalle, Jamila Nagudu, Late Ibro, Late Aisha Dan Kano, Kabiru Mai kaba, and those that came after us like Hafsat Idris, Hadiza Gabon, Nafi sa Abdullahi, Fati Washa, Sani Sadiq, Lawal Ahmad, Ibrahim Mai Shinku and host of others.
So Kannywood has grown so big that today one can be in the industry for years but yet, he will not be known or become popular so easily like in our time. So I wish all of us the best and please members of the society should know that we are not cheap or prostitutes. We are decent people pursuing our career to the best of our knowledge. Let me conclude by confi rming to all and sundry that my marriage is still intact. What I mean is that, though I am a married woman, I will continue to act as long as it pleases God and my Husband.
