For Kannywood’s Fati Isa Asirka, one down, but not out

Kannywood actress, Fati Isa Asirka, contested this year’s governorship election in Kano State on the platform of Restoration party of Nigeria (RPN), but she didn’t make the cut.

Although she lost the election, Fati, who revealled shortly after she declared her intention to contest, that she was in the race to use the platform of the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ law to contribute her quota to the development of the state beyond what she has been doing as an entertainer, has no doubt written her name on the political sand of the state as one of the youngest female entertainer to ever have a shot at the top seat.

At the start of her campaign, Fati, who was returned unopposed at the party primary, disclosed that she decided to give it a shot, because “for long, our politics has been dominated by the men at all levels. We have played and have continued to play the role of cheerleaders.

“I think the time has come to break the jinx and if I get the support of my people, I will be on my way to being counted as the first female governor of the state.”

Encouraged by close friends, fans and political allies to run for the office of governor, Fati had hinted before the election that all seemed good for her, as she got the support of her party. “I won the party primaries. I was elected unopposed,” she quipped, adding that her status as a leading practitioner in the Kannywood industry also helped her emergence and was the reason she was able to garner some votes at the end of the election that was won by incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

“I may not have won the election, but it was a good try and it was worth all my time. I mean, I was able to get to the ordinary people to feel their pulse and to know what they expect from the leadership. It was a big learning curve for me.

“It is just one down for me, but I am not out. I will contest again and again, given the opportunity,” she enthused.

An actress of many credits, there was nothing that Fati did prior to this year that suggested she was going to dabble into politics. All the product of Ramat Polytechnic did prior to her joining Kannywood was buying and selling, saying: “I was into the business of supplying shoes, bags, jewellery and the rest to bankers, film industry people and civil servants.”

It was while at this that the opportunity came for the actress of mixed parentage to join Kannywood. “I had gone to supply costume and accessories on a movie set when one of the actresses didn’t show up and since shoot has to continue, the producer cast me to play the role, because he said I looked like the actress. That was how I ended up an actress and today, the rest, as they say, is history,” she reminisced.

The actress who still does business by the side, the star of Hindu, her most memorable movie outing yet, credits Aminu Bala, Sani Sule Kastina and Kannywood star actor, Adamu Zango, for her emergence as an actress, recalling: “I went to them for direction when I first started and they guided me unreservedly and assisted me. With them, I was able to make inroads into Kannywood.”

Of all her movie appearance, she picks her effort in Hindu as her most tasking outing, saying: “We had to sped about three weeks on location in one village in Minna, Niger State. I featured as one of Zango’s three wives.

“The producers took their time and put everything to make the production come out well. They didn’t compromise at all. They provided everything we needed and they made our stay on location comfortable.”

Star of such hit Kannywood movies, such as Idon Kauye and Hassana Da Hussaina, Fati says her aim is to get to the very top of her career and be the best in whatever she does, noting: “I always give whatever I do my best try. So, I want to continue to be the best, whether as an actress or in business, politics or as a networker.

“I want to get to the top and be recognised not only for my contribution in my chosen field of endeavour, but also to society. I just want to be the best and nothing but the best. So, help me, Allah.”