From skits on YouTube to signing endorsement deals with reputable brands, local and international, Emmanuella Samuel is headed to Hollywood.
The success story of the seven-year-old comedienne whose real face has brought delight to many, both young and old, is still in its first chapters but one could already write a book about it. She has gone to places where many her age will only ever watch on television, earning commissions that are comfortably above the median pay of the average Nigerian civil servant.
She is easily the most remarkable child actor in Nigeria today, despite not yet appearing in any major TV show, drama or film. That a world famous company like Disney has jumped at the opportunity to work with her without any sort of formal training in acting or any cognate and organized experience reflects an acknowledgement of her natural talents and the potential to scale new heights.
Admirably and perhaps expected for a seven-year-old, she has remained unassuming. One can presuppose that a good support system consisting of family and friends have played the necessary role of regularly reminding her of her “normal” duties as a child. And as she embarks on a different level in a budding career, these duties must never remain far from her mind, the foremost being continuing a journey towards proper education.
It is very convenient to focus only on the good when things are going well. Can a rising or an established star fall from grace and lose all prior earnings and place in society? “God forbid” with an exclamation point is the standard response and prayer. But every wise person knows the society is about as predictable as the trajectory of a feather falling from a rooftop on a windy evening. Most child actors, regardless of how they began, never quite sustain the razzmatazz into becoming adult sensations. And are there more than enough stories of adults who peak in the game and then fall back to the streets? Unfortunately, yes.
But beyond the fear of fizzling, an entertaining Emmanuella still under classroom tutelage is of peculiar importance for the Nigerian child in general. A knowledge-based economy will not be built by Nigerian children depending on YouTube for breakaway fame and fortune. At the risk of placing a burden on her, society will benefit from Emmanuella being just as good with her books as she has been in front of the camera.
It will remind every child hoping to blow one day like her that education remains very indispensable. Emmanuella will not return to whatever local school she was at before Mark Angel Comedy became a million-view hit, but her continued presence in a classroom somewhere – certainly a school where teachers have no issues with a primary four test – will serve to correct a wrong impression in the Nigerian sports and entertainment industry that fame, once attained, is sufficient argument against the value of education. This conversation is as important, if not more than the one suggested by the Senate President Bukola Saraki in his Senate invitation to the comedienne for a discussion on improving the paths for young actors in Nigeria.
Emmanuella is now cosying and sending updates on Instagram from a Walt Disney studios and it is entirely to her credit. She could have sulked or shied away from being the raw, eviscerating, funny character she is when a camera was first placed before her.
For her sake and those of other children who look to her as motivation, let us hope that she continues to amass credits – nay, attain excellence – in other studious undertakings