Nigerian-born British actor, David Oyelowo played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biographical drama film, Selma,has said he is a very proud Nigerian and misses Pounded yam.
The multiple award winning actor recently visited Nigeria for the Selma movie screening, an event that was put together by The Rock Cathedral and the American Embassy. In a chat with Saturday Beats, Oyelowo said that what he missed most about Nigeria is the food,
most especially pounded yam. He said:
“I miss pounded yam desperately. It is very tough to get that in Los Angeles. I really love Nigerian food because it is what I grew up eating. Unfortunately Los Angeles is not the best place to get Nigerian food.”Said to be born of a royal decent in Nigeria, the actor said that if he is called to become king, he is unsure he would accept such calls except when he is older.
“I have a very happy life in Los Angeles and I don’t want to do anything I will not do well. If I am called to be a king, I would need to be in Nigeria to do it. My profession operates from Los Angeles. Maybe when I am much older, I would accept such,” he said.Oyelowo has not been to Nigeria in the past eight years. He said that there has been a lot of positive change in the country.
“I was in Nigeria about eight years ago and a lot of things have changed. I see a huge progress has been made in the country. It is nice to know that I can drive down a street and it would not be bumpy because of potholes. It is a nice development. The attitude of Nigerians has also changed and there is a real desire to rid the country of corruption. Also, there has been technological advancement in Nigeria. The mobile network revolution is amazing. I lived in Nigeria from 1982 to 1989 and the infrastructure I have also seen are really impressive.
I am a very proud Nigerian and my prayer is that the coming election would not have a negative connotation where there would be any violence or corruption around the ballot boxes. There is a very beautiful narrative building around Nigeria and we are progressing in a lot of areas. I am just hoping that any troubles around the election would not set us back,” he said.