Richard Mofe Damijo , popularly known as RMD by friends and fans is a force to reckon with in Nigeria’s entertainment industry. The lawyer cum politician is at present the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Delta State. Lately, tongues have been wagging about his health. Some say he’s getting too thin and not the RMD they used to know in the days of Checkmate and other Nollywood movies. Sunday Sun then met this versatile stylish man at his base in Asaba for this exclusive interview. He confidently revealed why he now looks the way he does.
Excerpts:
How did you feel when you read those bold headlines years back describing RMD as a ‘Ladies man’?
It’s not entirely true. It was really worrisome at the beginning but after a while I dealt with it. Some editors confessed it was a ploy they used to sell their magazines in the absence of juicy stories. For those who don’t know the real me, I have never considered myself a ladies man. I am very shy. I would rather be at home with my family watching TV at weekends. I love Christmas and New Year holidays with my family. For some reasons, I couldn’t get my phones to work the way I wanted it to work.
I didn’t have internet on my phone and I didn’t have BIS on my phone for about twelve days. There was no disturbance. These are things that make more sense to me. I like to be in the presence of God on Sundays. I love the simple things of life. I’m not your average party going, disco going person. I would go occasional to Night Shift when it used to be but after that, you won’t see me at night clubs or partying all over the place. I love live bands and live shows. I used to go to Bread and Butter where Lagbaja used to go in those days. I used to go to Jazzville, but disco, no way, night clubs, no way. I’m not one of those night club loving people.
Could you give us some tips on how to make celebrity marriages work?
Listen to your wife, be open to her, take time out and try to make her understand your job. For me, I’m blessed that my wife was a broadcaster before her current job. She understands how I work and I try to involve her in most of the things I do. That’s why I said it’s nice to be family-oriented. Let your partner know that you will rather not be on the red carpet or night club; you will be at home with the family. Once you are able to do that, then there will be a lot more time for you and your family and your marriage. It was the strongest challenge I had to face and not even being a celebrity or not being able to move my family to Delta State initially. So, I was shuttling between here and Lagos. I have succeeded in separating my public person from my family. To my kids, I am their daddy, for my wife, I am her husband. I don’t bring RMD home. It’s Mofe that’s at home. If I wake up in the morning and thought about myself first as a celebrity I’ll have problems. I am too much of a Warri boy to think of myself as a celebrity. It’s still very alien to me.
What has life taught you?
To be humble. There’s much more gain in humility. Also everything you have are gifts from God, just sheer favor.
What’s the secret behind your youthful mien?
I woke up one morning, to be precise May 9th last year and I weighed 120kg. I said this cannot go on. Neither of my parents crossed 60kg. I thought it would be sinful for me to keep eating and putting on weight and living an unhealthy life. I decided to just change my lifestyle. I didn’t diet, what I’m doing now is not dieting. I hate to use the word diet because when you say you are dieting you have to stop at one point. What I did was to change my lifestyle.
What I did was to get somebody who knows about food. A lot of people don’t succeed when they diet because they don’t understand food. They diet, they drink a lot of shakes, tablets and all of that and after a month they become bigger than they were. What I did was very simple. It’s all about knowing the kind of food you eat and what it contains. I have a daughter (Onome) from my late wife, who is obsessed with calories, weight gain and weight loss. She was with me all through Christmas and New Year. She’s 26. I love what I do now; I just eat well and exercise.
I feel lighter, but there are lots of people who feel I am too slim now. It’s about how I feel inside. I’m at my best physically. I have never felt better. I feel lighter, I don’t suffer indigestion. Now I weigh about 97kilos. All my clothes are gone. You know they say “vanity upon vanity all is vanity.” This morning, I gave a guy about eight pairs of traditional clothes.
Do you have a special designer?
MUDI has always been my designer as well as a young man who makes clothes for me . Another young lady makes clothes for me as well. She has a label called Home.I have discovered another one in Abuja. I wear some of Yomi casual clothes now. People see me and say I can make better clothes than MUDI. A young man pursued me for like two years and promised he would make my clothes like MUDI.
You’ll mimmick MUDI? So, let me just stay with MUDI. He said “I want you to just wear my designs sir.” I told him to make some for me. I try to encourage as many young people as possible. The suits I wear now were made by a Nigerian called Israel. He has a label called SANC and he’s based in London. Someone introduced me to him. He makes my formal attires. I’ll rather spend my money on something that stands out than buying off the shelves.
Does any of your children take after you in style?
Yes, Kome. Kome likes his clothes, I always tease him. Before he got married, he teased me about losing weight so that I can look as good as he does. He likes his clothes as well and now that I have lost weight , he’s happy. He grabs my clothes with ease.
What is your philosophy about life?
My operating principle in life is keeping it simple.
How do you spend your day in Delta State?
One thing that Asaba has taught me is being able to sleep during the day. I close early. Sometimes I sleep around 5pm or 7pm , I just lie down and see how quiet, how peaceful and serene this place is because there are no generators screaming all over the place. I went to school here. I went to St Patrick’s but for me it’s like home coming. It’s really peaceful and quiet. I love Lagos but my weight loss was helped by the fact that I’m here. There’s enough place to walk around without fear, it’s peaceful, it’s quiet, I just love a place like this.
Do you miss Lagos?
I don’t miss Lagos. I missed Lagos because of my family. I have lived in Lagos most of my adult life. There is nothing that Lagos has offered me any more that I have not already gotten. I have lived in Lagos since 1984 till today. I have seen Lagos grow, I have seen governors come and go. In Asaba, you can leave your house at 7:45am for an 8am program and get there and it’s better than living in a place where you have an appointment and you leave home at 5.am. I can’t miss that. I have a friend who lives in Lekki area of Lagos and he wakes up at 4.30am everyday. I can’t do that. My wife doesn’t get home until about 9pm. Some days, when it’s really bad she comes home at 10pm. It’s such a terrible thing. When I was younger, I liked it. Like I said, I am getting older. Like I said, I miss my family. I don’t miss Lagos as a town or as a city.
Any regrets so far in life?
No regrets, absolutely no regrets. You learn from your mistakes and you keep moving until you die. I have not lived a perfect life but I don’t regret anything. God has been extremely kind to me.
The Sun.
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