Veteran Nollywood actor Dele Odule has opened up about a dark period in his life when severe financial struggles pushed him to the brink of suicide, to the extent that he attempted to buy his own coffin and how he overcame that period of hopelessness.
The seasoned thespian, who left a stable teaching job for the uncertain world of acting, shared the painful story in a recent interview. In his late 20s, he faced extreme hardship, including going days without proper meals while facing criticism from people who called him lazy for abandoning a secure job.
“I was frustrated. It was the highest level of frustration because imagine a young man of my age then; I was in my late 20s, and I could not even afford to eat once in a day. People kept saying all sorts: ‘that guy is lazy, he doesn’t want to work, he left teaching service for something uncertain; leaving certainty for uncertainty.’ I was ferociously frustrated, and I thought the only thing I could do was to get rid of myself.”
In that moment of despair, he decided to buy his own coffin to prepare for ending his life. However, his boss and mentor, Pa Olatunbosun Odunsi, intervened after learning of his plan. The older man invited him over, took him hunting, and sat him down for deep counselling and encouragement.
Dele also highlighted delayed payments from his television work as a major trigger. For a job that offered to pay ₦ 500 per episode, he was owed over ₦6,500 from episodes on NTA 12 but received payments in bits, adding to his anger and frustration.
The turning point came after the counselling session.
“When baba counselled me and told me a lot of things, I decided that I would keep moving. I even started taking jobs I ordinarily wouldn’t take. I took them not for the money but for the sake of pushing myself forward.”
This renewed determination led him to participate in the classic 1993 film Ti Oluwa N’ile, which helped launch his acting career properly.