Some children grow up and vow not to ever be like their parents. They do all they can to resist adopting any trait or act that would make them be like their parents. While some look onto their parents as the perfect template of the life they want to live. Different strokes for different folks.
The latter aptly describes Nollywood actors Sola Kosoko-Abina and Bidemi Kosoko, two siblings treading the path of their father and veteran Nollywood actor Jide Kosoko. It is not common to see children of veteran actors plying the trade of their parents during their lifetime, but Sola and Bidemi are doing that while their father is still very active in the industry.
The death of their mother in 1993 didn’t stop from being daddy’s pride. Here is their story.
Sola Kosoko
Sola is the elder of the Kosoko daughters. Born on January 7, 1980, she attended Methodist Primary School, and Aje Comprehensive High School, at Sabo, Yaba in Lagos. She holds a diploma in Industrial Relations and a degree in Sociology from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
She started acting as a child in the late 1980s and participated in the Awada Kerikeri movie as a kid, and ‘Omo Orukan’. As a kid, she also played the character of veteran Nollywood actress Peju Ogunmola while she was young. Unlike her younger sister, Sola wanted to be a lawyer or broadcaster but her father started dragging her into acting as a child which made her develop interest.
“Shola did not show interest, she did not even want to act, neither did she rehearse with us. But as she was growing up, I started noticing some features in her. I noticed that she had some of my traits and when I wanted to shoot a film, I called her and told her she would play a role in the movie and she almost ran away but she could not,”
Jide Kosoko said.
Her first major movie as an adult was ‘Ola Abata’ in 1999 followed by ‘Oko Irese‘ and ‘Omo Olorire’ which brought her stardom. She has starred in several movies some of which include Láròodá Ojò, Oko Irese, Eje Adegbenro, Onitemi, Omo Bishop, Ina Fitila, Wura Ati Fadaka, Alamu Seniyan. She has also produced two movies Ese Ni in 2005 and The Voice in 2019 which features her father and sister, Bidemi.
She is a recipient of City People Entertainment Award for ‘Best Supporting Role’ in 2011 as well as The Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards. She got married to Abiodun Abina in 2012 and the couple has two kids.
Bidemi Kosoko:
Pursuing a career in acting was a smooth ride for her. Aside her father, her late step mother Henrietta Kosoko who she grew up to know as her mother was also a prominent face on the screen.
Right from her childhood, Bidemi, who was born in 1988, was clear on her career goal and just like the Biblical quote “It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young,” she chose her path quite early joining her father’s theatre group Jide Kosoko Theatre (JKT) Company in 2000 while she was in JSS 3.
After her primary and secondary school education in Lagos, she headed for the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2007 where she studied Theatre Arts. Unlike Sola who was dragged into acting, Jide Kosoko described Bidemi as an actress from her mother’s womb.
In an interview with The Punch in 2014 he said:
“As for Bidemi, she has been a theatre person from her mother’s womb. Her late mother acted with me and worked with me a lot. Bidemi showed a lot of interest. She regularly came to our rehearsals and at a point, she became a leader in the group and began training people before she gained admission into the Lagos State University to study Theatre Arts.”
Her role in Sola Sobowale’s movie ‘Oun oko somida’ in 2010 a year before she graduated from LASU shot her to stardom. She has featured in several Yoruba and English movies and soap operas like Toyin Abraham’s Alakada Reloaded, Marriage Runs, Asiri, My Mum and I, Wicked Wife and Shikemi, popular soap operas from Wale Adenuga Production ‘Super Story’, ‘Papa Ajasco’, ‘This Life’ among others.
In 2013 she won City People Entertainment Award for the Most Promising Actress of the Year (Yoruba). She got married in December 2018 and welcomed her first child in 2019
Their father said in 2014: “I would have felt highly disappointed if none of my children took to acting.” With Shola and Bidemi now doing well in the industry, the feeling of disappointment have been erased from Jide Kosoko’s book.