'My mum was a rascal’ – Veteran Nollywood actor Keppy Ekpeyong reveals

Veteran Nollywood actor Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey has spoken candidly about his upbringing while labeling his mum a rascal.

The movie actor in an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, disclosed that his father was a strict man who cried when reprimanding and spanking his children.

Nevertheless, they had a conversational bond.

Ekpeyong, on the other hand, said that his mother was a rascal since she frequently visited him at university with brandy bottles and packs of smoke.

The thespian added that his early years were enjoyable because of the open communication in the family, which he also instilled in his own children.

He said: “My father was someone who would scold you and cry as he’s spanking you; ‘why did you do that, you shouldn’t do this’ and then he was a military officer we had guards at the gate and everything, and then when he spanks his kids, he’s the one crying, but we had that kind of interactive relationship.

“My mum? Rascal. Oh! My mum was a rascal, everybody knew even my friends know till tomorrow. When I was in the University and she’ll come visit, she’ll come with bottles of brandy, and rolls of cigarettes.

“She’ll sit down with us. Because I lived off campus she’ll light a stick of cigarette and call everybody, ‘come let’s drink’ and stuff. So it was easy to speak with my parents, it was fun. Now I’m grown, I have children of my own and then we have some of their friends stay over and they think it’s easier to speak with us than their folks and I don’t understand how it works in other homes.

"Because with my kids, my son can walk up to me and pull my ears and say, ‘Old man with your big ears’ and I wouldn’t think anything about it, you know. But there are some people who see it and they are cringed and they are afraid because they can’t and wouldn’t dare relate with their folks that way.

“We also have come to find out that if you close particular doors of communication between you and your children, you’ll be really shocked at who you think your children are because they would hide behind those closed doors and you don’t want to know when you get in.”