Oga oh! Be this be Dr Ofweneke

Your Instagram page describes you as 'BET Awards host'. I never knew you've hosted the awards...

I haven't. That is me prophesying over my life. I declare things before they happen and I am professying that one day, I will host the BET awards and maybe even the Oscars.

So, Sande Bush... Any reason why your parents decided to name you that way?

No, I don't understand it myself. I think it was around that time when President George HW Bush was famous and they just went with the wave. I've googled the name Sande and I found it has Liberian origins.

Which year was that?

I was born on January 17, 1991. I am 26 years old.

Really? I thought you were older because you have been in the industry for years. So you started in your teens?

Yes. And if I've already reached here now, imagine where I will be in some years to come. I always say I give all the glory to God. In everything I do, I want less of me and more of God to be glorified.

The journey to get to where I am takes being around people who are better than you. I surround myself with wise people. My friends include Jalang'o, Robert Burale and MC Jessy. When I talk to these people, I leave feeling I've learnt something. You know what they say about being the brightest person in the room – if you're the brightest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.

My friends are people who keep it real with me. They are the ones who will tell me – you have cracked that joke like five times, it's time to get something else. Or if I say a joke that doesn't sit well with people, they will call me out on it.

What has been your worst moment as a comedian?

The time I cracked a joke and it fell flat on the audience. I don't have so many bad moments these days, but when I was starting out my comedy career, my church – Winners' Chapel –used to have a talent camp where youths would present to the audience. For the longest time, I tried to convince the pastor I could crack jokes, and I finally got the chance to do so. But it was a mess.

The church had invited a musician – Frank Edwards. After he sang, I thought it would be funny to make a joke out of his height. So I said something like: the shorter the monkey, the longer the tail. There was pin-drop silence and the next thing I knew, the MC had grabbed the microphone from me and was apologising to the crowd saying kids say the dumbest things. I was 20 then.

Speaking of church. You speak a lot about your faith. Does it play a major role in your career

Yes it does. Everything I am is because of God. I come from a family of prayer warriors. Until this day, when I know I am going to perform somewhere, I will go there ahead of time and pray around the ground to chase any evil spirits that might be there away.

In everything I do, I want to decrease and God to increase. Walk us through your comedy career. When you decided to ditch your law career and how you've got to where you are First, my dad was not pleased at all when I said I was going to pursue comedy. He is a political scientist and to him, books are everything.

But my mother was supportive. She actually noticed I had a talent for entertaining people back when I was at Mwea Boys Secondary School in Kirinyaga. During every school event, I would be called upon to lead the events and act like an MC. My mother noticed my talent and told me that it is something I should consider pursuing.

My teachers also noticed I had talent. I was a noisy kid and was on the list of noisemakers whether or not I was in school. I used to imitate teachers and one day I was caught and the teacher I was imitating was impressed. My teachers encouraged me to nurture my talent.

What were your initial days as a standup comedian like?

At first I used to jump at any opportunity. I remember there was a time during my early days I was asked to MC a wedding and I was offered Sh7,000 and I jumped at it and I was the first one to arrive at the event before the decorators and everyone else.

Then a point reached when I realised that I had to have confidence in my brand. I remember there was a time I was with Mogaka and I heard him negotiate his fees and he negotiated until Sh60,000. Back then, that was a lot of money.

I decided to stop shortchanging myself. I started quoting higher and higher and these days I can easily demand Sh250,000 for a gig. Self-confidence is important.

Now you know we have to address the rumours that have been circulating the Web about you and your ex-fiance. What happened? Did you beat her up?

This is the reason I have refused to do interviews for the last two months. All I can say is that there are always two sides to a story. I want to say sorry to my fans who might have been disappointed by how this whole thing turned out. But I want them to know that I am the same Dr Ofweneke that they have always known.

I want people to know that I respect women so much and have never and will never condone violence against women.

So Nica, your ex-fiance was lying when she posted a picture of her beaten up on her Instagram?

If you look for that picture, you won't find it. It was pulled down. Why? I want these blogs to know that when they write stories about people they don't even know about, they destroy families.

Shame on you! My daughter will read about this in years to come and she will see these damaging stories. No blogger has bothered to reach out to me to find out my side of the story. They just run with whatever they want.

They are trying to make it look like Nica and I are fighting but we are not. We are good friends. I will always be grateful to her because she made me a father, even though there is no chance of us ever getting back together, but I have a lot of respect for her.

He pulls out his phone and shows texts from the previous day where he and Nica are in a friendly chat saying nice things about their daughter Debbie. "We made a beautiful baby..." reads one of the WhatsApp conversations.

So the rumours that you also do not support your daughter are false?

Yes, they are false. What am I making all of this money for if it is not to spoil my daughter? Nica pays her own bills because she lives in her own place, but when it comes to our daughter, she gets the best of life.

If there is one thing Nica can say it is that I always take care of the people I love. When we were together, she always had the best shoes, dresses, I took her to the best restaurants. I take care of my daughter.

What have you learnt from your breakup?

That it is important to love yourself and discover yourself first before jumping into a relationship.

Now I have really become rooted in the Word. After the whole breakup, I started searching hard online to find what it is to be a good man. I watched a lot of TD Jakes and Myles Munroe and I have learnt a lot.

Now the next relationship I get into has to lead up to marriage. I don't want to just be in a relationship. And that woman, wherever she is, is going to be the luckiest woman ever, because I have matured and I will give her the best of life.

You have a lot of tours coming up. Tell us about that

Yes, I will be off to the US to tour a number of states in July. Then I'm looking at going back 'home' sometime – to Nigeria.

How did you settle on using a Nigerian accent?

At the time I started comedy, there was a whole Naija wave – from Afrocinema to music and I just went with the flow.

What do you want to tell other aspiring comedians Don't depend on dumb jokes to make your audience laugh.

Long gone are the days when comedians showed up to shows with rugged clothes and chalk on their faces looking like they are going to the Nigerian oracle.

It is the time for intelligent jokes now. Comedians in the West are opinion leaders and that is what I do. That is why you will not hear me making a tribal joke. And I pay attention to the clothes I wear because that is my brand.

What else can we look forward to from you?

I hope to set up a talent academy soon and I'm writing a song so look out for that.