Despite his success, the actor has revealed that he went through a rough phase of dangerous life before he landed where he is now. Sharing his story on the Delay Show, the actor disclosed that he was once a truant.
According to Ras Nene who quit schooling after completing JHS, he started smoking at a tender age. Sharing how he was introduced to smoking, he said whilst he was young, people were sending him on smoking errands.
“Never send your child to buy cigarettes or even smoke in their presence. Sometimes when someone smokes, drops it on the floor and quenches it, the fire isn’t completely out. So in that case I’m compelled to pick it, hide behind the house and smoke the rest of it. That’s how it started," he said.
“I became stubborn because I was earning some money from my scraps trade and the smoking habit made things worse. My mother would sit me down severally to advise me but I wouldn’t listen and gradually I was introduced to wee by a friend,” he told Delay.
Dr Likee recounted how he grew to become a truant and controlled the streets in his area.
“I used to control the street. I had big men who covered me so I was making a lot more money. I had weapons to scare away customers who had ulterior motives," he recounted.
Revealing how he got his name, he said "my boss at that time named me after a notorious criminal in Lagos called Anini. So people could not pronounce it properly and that’s how it became ‘Ras Nene".
Delving into his early adulthood life, Ras Nene said "in my mid-20s, I crossed the Libya desert several times with drugs. I was doing drugs until my early 30s and I became a Yaro. I had boys who worked for me and I only come for my settlements. Smuggling drugs was also part of his dealings".
“There was this drug called bond. I used to smuggle it from Togo into the country. We hide them in the tubes of trailer car tyres and take them out when they arrive in Ghana. I was dealing in crack as well,” he stated.
According to Ras Nene, he eventually landed in jail and that was where he had a change of life. “I have been to court seven times although I lost only two cases. I was dealing in drugs until it landed me in jail several times but that was the place, I learnt my lessons".
"Acting then came along the line and changed my life totally. Even with the smoking habit, I realized that It wasn’t right to smoke and be in the company of these famous actors. I told myself that God had plans for me so I stopped, as a result of the determination,” he told Delay.
Hear more from him in the video below.