Producer and actress, Omoni Oboli, recently covers the latest edition of Guardian Life Magazine and had a chat with Guardian Life on her new film; My wife & I and her Nollywood experience thus far.

Read excerpts below:

On her experience growing up:

Mostly happy and eventful, even though we weren’t rich. My experiences with my mum and my sister were such that I couldn’t trade them for any other. Living in the Delta Steel Complex at Aladja was a dream for us then; it had all the facilities that made for a great community, and that made me live a somewhat sheltered life, away from the larger society of Warri. The schools there were great, and that’s where I also discovered my love for acting. I loved those days.

On stepping into character:

Every role has its own demands and challenges and depending on the director and the script, I always try to put myself in the place of the character I’m playing. They say an actor can’t or shouldn’t judge the character he or she is playing and that is what I always try to bring to any movie production I’m featured in. We also somehow still retain a bit of our own traits and mannerisms, which is what makes two actors give different performances for the same role and that is also what brings spice to the entertainment world of movies.

On challenges she has faced in her career being female in Nollywood:

Nollywood has a lot of female lead actresses, and when a good role comes along, the producers and directors have to sift through them all to find the one they want. So sometimes I find that some roles I would love to play would be given to someone else, and likewise, I get roles that others would want for themselves.

That was my first challenge getting back into the industry after a ten-year break. I still lose some juicy roles, but I get so many other roles that it doesn’t matter as much as when you’re first trying to break into the industry as the new girl in town. Also, with a family, it’s hard to stay away from my family for long periods because of the job, but that’s what the job calls for.

On the highlights of her career:

My career has seen many highlights thank God! My first movie was premiered at Aso Rock Villa. I won the best actress award at the Harlem International Film Festival and also the best actress award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards with Lonzo Nzekwe’s movie, Anchor Baby.

What more could a girl ask for? My movie was officially selected at the TIFF 2016 edition, and my movies have been doing great at the cinema box office. Not to forget The Figurine, which sparked off the new Nollywood cinema movement. I could say my career has all been in highlights.

Actress, Mercy Johnson Okojie clocked a year older on Monday, August 28, 2017, and her husband took to his IG page to pen her a sweet birthday message.

Here is what he wrote;

“My Dear Mercy,

I am most grateful to God for his Grace and Mercies upon your Life, and to Celebrate with you on this Special Day.

A Precious Jewel you are, most Adorable and Amiable. A Celebrity well Celebrated and a Star that shines Brighter.

A Strong, Bold, Intelligent, Hardworking and Courageous Woman, a Faithful and Virtuous Woman indeed.

A Woman full of Life and Laughter, an Icon more of Exceptional Character and a Beacon of Hope.

A Role Model and a Mentor to many, you are without Blame or Blemish. A woman of inestimable Value with no Questionable Character.

YES! That’s who you are.

I thank you specially today, for the Love and Care you’ve shown me and our Beautiful Children! My Love… Of a truth, You Mean a lot to us

I thank God for the fulfilling life of Grace we share and I’m indeed grateful to God for making our part cross!

I pray for you today! May God grant you Good Health, Peace of Mind, Divine Protection, Special Grace, Prosperity, Wisdom, Long Life and most importantly, God’s Presence in our Home.

I join millions all over the World to Congratulate and Celebrate you on this Auspicious Occasion. (No Vex again jor….I will be home within the week)

Happy Birthday, Dear Wifey.

I love you ENDLESSLY.

Yours forever

Hubby.“

In an interview with The Sun, Nollywood actress, Uche Ogbodo, has revealed that she was psychologically abused in her last failed relationship.

She said:

“You know, I wasn’t married. I was just engaged but the media attacked me as a married woman. But in the relationship I had there was no abuse.

Well, there would have been abuse because there are different kinds of abuse like I do say, but it doesn’t have to be physical. If I am allowed to say that lying and deceit are a form of abuse then I will tag it psychological abuse.

He was messing with my head; all the depression that came with it makes it an abuse. So yes, I think he was probably abusive because I wasn’t concentrating, I didn’t know what I was doing.

The breaking point would be when I found out that he was never going to be different from who he was,

He was not ready to make amends. Of course, I knew about his flaws despite the fact that he was lying to cover up some things. But I was ready to patch things up with him if he was ready to change.

You see, I have worked so hard and I didn’t want to go down. I knew this because I was strong. I could push but he wasn’t ready.

I don’t even know what love is. I don’t even know if love is real. I can feel it but I don’t know if it is real.

I’m better now. Believe me, I’m at a better place than I was some years ago. I was numb for a long time but I am healing gradually. I am not fully healed, but I’m healing because the experience was bad. I’m not somebody that talks too much about my downfalls and failures. But right now, I’m scared; I’m very scared.

A man that loves me should support what I am doing. I am not materialistic, I just need a strong base and I need someone who can push me to achieve my dreams. Let’s push each other, and don’t just throw me out there and you are moving, because I want to move too.You are a man, I want to be successful and you want to be successful too, so let us be successful together. I need a partner, not an authority.”

Speaking at a ‘Teens Career Conference’ organized by The Everlasting Arms Parish TEAP of the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG, Garki, Abuja, Wife of the Vice President of Nigeria, Mrs Osinbajo said;

“When I became a worker in the church, the first place I worked was the Teenage Church and for 10 years I was in the Children’s Church. .
.
For 10 years, I was under the bridge; under the bridge in Lagos with ‘Area Boys’. So, every kind of drug that there is, I know about it. I have seen it before and I have seen the effects as well and I will like you to know that the ones that use it are not different from you. .

Some of them too have parents in the church. Some of them have parents with very big names. There are some streets in Lagos that the names of the streets are names of people, some of which have their children under the bridge. .

There were people whose parents lived in America and yet their children were under the bridge. So, do not even imagine that it cannot happen to you, but you must be an example in your conduct”.

Source: Vanguardngr

Mirabel Centre which opened on July 1, 2013, is a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) to provide holistic and high quality medical and psychosocial help to rape victims, has released photos from its 4th anniversary which was held on Aug 1st, 2017.

The Mirabel Centre is a safe, friendly and conducive place where one can get free help after going through the trauma of a rape or sexual assault.

Check out photos from the event;

Nollywood actress, Juliana Olayode better known as Toyo Baby of Jenifa’s Diary, in her book, “Rebirth” stated that she gave away her virginity to her married music teacher at 17.

This revelation came as a shock to fans because she had in different interviews claimed she was a virgin. Her fans on social media have since the latest revelation called her several names, because everyone believed she was a virgin as she had said on several occasions.

But in the same book, she explained why she lied that she was a virgin and also explained how she confessed to her foster father, Timi Adigun and his wife after they all thought she was a Virgin.

She wrote,

“However, the fact that I had confessed to Timi Adigun did not mean the world now knew. People had assumed I was a virgin. I had never said I was but I had never corrected their assumptions either. So, I was still in that fix.

“Shortly after my confession, Ebony Life TV called me for an interview. I went and for the first time in my several interviews, I was asked point blank if I was a virgin. I tried to evade the question, but my interviewer was not having it. She demanded for a yes or no. I did not see the question coming and I lied. I said, ‘Yes, I am a virgin.’

“Immediately the interview was over, I hurried to the bathroom in the studio and cried. I felt terrible for lying and told God I was sorry. I called Dee on my way home and confessed my wrong. I explained further when I got home.

“The next thing he said shocked me. He said, ‘Call her and confess the truth. Ask for a rescheduling of the interview; do it again and undo your mistake.’

“I was not going to do that. I felt it was my secret and the whole world need not know about it. I was upset with myself, however, for answering her. I could have insisted I could not tell. So, I proposed never to answer such again. Easier said than done, right?

“Shortly after, I was on another TV interview, Crux Of The Matter, with Elsie. I was invited to talk for sexual purity while the other guest spoke against. In the process of the discussion, around the time when it was heated, I was asked out of the blues again if I was a virgin. And before I knew it, I heard myself lying again. I was mad at myself.

“I was on another TV interview that trended for a while. It was On The Couch, with Lady Ariyike. I talked about sexual purity, but thankfully I was not asked if I was virgin.
“After that one, I decided to stop interviews altogether. I was tired of lying or having to dread lying if I was asked straight up.”

American singer, song writer and actress, Mariah Carey has admitted she still struggles with her self-esteem.

She revealed this during an interview with the New York Post. She revealed she suffers from ‘low self-esteem.’

“I just feel like I am a regular human being and i deserve the same respect as anybody else. I have always had low self-esteem, and people do not recognize that”

“Growing up different, being biracial, having the whole thing where I did not know if I fit in…

“That is why music became such a big part of my life, because it helped me overcome those issues,
Sometimes it is hard to let your guard down” she said

Mariah also has doubt about the people around her.

“I do think to myself, did they mean this? Or do they not really mean it? And that is with everybody – it is not just with three people or just one. I can’t measure what type of respect I deserve – I really can’t,” she added.

Actress, Beverly Naya, has taken to her IG page to narrate how she struggled with her physical appearance and low self esteem while growing up. She went ahead to celebrate herself and admonish her followers to learn to love themselves for who they are.

Read her emotional post below;

“I’ve come a long way from the little girl who was bullied for having really bad eczema, crooked teeth, a ‘lightbulb head’ and ‘football legs’. I never thought I was beautiful as a child and once I hit my early teens, I found myself overcompensating for my lack of self-esteem. I wanted to please in every way to the detriment of my own happiness…this carried on into my early twenties when after two years of living in Nigeria, I nearly completely lost myself trying to fit in and be understood/liked. I guess growing up as an only child has partly attributed to my reserved nature. I’m an introvert when you first meet me but an extrovert when comfortable, most times socially awkward on first encounters (first few encounters in some cases lol) but my heart is always in the right place…I’m not perfect. 

I think I only truly found myself last year, I stopped trying to make people like me, stopped trying to force people to see the real me…the funny me, the happy and bubbly me, the caring me. I realised that only those who are genuinely supposed to be in my life would always be the ones who get to see this. I only realised last year that you can’t force people to like you, neither can you dumb down/change who you are to be accepted. I’m not perfect but God thinks I am and He knows it’s been an emotional battle to get my mind to where it is today, but I am so incredibly grateful and proud of myself for the woman I am becoming…I say becoming because I don’t believe any of us are there yet, I don’t think we ever stop growing into our purpose, but the journey (if you allow it to happen without manipulating it) truly is beautiful. If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her: Dear Beverly, I love you so much. You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are a gift from God and you are enough.

The very words my mum has told me since I was a young child, the very words that went in one ear and out the other…the very words that with time, experience and growth; I wholeheartedly understand and accept today. 

Signed BN

Written at 02:35am on June 12th 2017

Moral of the story: I hope you overcome all your challenges, I hope you look beyond the opinions of others and remember the fact that God and your soul are always rooting for you…you owe it to yourself to not only be the best version of you, but to give yourself the very best treatment because no one can love you better than you can. Be your own kind of beautiful, love always.”

Television host and actress, Marcy Dolapo Oni, has welcomed a baby boy with her husband, Prince Sijuade, on Saturday, August 26. She announced the good news on Instagram by sharing a photo of her husband cuddling their new bundle of joy.

She wrote:

“Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper! Thank you, Lord, for this gift you have given my husband and I. Prince Sijuwade is finally here. Thank you all for your prayers throughout this pregnancy. God will continue to bless you! #HappyMummy #Happydaddy #Mummyyo #Proudparents #Blessed #Issaboy.”

While talking about Chester Bennington’s death, TBoss has revealed in an Instagram post that she once battled with depression.

She wrote;

“The news of the untimely demise of Chester Bennington hit me really hard because I have been a super fan since forever, his voice & songs really touched my soul & helped get me through a lot. That’s why I’m pained that he didn’t have anybody to help get him through his own pain.

Confession- Yes I have been through depression & it didn’t win. Confession Confession- it’s really only just a bad patch, not a bad life. Yes, you will eventually get out of it.

Confession Confession- I’m way much stronger that even I give myself credit for, at this point I don’t even get hurt by people’s words! I just be looking at you like- See this one trying to take away my smile.