It was sweet, though it was a life of hustling with my mum. I say it was sweet because if not for that experience, I don’t think I would be where I am now. As a young girl, I engaged in a lot of businesses such as selling candies and biscuits.
Education
My childhood ambition was to become a lawyer because I used to argue a lot, so people advised me to study law. However, I got admission to the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, to study banking and finance. Later on, I crossed over to Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, where I studied transport and planning management.
Acting
I never planned to become an actress. I remember that when I was growing up, I was a good dancer, and I also mimicked people a lot and made them laugh. Then, people complained that I was too playful, so I have always been a funny girl. I was an activist in school and I was involved in student unionism. There was a day I had an argument with another student, and shortly after that, I started laughing. Seyi Ariyo (She Baby) saw me and she said I would make a good actress because of the way I easily switched from anger to laughter. The first production I featured in was a TV series titled, Karaole, which was sponsored by Iyabo Obasanjo.
Breakthrough
I will say five movies gave me my breakthrough and they include Abidemi, Iyawo Ojo Kan, Abike Salaro, and Kofo Tinubu. I cannot remember the name of the fifth one now.
Productions
I have produced 14 movies. Seven of them have been released on home video, while three are being shown on cable TV. I am very passionate about acting and I make sure that whatever movie I produce touches lives and people can learn from it. I consider it as preaching the gospel in my own way with my movies.
Challenges
I was still a student when I started acting, so combining my education with my movie career was quite challenging. Because I was also running my business, I did not have any social life. I encountered several other challenges like some production managers running away after getting paid. Street urchins also harassed us and during my last production, they beat us up for three days, despite having collected a huge sum of money from us. Editors are also a huge problem. In fact, they are more miserable than pirates. Most times, they just abandon the jobs they are given or spend an unnecessarily long time doing it.
Social media gaffe
Initially, I used to be bothered when negative things were said about me, but I am usually not bothered anymore. In this particular case, I was with my pet dogs and I was training them. One of them is very aggressive and their trainer advised me that I should always command them in a stern voice. In that case, I couldn’t tell my dog to ‘stop being jealous.’ I had to say ‘stop jealous’ to pass my message across. That video went viral but whenever I post things about my career, I rarely get views. Anyway, I see it all as publicity.
Arrogance
There’s no way everybody would like you. Even some people believed that Jesus Christ was arrogant and that’s why they set him up to be crucified. The people who are close to me know that I am very humble. People who say I’m arrogant think so because they are not my close friends. They have also been fed lies about me.
Wealth
I also have other businesses that I run, so I don’t depend on what I make from acting. I’m into oil and gas, I supply cement and I am also an interior decorator.
Ideal man
If God says I would marry anytime soon, then so will it be. I really don’t have any specification when it comes to my ideal man; he could be tall or short. But he must be a business-oriented man and has to be comfortable. I cannot be in a relationship with someone that would be dependent on me.
Saidi Balogun
I did not feel betrayed by the fact that Saidi Balogun, who acted the lead role in my movie, also chose to celebrate his birthday on the same day I planned to premiere the movie. At times, we need competition to survive. If there was no other event that day, my premiere wouldn’t have been known all over the world.
Alaafin’s olori
I am very close to the olori in question and I regard her as my mother because my father’s wife is my mother. If the olori does not like me, the king wouldn’t have attended my movie premiere. They were all happy with me. But what you need to understand is that we all have different facial expressions, and there was no malice in the way she looked at me that day. She is neither angry with me nor does she have anything against me. The Alaafin has many wives and those two he came with are my best friends; that’s why they accompanied him to my movie premiere. If they don’t like me, they wouldn’t have done so. They even performed at the premiere when they sang Alaafin’s praise.
Fashion
To me, fashion is life. If you look good, you will always be the center of attraction at everywhere you walk into. You may not even be beautiful, but if you dress well, people would admire you. My favourite fashion items are gold chains and wrist watches. I can wear something sexy but I can never go nude or expose my body unnecessarily.
Relaxation
Whenever I want to unwind, I go to the cinema to watch movies