Actresses From Nigeria

"We must stay true to what makes Nollywood great. Nollywood is African stories, by Africans, for Africans. It’s a celebration of who we are and Africans are our primary audience, I just hope that our foreign critics bear with us and seek out some of Nollywood’s newer content – they may surprise themselves how quickly they become Nollywood fans!"

"juggle is most definitely the right word when it comes to my life."

"My passion to live out every single dream I have ever had is what keeps me going. It is also nice to be seen."

"You can have it all. You still be a mom, be a wife and still be a career woman."

"I like a man who is himself; who doesn’t try to impress me. I am more attracted to a person’s soul than the physical; that lasts longer. I think we are attracted to people for different reasons. You may be attracted to someone for money and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Different people serve different purposes."

"There’s this thing about Nigerians that they believe if you don’t know someone there, it will not happen for you."

"You know, women… we’ve been ignored for a long time. People just believe we can’t do much. And when you ignore someone for a long time, they just wanna prove you wrong… If everybody is given a fair chance, women and men, I believe women would really do well."

"Everyone has their own perception of the word ‘success’. To you, success could mean hit tracks, to me success could mean being able to complete a full song for self or for another human being."

"Giving a smile, for me, is akin to giving a priceless gift and no matter the situation, I try to be happy. Life is short."

"I am a confident woman and I do believe I am beautiful. I am blessed and I do not shy away from that. I am aware of my beauty and the effect it has on men. I try not to make it a defining thing in my life though. I love my body. Some people know they are beautiful and they use it as a tool to get what they want. When a woman is not confident of herself whether she is fleshy or skinny it will come off in her actions. I am just comfortable in my skin."

"At some point in your career, you have to give yourself some ‘brain’, because having unnecessary unhealthy competition will take you nowhere, you are really just poisoning yourself and putting roadblocks on your part. Every time you are wishing someone bad, you are actually wishing yourself bad. You can actually look at someone’s life and say wow, if she can actually do this, then I can do this as well. You don’t even need to applaud the person, you don’t need to be that person, and you just build your craft and improve on yourself too."

"When you begin the journey of motherhood, all you want to do is protect your child with all that you’ve got. There’s no handbook for being a mother but you’ll learn as you go through that path. It was an amazing feeling indeed."

"Marriage is a burden; it is a huge responsibility. If you are not ready for it, don’t go there. Marriage is not about having a lavish ceremony. But it is about you and what you truly feel and how you tend to make it work. What I am saying is that if you can’t keep it together, don’t venture into it. People marry for different reasons. If you are an actress, a wife and a mother, you should know your responsibility is more. Because you are married, you cannot go on a movie set and start giving excuses. You know you will be losing your jobs little by little."

"I am quite satisfied with my career decision. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than in this industry where you can be whoever and whatever you want to be. Every day births new talents and creativity, plus there’s always something to learn. I thank God for the talent He gave me to show the world. I am able to entertain and educate people with my gift and it’s awesome that I can influence peoples’ thoughts and/or lifestyles"

"Everything is about time and knowing the right people. Without connections and God, you can be acting for years without achieving anything."

"I just live my life one day at a time. Again, my mental disposition is to constantly choose peace and respect for all I encounter."

"Sometimes, you don’t find love when people expect you to. Sometimes, you don’t even find it when you expect to. But when you wait patiently and are open and true to yourself, not wanting to live by other peoples’ standards, you’ll find love in the rarest places. It’s not a prospect anymore. I have found love. I am in love and will stay in love."

"I would change the way the average Nigerian woman thinks; how she sees her fellow woman as competition. I would make them know that wealth is not exclusive to men. We women are so powerful but we don’t even know how much power we have and possess."

"Nothing good has ever come easy and when it gets tough,. you don’t back down, you keep pushing, that’s one of the things I live by."

"No relationship or marriage should hinder you from doing what you love, because in the end you will always go back to it and if one is not careful, one might end up hating himself/herself"

"Over the years, the society we live in has constantly dragged women to the back of the line and made her feel she’s not enough when she’s the very giver of life here on earth. Women are so powerful, but we live in a world that has been made to feel like it belongs to men. A lot of ladies have been brainwashed into thinking that only men have the capacity to make wealth. This is why it’s important to continuously mentor women in business, especially the young ones just starting out and to make them understand the limitless power in them. I truly wish more women would be supportive of women. It’s truly sad that when you look around, you find out that there isn’t much unity amongst women, but I’m here to change all that in my own capacity as a public figure and celebrity entrepreneur."

"Africa is interesting. We are unique. For the fact that we’re Africans, our stories are unique. It’s our time, I believe."

"Everything I say or do is deliberate, but how people react to it is not my responsibility. I’m very expressive and bold. I am also kind and respectful, so I’d never do or say anything to hurt anyone, but the media has a way of twisting one’s words and action to make great headlines that’ll bring them more traffic."

"I would change the minds and the thinking of our industry people and I would leave it at that. To change a community, you start from yourself and the thinking of other people because if you think positive and I think positive, together, we’ll do positive things. I want us to think outside the box"

"When people say you're forever young, I laugh, becaus people judge you based on how long they've seen you on screen so they assume that you are as old as the length of the career. I don't bother trying to explain it, it doesn't make sense. So some people will see me and say "oh, you're aging gracefully", and I'm like are you kidding me right now? What happened to starting out early? But hey, the fact that I'm still here 25 years. I came to the industry in 1997 but I actually started acting in 1998."

"I like a strong man, someone who inspires me to be better and supports me (not with money) to achieve my dreams."

"Building yourself should come before actively chasing a lady that’s ‘trying for herself’."

"It started with Husbands of Lagos and Mary Njoku kept on calling me that she had me in mind to play her mother in law. I was going to be mother to Kenneth Okoli, I couldn't be that much older than Kenneth. But this is make believe. But guess what? When I did it, it was a success, and what happens with such characters is that everybody now writes characters with you in mind to play that. So you find that you see a lot of my movies where I play mother and people start to look at you [as if you're older than you are]. Was I worried for a bit? Yes, I was because you find, especially in our industry, that nobody wants to grow old. It doesn't matter, it's okay how old you decide to be. It's in the mind."

"Music is just like art. And both talents are innate. You must be artistically inclined to be creative. So, it’s the art in me that has found expressions through music."

"Exceptional talent, (not nudity) is what guarantees one’s relevance in this industry; we all come to that realisation over time."

"I’m free-spirited. I don’t take anything to heart, except it’s my career, humanity and relationship with God. I try to take life one step at a time, I have the biggest dreams and that’s really who I am. I am fun and I can be very serious at times. Altogether, I’m an amazing and interesting person."

"Getting back into the industry [after I had gone to get married and have my children] was difficult, because there was this bridge between the young girls, my set of girls, and the mummies. You don't have a lot of roles where my set of girls - let's call us 'ladies' - so girls, ladies, mamas, there were not a lot of roles for we ladies. It was a little tough because most of the roles then were between young girls (sweet 16, 18, 25) or you're playing the mummy role. So you don't have a lot of roles where we easily fit in. And then after a while, roles would come and people would say "please play this person's mother" and I was like play who's mother? Initially, I didn't want to play it because I was like I can't come and be borning people that are almost my age. But then after a while, I was like give it a shot."

"What I have learned from this is addressing problems and challenges with your innate nature and authenticity is in fact as effective if not more."

"A smile, a gentle demeanour and a kind word coupled with confidence, and persistence can take you as far as you need to go. A leader can take many forms, aggression is not always the answer."

"Work hard, stay positive, do some good, walk your own path and keep persisting. You will definitely see the fruits of your labour."

"I strongly believe that unity is the way forward and is required for the world to be a better place."

"The thing is, at some point, you have to tell yourself this is not the life you want, surround yourself with materials that help to liberate and lift your spirit, and then you cry to God"

"The path to true happiness is following one’s dreams and living out your “Ikigai”. Ikigai is a Japanese term that advocates doing something you love, that has an impact on the world and also serves a bigger purpose."

"Knowledge is power, as is experience."

"Give Gratitude. Start a gratitude journal. Write ten things you are grateful for everyday. Don’t stop. Even when things get better, which they most certainly will, keep the gratitude going. What you appreciate appreciates."

"Be patient. Growing up, I always wanted things to happen fast; I sometimes still do. I try to rush the process and I have realised that the process is totally out of my control. Learning to let go and let God."

"Be opened minded, Lagos is beautiful. Also make sure you take a ride on our infamous napep."

"You know Nigerians are very literal people, what they see is what they take in"

"Passion and a sense of self. You need to be passionate about whatever it is you want to do, period. Now with acting, it has to be the same. A sense of self is simply knowing who you are, owning your craft and knowing your worth. You need to believe in your own sauce."

"For upcoming artistes, they should be focused on the job, be ready to pay their dues and wait for their turn to shine."

"As a human being and an elderly woman in marriage, I will advise them to be sure they are really ready for marriage before going into it. This is very important. We all want to get married at some point in life. And for women, the society, in a way, has an age bracket within which you must get married."

"An award means recognition. It means appreciation. It means noticeability, and that is what everyone wants - to know that you're recognized and appreciated for the work you put into something."

"Create your own space. God, not man creates space, what you now decide to do with the space once it’s created is left to you. There is more than enough room for us all to be at the top, the sooner we all realise that the sooner we can all shine together. Stay persistent, stay consistent, stay focused and think outside the box."

"As actors, we often have to wear certain robes that are not ours. I could be called upon to act as a wicked, rich, kind or diabolic woman; it all depends on the script"

"It is a bad thing to follow your colleagues’ steps to define your own life. If someone like me had tried that in the past, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today, and I always advise them that we came to this world with different purposes."