"When I had the opportunity to be her (Yvonne) friend for two years, I realized she was a good person and at some point in time, I think I did some things that were wrong and I see nothing wrong with me coming out to write a song saying I'm sorry. That was special to me. She was a special friend to me."

"I had the opportunity to be her (Yvonne) friend for two years straight. And the "Letter to Yvonne Okoro" song is just me being creative. Lots of people write songs for people they like, I thought I will just do same."

"The issue is men don't have balls to come forward to ask me out because they think I am already hooked or perhaps I am very high maintenance. Also, I may still be single because most people think celebrities are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing partners but that is a very wrong perception."

"We have come to accept certain things- which are our colour, how we look- and in a way we don't let people dictate who we are and what one should be. It is now not about how you look but the kind of story you are telling. The content we sell to people is changing."

"I always say I am African and it doesn't matter where I am from. The important thing is that, I am here and I am doing what I have to do."

"If you've realized I've kept my relationships secret. When (the relationship doesn't work out) and I cry at home it's me, my sisters and my parents that know I'm crying, that's it."

"I don't necessarily need a man with a mansion full of money, I need a man with focus...a great husband is somebody who is hardworking, a man with focus and a man who is respectful who can make me laugh."

"On the other hand, society does not see anything wrong with a man who has more relationships, they are viewed as champions while we (women) are called names so I am zipping my mouth now."

"If the change will come, the change will come from you."

"A good number of celebs are single because they are confused as to who to accept in their life. You see, you are not sure if the person is coming in because of your fame and money or the person wants to be with you because of real love."

"Not necessarily. I feel that if you have a niche for yourself like your service is good, you still have your client base. I would say people don’t have the desire to eat the same thing 365 days a year. As human beings, we are not static to be eating the same things."

"If I am doing something that I love it has to serve me and pay my bills."

"Pushing through that means I can conquer things in this life."

"When you are doing what you love, it doesn’t feel like work."

"I feel i started a trend or like I am pretty much a trailblazer because only a trailblazer will start something and other people will want to do it."

"Taking up the challenge has helped shed a positive light on the (culinary) industry."

"Money is not everything but being comfortable makes a relationship richer and enjoyable."

"What is important in a relationship is love and understanding. Are you guys good with each other? Do you bring yourself peace? If all these are positive, then age is just a number."

"Whether there is love in Nollywood or not is a function of the experiences one has had."

"The obstacles against us in Nigeria are way greater – power is one of the biggest"

"Opportunities don’t just come; you have to work hard for it. Invest in your craft and you will reap the fruits of it."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

"Knowledge is power, as is experience."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Most of them want to belong, this is one of the reasons many marriages are crashing in the industry, may God change their mind for better so as to have a stable marriage. My fellow colleague has done this and I must do my own at all cost, do you know where he/she got the money? As a result, they involve themselves in things they are not meant to do which will cause crisis in the union."

"Women should love God and care for their homes. They should make their homes top of their priorities and pray all the time. They should avoid their husbands’ dislikes too."

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

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

"Would-be actors should not give pride a space in their lives, because the only thing pride does is to bring you down. So, whatever one knows how to do, keep doing it and one day, you will definitely excel in it."

"In the movie industry, if we don’t work, we wouldn’t eat. You can imagine what happens when we don’t work"

"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"

"There is no profession one finds him or herself, one must always imbibe the spirit of patience if one must succeed in the profession. If God says your own year will be 2020, if you try to run faster than your destiny, you might not get to where you are destined to be."

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

"Any challenge one faces in life, if God blesses you with it, then one should just thank God for it."

"May God not take Islam away from me and may He not take Christianity away from those who are Christians. I am still a Muslim and I never converted to Christianity"

"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."