Women Born In The 1980s

"“Humility is one of the greatest things that I’ve learned about leadership. The second is inclusivity; don’t discriminate against anybody. The third is equity; what you cannot take, don’t do to people.”"

"“Boys are not special and girls are not special. All children are legitimate members of society; treat them as such. Give them equal opportunity and support. That way, we will raise perfectly-balanced human beings and build a perfectly-balanced society.”"

"“Those are men with low self-esteem.”"

"“In my marriage, there’s no lopsided leadership; it’s not a master-servant leadership.”"

"“I don’t like to be given any special treatment because I’m a woman; don’t put me in a box and stereotype me. I am a complete human and a legitimate member of society before being a woman.”"

"“I just want a Nation that works. I've run out of fancy speeches and motivational quotes about Nigeria.”"

"“Everything will come. Nigeria has the promise of a bright future.”"

"“Not all the young woman are ready to learn and give honour and I believe in service and respecting my elders. Please don’t give up on them and don’t use them as a yardstick to judge all of us.”"

"“You can build a Legacy. An Army, a circle of young, strong women into whom you pour yourself often, to whom you make yourself accessible; sometimes it’s not your money we want, a simple line of encouragement or guide on ways to run a business or advice on how to deal with sexual harassment at work or a word of prayer can change the world. You may give a book sometimes. You can also give money to those who need it if you have some extra cash.”"

"“You are in your 40s or 50s today, Minister for ABC or D, MD of that Company or the other, Wife of the Governor of State A, General Manager or HOD of Department Q, one day, you’ll be just a memory for some people so please do your best to be a good one because there is a place called TOMORROW when the younger woman you despised few years ago will now be the one occupying the position you currently have.”"

"“There are so many God Fathers in Nigeria, where are the God Mothers? The Men are making the Boys, Dear Nigerian Women, where are your Girls?”"

"“Everywhere one turns, the Older Men have a retinue of younger Men in their kitty to whom they owe their continued relevance. They mentor, support, teach and create opportunities for the next generation of Men and thereby lives their dreams in these young Men.”"

"“A woman who does not mentor another young woman or does not hold the hand of another woman up is working to diminish her own continued relevance within the public space.”"

"Nollywood is actually lucrative if one is good at what one does, and one knows how to package oneself. I had this mentality until a junior colleague sent me her rates. The film industry is very lucrative. If one does not live above one’s income, it will be lucrative for one."

"When I faced one of the greatest challenges of my life, I did not give up. There were times I did not get acting jobs, and I had to write to producers personally. I sent messages to movie marketers to bid for roles. I got involved in other businesses in addition to my acting career, rather than quit."

"No woman should stay in an abusive marriage. Do not ever say that you are staying for your children"

"for everyone that faces domestic violence in one way or the other, the first thing to do is to love yourself and ask what you really want. In the process of being in a violent relationship, you can die. Just ask yourself if you want to sort things out or walk away."

"I would advise my colleagues to always have a backup and never rely on any video editor."

"Domestic violence is terrible. Most times, we need a break to see and know if we really want to stay in such marriage or change the situation. Yes, women are that powerful to end domestic violence. I am sure it is the most terrible time he (my husband) has passed through. I also took a lot of steps and stopped so many annoying things"

"Once an actor, always an actor. Trust me, nobody who has been in front of a camera or who has acted on stage out of passion will want to quit for anything. I’m not ready to stop."

"It just comes up in marriages, and the ability to be able to control your anger during crises in marriage goes a long way. I’m not going to support a wife-beater or a woman that runs her mouth. Most of the time, these two things don’t help. You really need to learn how to take things calmly. Though you won’t tell me you saw the viral picture on my page or that I said anything on it. How it was resolved? It was God and also based on the fact that my husband and I knew what we wanted. I told a particular person that said “It’s so-so person that caused the issue…”, “No, what my marriage needs now is counseling and less talk”. And that was actually what we did and that is how we got it resolved. The viral thing, the battered face…? I don’t even know how to address it. I just want to tell Nigerians we are fine and we are sorry for disturbing you"

"It doesn’t help you saying “I’m a no-nonsense woman”. It increases the height of domestic violence, trust me. I’m not going to support it here, but I’m going to speak against it in a way that you’ll understand that most of the time, we really need to sit back and ask ourselves “What do we really want?” I have been in the kind of situation in my marriage where I said to myself “I just need to leave. I’m not doing this anymore”, but inside me, I’m not leaving. Whatever you won’t take, do not dish it to your spouse and vice versa. Marriage has also taught me recently to be very calm in addressing issues and to be very prayerful."

"I don’t have any special routine for my body. I don’t even exercise but I live healthily. I don’t eat junks and sugary foods. I like to cook myself and I like fresh homemade foods. I think my stature is hereditary. I take after my grandma, who has a small stature. My siblings are much bigger"

"It’s not a must. As an actor, the most important thing is for one to interpret one’s roles well, whether one is dark or light-skinned. As a matter of fact, some producers don’t even like fair-skinned people because by the time lights used on set are put on, they realise they have a lot of work to do."

"Fans put pressure on celebrities to lead fake lives. One needs a lot of discipline because the expectations of fans from celebrities are usually too high. A lot of them feel one should have a certain financial level and live a certain way. However, things don’t work that way. It’s not nice. Some people who don’t have wisdom and discipline fall for it. But, I thank God He gave me the wisdom to deal with that kind of pressure"

"I used to be a very stubborn person. I didn’t like saying sorry whenever I did anything wrong. My husband gets angry easily, but when you are remorseful he calms down and tells you he is sorry too. It has really worked for me and I have used that a lot in my marriage. It’s not easy to apologise, especially when you are not the one at fault. I don’t just say sorry I go inside and kneel down to say sorry."

"No, nothing can stop me from acting except death; it’s my passion."

"I hate when people owe me and I will be going ‎around chasing them for my money. Basically, Bose Alao Omotoyosi is a full time actress."

"You know, speaking your own language can be very comfortable than someone else’s language. For instance, you can imagine asking me to scold my kid in Yoruba now, it’s going to flow but in English I will still have to choose my words one after the other."

"The choreography was about digging into the physical memories of these women’s tension, their rage, their sorrow. I tried to honestly remember my feelings and the emotional journey I went through in their presence. I am not trying to reproduce rape; I want to cut through the trauma so that people can receive and understand these experiences. The body speaks when testimony has been suspended."

"I recorded their voices and really tried to capture how they held themselves, how they walked, how they wiped away their tears. It all became physical, choreographic, material. We hear some of their testimonies in the piece, and I had to find a way for the body to navigate through these spoken words"

"I would ask if I could take a photo after talking to them, and most would change into a beautiful dress. They wanted me to carry beauty and hope with me."

"It’s true that men who invade territories also want to annihilate the physical body, the social body. But I decided to zoom into the stories of the Rwandan women and let that spread out and speak of the others."

"Rwanda is in me, it’s very deep. My creativity is linked to the past, my childhood there. There is much to be said and told, not just through dance and music, but that is one way to address it. It’s a question of creating, mending, performing, witnessing, sharing."

"When I got on stage I didn’t say anything. I was totally speechless. It was the second time a Thomas Sankara Prize was being given out at FESPACO. Everyone was waiting for it because Thomas Sankara was a great hero in Burkina Faso."

"It was a surprise! I didn’t know and it seems like I was the only one who didn’t know I would be receiving an award. People in my entourage knew."

"We are three African co-productions and we hope to have at least 40% of the budget on our side, and on the other side, that it also comes from Europe. International co-production is important for distribution. We need our films not only to be seen in Africa, but also to be seen in Europe."

"The festival is not about film screening alone. There are also numerous events around the festival and ZIFF gives exposure, not only to films and filmmakers, but it also gives that exposure to different forms of art: music, dance, painting, photography."

"This means more open doors to us, internationally. You know, Sembène is the father of the African cinema, the film was given this award because it reflects his aspirations: African filmmakers telling African stories that awaken society."

"I find solace in acting than singing, that was the reason I stopped singing. For me, once I get a script, I feel God has answered my prayers"

"I can never act nude for anything. There are several ways of seducing a man in a movie without completely going nude."

"My opinion about Nigerian justice system is that it doesn’t actually work. Often, people say that there is a problem of access to justice but in my own limited experience of the Nigerian justice system, it is not about the access to justice, but about justice been rendered."

"I don’t believe in a lead role all the time, once you are good you will stand out. Funny enough, some minor characters stand you out to the extent that they mistake them to be major characters depending on how you handle the role"

"For liposuction, my policy is live and let’s live. Whatever rocks your boat is fine. I am a very active person in sport hence I try to keep my body fit at all times. So, I don’t think I have need to consider liposuction for now, but I can’t speak for the future."

"I’m not acting because I want to act. I have a desire to affect people’s lives positively. Leadership is in service. I don’t want to mess up my reputation now because I am working on a project called “Belinda Advocacy Against Rape.”I have a reputation to protect. I have a lot of things in the offing. If one is tempted, one can easily go outside the industry to get herself a boy friend. I can’t afford to mess around in the industry."

"It has always been my vision to be scandal free, keeping my private life away from my public life. Appreciate me for my movies and what you see on screen, but my life is my life. I treasure that and I just want to keep it that way."

"My beauty routine is to ensure I don’t keep makeup on my face overnight, use a good scrub and moisturizer all the time."

"Attention should be paid to details regarding every facet of the industry from scripting, to makeup, to costume, to location, to props, equipment, cast and crew, etc. The quality of all these will add to production value. And very importantly, there should be unity among producers to solve the ongoing distribution problem. Distribution is a major problem that needs to be looked into. We have the population yet very limited distribution networks. We need to unilaterally come up with a lasting solution that will benefit everyone. This can also be a revenue spinner in years to come. Royalty will be earned from a movie forever with proper structures in place."

"Every actress has a yard stick and Hollywood is that yardstick. If I’m called to feature in Hollywood, I’d be over the moon. Nollywood is my core; I’ll never give up on it."

"I think it’s been more positive. Once you choose this career, you should be sure that your privacy will be compromised. Whatever you do is seen by all. You are no longer seen as a human but a super human. They don’t expect you to be broke and they don’t expect you to buy food on the streets like roasted corn or roasted plantain either. I’m a down to earth person and I love my local food. I love to visit amala joints to eat; I’m a peoples’ person. Part of my dream is to help people. If I raise myself too much, how will I help the common man on the street? People expect me to live this larger-than-life lifestyle but I’m just trying not to change who I am."