Iyabo Ojo is a household name in
the Nollywood industry. She is an actress, a producer and businesswoman. This
graduate of Estate Management and mother of two in this interview with www.angeladaviesblog.blogspot.com,
advises young ladies not to rush into marriage. In this interesting interview,
she also disclosed that although she is not desperate, she could give marriage
a second chance.
Excerpts:
What
is your normal day like?
My normal day is always very busy
and hectic. I am a very organised person. I draw up my calendar and I try not
to be caught unawares. If I have to, it has to be that I have room to be caught
unprepared. That means, I have my time when I work, rest and do business.
However, I have noticed that most people fail in life because they are not
organised. You have to be organised, and there are prices you have to pay for
it. I do my job but when I have to be with my kids, I create that time and
overlook the money I am going to be paid to do a job. I tell people that when
you draw your calendar, it will help you organise your life because it has
worked well for me.
When
did you get into Nollywood?
I started in 1998 through the help
of my senior colleague, Bimbo Akintola. She introduced me to the Actors Guild
of Nigeria, AGN. I had the opportunity to shoot my first movie, entitled
‘Satanic’. From there, I started doing other minor roles. I got married in 1999
and had my first child that same year. I had to stay away to nurse my baby. In
2001 I had my second child. I came back to the industry towards the end of
2001, and immediately I was asked to travel to Enugu State, Onitsha in Anambra
and other places to shoot movies but I couldn’t because my two children were
still very young.
I decided to join the Yoruba movie
industry, the Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners, ANTP. I joined the
Odunfa Caucus where we had the likes of Hassan Taiwo (Ogogo). I trained under
them and started acting in Yoruba movies. In reality, when I joined them, I
just wanted to become a producer because I felt that was where the money was.
But I was advised to go into acting first and take it up from there. In 2004, I
became a producer, which had been my dream.
What
are the movies you have produced?
My first movie was ‘Botife’; after
that I did ‘Bofeboko’ and ‘Ololufe’. My latest production is entitled ‘Arinzo’.
I also have two other movies: ‘Enu orofo’ which I coordinated for my personal
assistant; it is not out yet. Then I have ‘Tembelo’ which is my first comedy
movie. It is going to be released after ‘Arinzo’ part two.
Can
you tell us about your academic background?
Growing up, I attended Grace
Children School, Gbagada, Lagos, National College Gbagada and then Lagos State
Polytechnic where I studied Estate Management.
Why
did you choose acting as a career when you studied Estate Management?
Studying Estate Management was not
really my choice back then. I had all my required papers except English
Language, and I was desperate to get into school. I decided that instead of
sitting down at home doing nothing and wasting my time, why not look for a
course that I am qualified? Luckily, I found out that I could study Estate
Management; however, with the clause that I must pass English before I
graduate. I fell in love with the course initially and while in school, I and a
few friends even opened an office where we ran an estate and property business,
but somehow I found myself in acting. To combine both careers was hectic and
time consuming so I had to drop Estate Management and settled for my first
love, acting.
How
has it been raising your children alone as a single mother?
Being a single mother is very
tasking because you have to be the breadwinner. I thank God for the strength. I
call myself woman-man because I don’t take defeat and I love challenges. I
promised myself that I was going to give my kids the best ever. I am going to
work my way through it to make sure that they become what I want them to be. My
son is about finishing his secondary school education and I am planning ahead
for his university. My daughter too will soon be completing her secondary
school education; so it has been a long journey. I have been taking care of my
children ever since my daughter was two years old and now she is 12. Though it
is not easy, Christ has made it possible.
So
what happened? Did your husband leave you or you walked away from the marriage?
I chose to walk away because I
wasn’t enjoying the marriage. It wasn’t what I wanted and I blame it on myself
because I rushed into marriage. In most early and rushed marriages, you don’t
get to study your partner. You people get married and then begin to live like
strangers. Things you should have worked out before getting married, you start
working it out in the marriage and it doesn’t help. That was what affected me.
But I thank God because out of every disappointment, there is a blessing. The
blessing is my wonderful children which God has given me. That is the reason
why I combined their names, Festus and Priscilla, to form Fespris which I named
after my company, to honour them.
Why
do you say you rushed into marriage?
I got married when I was 21years
old, and I met him just six months before we got married. I was in school and
it wasn’t as if I was seeing him all the time to get to know him well. But the
kind of family I come from, when I got pregnant, they didn’t want me to have
the baby out of wedlock so the marriage came because of the baby and not
because we had actually planned it that way. When we got married, he still
wanted to be married and be a bachelor and I wanted him to be married and be a
husband. We were two different people hence when I found out he wasn’t ready to
be a husband, I decided to walk away and go back to my first love, which is
acting.
Does
he support you and are you still friends?
We are still friends. I don’t make
enemies, that is one thing about me. He tries to support in his own little way
but I truly handle almost everything and I appreciate the little he does
because some men don’t even do anything at all. For my children’s sake, I
appreciate what he is doing for them. They have a very good relationship with
him; they keep in contact with him. He comes to visit them and they go to visit
him too. I try not to come in-between them.
Is
there a man in your life and are you willing to give marriage a second chance?
Marriage is a contract. If you had
asked me this question five years ago, I would say no. But now, maybe yes, but
I am not desperate. I am happy the way I am; if marriage comes, no problem. I
don’t draw out my life plan all the way; I draw my daily life plan so I don’t
know what God has in store for me. If God says Iyabo, whether you like it or
not you must remarry, then I will remarry. That means the right guy will come
and I will know. Until that happens, I am very happy with the man I am dating
and I love him because I am a one-man, onewoman person. He is taking very good
care of me. It is not every relationship that should lead to marriage. For
some, you will just be best friends forever; some will lead to marriage and
some will not, but if he asks for my hand in marriage, I could say yes. Till
then, I am not desperate, I just keep hoping for the best. There are three
things I will choose in life, and they are health, happiness and to be as
humble as I can be because I already have the greatest thing ever, my beautiful
kids. They make me happy, I love being around them and I love them to pieces. I
can’t stop talking about them.
What’s
your advice for young girls who want to rush into marriage?
I will advise them not to try it
because they will rush out. I have seen lots of people after mine who made the
same mistake. Initially, when I advise young ladies against rushing into
marriage, they tell me that because I made one mistake doesn’t mean it is going
to be a mistake for somebody else. You need to study the man you intend to
marry because you will be living with a stranger. Even somebody you have dated
for five years will shock you in marriage. It takes the first six months to
play Romeo and Juliet, the next six months is for tolerance and after that you
would decide whether to continue in the marriage or not. You need to study your
partner for about a year or two to know and study the person.
What
is the worst rumour you have heard about yourself?
They said I had sex in a car in
London. I have never done that before, never. I don’t know about tomorrow maybe
I might but I haven’t done it before. It was so awkward and funny. People
carried the rumour and it was everywhere. I think that is the worst rumour.
Did
it make you cry?
No, I was shocked to my bones and I
laughed. I really laughed because it was funny to me. There was no truth in
what they wrote at all.
Define
your style?
I am a very elegant person. I love
beauty and I am fashion crazy. I love gold. I create my own style, I don’t move
with the crowd except I love the movement. I am a very detailed person, a
perfectionist and sometimes I take things to the extreme to make sure it is
exactly what I want.
How
many tattoos do you have?
I have three tattoos. I have on my
chest, arm and at my back. The one on my chest signifies crown, it means I am a
queen. The one on my arm signifies love; I am a very loving person. I talk and
preach love because I am someone who believes in love. The one at my back is
for all my enemies; I am watching them, so they should stay clear.
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