I feel honoured emerging Nollwood’s NO2 Sexiest woman
Posted To The Web: Saturday, January 23, 2010 - Ogbonna Amadi


Ini Edo, the first runner-up of last year’s edition of Sexiest Lady in Nollywood

We waited for more than a year for Ini Edo, the first runner-up of last year’s edition of Sexiest Lady in Nollywood event, to show up.
And when she finally showed up, she was full of apologies on one hand and praises for the Saturday Vanguard team for the good job they are doing for the entertainment industry, especially Nollywood.

Why didn’t you attend our awards ceremony for winners of Sexiest in Nollywood last year?

I couldn’t attend the event because I was working somewhere in the East. I tried to obtain permission from my producer but he wouldn’t let me off the hook. Again, while we were there, some of my colleagues travelled out of the country, meaning that I had to stay back till the production was through. After that, I have been working ceaselessly, and at the same time, travelling within and outside the country. Along the line, I got married.






So, you have been pretty busy?

I have been extremely busy. I think God has been merciful in that direction. I have never had a dull moment at all.

What do you think of Nollywood today?
At the moment, I think the industry is experiencing some setbacks, financially. I don’t know why! May be, it could be as a result of piracy and other militating factors which are affecting the industry. But it’s not as if the industry is not going to improve in future.

How many movies have you done in the last few years?

I can’t put a figure right now because every week I’m in Nigeria.
I have been working consistently.

Do you still make much money as usual from the industry?

I must confess that we are no longer making much money as we used to make in the recent past, simply because the producers are no longer making much money as they used to make. Definitely, it’s affecting whatever they are paying to the artistes.

You always travel out of the country. Why?


I actually have something very important that usually takes me out of the country every now and then.

Is it marriage?

Of course, yes.

Couldn’t you decide to settle down at a particular place, either in Nigeria or over there? Is it because of the craze of acting ?

It’s not just about the craze of Nigerian movies. It’s my profession. Acting is my profession. It’s not just because of the money but it’s as a result of my love for acting. Moreover, I have one or two things that always bring me back to the country than acting.

So, each time I come home to attend to those things, it would require me to stay back for a period of time.
As a newly married woman, you need the fruits of the womb to solidify your marriage.

I think, my husband and myself have a plan towards that. I have discussed with my husband over it, and I have decided what and when we have to do everything that we have to do.

Isn’t distance a barrier in marriage?

It doesn’t matter. I’m always there with him. I just returned to the country last December. And he’s coming home before the end of this month. So, before he got married to his wife (referring to herself), he knew what his wife was doing, and he also knows that his wife lives in Nigeria.

Does it mean that you can’t secure a place in Hollywood, in case you want to settle down with your husband over there?

Hollywood is not a place you can get into easily. Right now, this whole thing started last year. It’s not as if I have been there for a very long time. But I’m working out something to enable me be at a particular place for a long time to come.
How do you cope with your lonely moments?

Just to get busy working.

I mean lonely nights and cold…?

Laughs, Which cold? What about those sisters in the convent?
Like I said earlier, it’s not an easy thing, and I can’t tell you that it’s something we both are enjoying. But at the same time, we have to make sacrifices. It’s the little sacrifices we have decided to make at this point in time.





Are you saying in time to come you may want to quit acting?

Definitely, something will have to give way for another.

So, when are you hoping to settle down completely?

I have already settled down.

Why are you always controversial ?

I used to ask myself , why am I controversial?
I wouldn’t know why people decide to talk about me every now and then.
I wouldn’t know why! I just do what I know how to do best and go back to my house. For some reasons, even if I’m in the States, they will continue to talk about the things I’m supposed to be doing in Nigeria. The most important thing is that 99 per cent of the things people say about me are nowhere near the truth.

What’s your relationship with your fellow actresses?

Cordial.

But the last time your sister represented you in Vanguard, we noticed some kind of face-off between herself and Genevieve?

Genny didn’t know her. I have no problem with Genevieve. She’s a good friend. All the same, everybody has got the right to do whatsoever that pleases him or herself.

Let’ talk about Sexiest in Nollywood. When you first noticed the competition, how did you react?

It was very flattering, in the sense that I couldn’t imagine my name being listed among those stars who were leading during the contest. For me, I felt flattered, and thereafter I resigned to fate, saying, let’s see how it goes. Then, I knew I had a lot of highly placed in society who were calling me on phone to inform me concerning the proceeding of the contest. It makes me thank God all the more.

Were you disappointed that Genevieve carried the day at last?

No, I was not. Genevieve is a pretty girl too. It could have been anyone of us that was in the top three. There were a lot of other girls who couldn’t make it to the top three. What would they have done? They wouldn’t kill themselves either.

For me to have made the 1st runner- up, it remains a thing of joy because it wasn’t something I was expecting. I didn’t know I was going to go that far.

How about family life- growing up among your siblings and your parents?

It was fun. I came from a family of four, three women and one boy. I’m the second child of my parents. My parents are all that I have got in this world. They are the two most precious people to me. They can’t afford to hurt me because it will be like hurting themselves. Whatever affect me equally affects them too. So, my parents have really been very helpful.

While growing up, did you start off as an actress?

No, I didn’t . I have always had too big ambition. I had always wanted to be either a lawyer or a television broadcaster. Those were the two professions I wanted to belong to. That was why I went in to study Mass Communication. Initially, because of the fact that I was not lucky enough to pass my JAMB, I took up a diploma course in Theatre Arts at the University of Calabar, and later switched over to Mass Communication.

At the time I was studying Mass Communication, I found myself falling in love with the stage. In that process, there came a time , when ASUU was on strike, and there was this guy in our Department called Emeka who informed me about an audition that was taking place in Aba.

A lot of girls from my school went for that audition, including students from UNIPORT, and at the end of the audition, I was given a minor role to play. And after featuring in that movie, I went back to school, and two years after graduating from school, I returned to the screen.

During that period, you were not given any major role?

Not at all. That was why I was trying my hands on something else. If you ask me, ‘when did your acting career start?’ I would like to trace it to the time I really started featuring in big budget movies and playing prominent roles, and that was in 2003.

What movie was that ?

It was called, “Thick Madam’ and I played a prominent role in that movie. Featured in the movie were Eucharia Anunobi, and other big names in the industry. That was the first time I met with Eucharia, and she really encouraged me.

After that movie, I did a couple of other movies, which brought me to limelight. But the major movie that gave me a break was “World’s Apart” featuring Laz Ekwueme, Liz Benson, Kenneth Okonkwo and many others. It was awesome.

I didn’t expect to get the role because then, I wasn’t the producer’s familiar cast. Somebody else was assigned to play the role , and along the line, the person disappointed the producer. Out of desperation, because they needed to shoot the film, and at the same time, wanted somebody that has a similar posture with the person they had in mind. There and then, I was invited to come and pick up the role, even though the producer had some doubts concerning my ability to deliver the role.

Actually, the character I was to play in that movie was very deep. In fact, I didn’t have the confidence that I could do it as it was a very challenging role. I had to try my best to prove I had got the talent. At the end, the movie came out fine.

How do you feel seeing that those things you used to do in the past, you don’t do them anymore?
It’s overwhelming. Naturally, I have always not been an ordinary person. For some reasons, I have always been in the middle of so many things, both positively and negatively. I have always been that person you must encounter first before encountering other people. It didn’t just happen. All of a sudden, I started having jobs here and there. I was like trying to do all of these jobs at the same time, and also, getting myself into troubles.

I mean, sometimes you find yourself stepping on so many people’s toes and all that. You are either on one set or the other, trying to do so many things at the same time. In coping with the situation, I found myself in the habit of delaying productions a little, because of the pressure that was on me at a particular time.

What was it like, I mean your love life…the men that crossed your path?
The men would always make passes.

Even now that you are married?

Yes, I kept changing my lines every now and then. In fact, I do change my lines at least twice in a year, because of the unwanted calls from men that want to make advances to me.

Any embarrassing moments?

Yeah, I recall a situation where somebody walked up to me at the airport sometime ago, and dragged me from the rear. I was putting on this loosen top, and when he dragged me rudely, I felt embarrassed because I was not expecting the action, at the time he did it. I immediately held on to my top, thank God the rope didn’t cut. But it was an embarrassing situation.

I screamed at the guy, but I think, he was a fan who was trying to draw my attention, while I was rushing to catch up with a flight. I screamed seriously.

There was this rumour that you had to fight over your husband with his ex-wife, Ruth, and that Ruth has something to do with Jim Iyke’s fiancee, Keturah. Was it true?

I have nothing to say on this, because I didn’t have to fight over anybody here. I was just on my own when the man came asking for my hand in marriage. I never met with her, nor set my eyes on her. As for Jim Iyke, or whatever ,I was not in the picture. I didn’t need to fight over anybody’s right.

You have not told us how your husband won your hand in marriage?

It’s all about compatibility for you to find someone that is a friend. That was what I was actually looking out for in marriage. I did not want a rich man, or someone that throws his wealth here and there. Perhaps, I would have gotten married long time ago. I wanted to marry my friend, someone that can tolerate me, as well as me tolerating him.

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