I was castigated for interpreting prostitution movie –Ifeoma Okeke

About five years ago when flaunting of cleavage among fashionistas was the trend, Nollywood queen, Ifeoma Okeke, cherished showing off her boobs. After a while, she stopped and started flaunting her hips.

Ifeoma, who started acting in 1998, said she was getting more mature. Hence, she no longer flaunts cleavage or hip because she does not consider them as the sexiest part of her body. Her face, she said smilingly, is her finest part.

“Oh no, not my boobs or hip anymore, but my face,” she grimaced.

This super screen diva unveiled how she joined Nollywood and the number of years she had been there.

“I have been there for a long time. I started in 1998 in a Waka Pass movie role. But that time Waka Pass used to make sense. The title of the movie was Igbo Pamper which was produced by Nkem Owoh, the man that actually brought me into the industry. Then he used to disturb me. He used to tell me ‘Ify, you are funny, come and join the industry’.

“He told my mum about it. My mum agreed and today, the rest is history. I have done more than 20 movies. But people do think I’m more of a TV person. I do all together. Apart from acting, I’m also into events. At a time I left and finished my education and still came back to the industry. But TV is something one can bump into and they repeat programmes a lot,” she emphasised.

She spoke about her greatest challenge in the acting world.

“When I started, I wasn’t supported by my aunties and uncles. But, my dad against all odds supported me. In my family, they used to think everyone into acting was a prostitute. My dad used made a comment which I would never forget. He said if other people’s children are prostitutes and you watch them in movies, leave her to go into it. That’s why I can never disappoint my dad. Interestingly, my uncles and aunties that nearly stopped me from acting, now have positive opinion about my acting career. They relate with me more. They are the first to buy newspapers when I grant press interviews. They would say excitedly, ‘that is my daughter’,” she enthused.

Aside from acting, she is also “into events. My event company which is known as Purple Campaign is up to eight years old. I also have a non-governmental organisation which fights against violence. I would soon celebrate it with my birthday here in Lagos. Remember that I was born and bred in Lagos. I understand Lagos and Lagos understands me.

The Nollywood star recalls the most embarrassing thing a church colleague did to her. “That was when I did one movie entitled, ‘Prostitute’ which was produced by Kingsley Ogoro and directed by Fred Amata and Uzor Ogbechi. When the film came out, there was one Mrs Okoh in my church who confronted me that I cannot be singing in a church regularly and still go and interpret a prostitution role in a movie. In fact, she so much embarrassed me that Father Erile told her that I was only acting and telling a character of someone; that she shouldn’t judge me. She was already castigating me.”

Something really led to her setting up Purple Campaign, her NGO.

“You know purple stands for royalty. It also stands for violence. We usually say yes to royalty and no to violence. I have my friend that has been raped and she is going to be 35 years old this year. When she told me her story, it was an emotional one. It touched me. I decided to be a voice to people that cannot speak out. In Nigeria, when you say you have been raped, people stigmatise you. I just decided to be a shoulder to someone that needs one to lean on. I wanted to be an ear to someone who wants me to listen to her story,” she said