THE REASON WHY IT TOOK ME MANY YEARS TO PRODUCE MY FIRST MOVIE _Jenifar Eliogu

For sometimes now, nothing much has been heard from the stable of this ever ravishing actress who always engross with smiles JENIFER ELIOGU, the gorgeous woman of substance who’s also maintain scandal free profile has not been in the news for sometimes now, not that she’s not relevant or relented but she was busy putting on one or two things together to become a fantastic flick of which by the grace of God she was able to achieved. In an interview with her, the busty Nollywood screen diva told GBOLAHAN ADETAYO about her latest flick from within that was premiered on Sunday 21th of March 2011, what it entails to hold a successful marriage, her view about pre-marital sexy, siblings among other interest issues you cannot avoid to overlook. Enjoy the script….

What’s new about Jenifer Eliogu?

Nothing much, just that I have been busy recent time, tried to put one or two things together. I just produced my latest movie from within which will be premier on the 20th of March at the Oriental Hotel, prior to the premier, we are having a work shop for the youth, it is an NGO called Idea s Initiative for Development Empowerment and Scale association in conjunction with them we are putting together a work shop for the youth titled from within. The idea is to encourage self development and find that uniqueness in them which they can use to strategies and sustain themselves in order to become an important persons in the society. So we had the work shop on the 18th March 2011 at the Sparkle Hall at Joel Ogunaike Street GRA Ikeja Lagos, and few of Nollywood stars were there to present as the special guest to give speech and entertain, educate, inform them, it was not just talk affair alone. It’s a thing I have always wanted to do and opportunity just presented itself.

Can you shed more light on the flick?

Yeah, it is a beautiful story, it has everything you think of, it has glamour, more of lessons because I believed that every story must have lesson to teach, so we took a little from suspense and then we tipped in a little of moral lesson for the female child, it actually a family story. It show case talent of Kenneth Okonkwo, Jennifer Eliogu, Ebele Okaro- Onyiuke, Thelma Okodua, Dorothy Njemanze, Bibiana Francis, Habibat Lasisi, Paul Sambo and others ,and we were able to discover new talent as well so it’s something I ‘m really proud of.

What is the taste of the story?

It is a story of a widower who has two young girls to take care of and he’s trying find love with them and fortunate he fulfill his aim but it was in most on usual ways.

What invite the idea of going deep into widower story so far because many will believe that you speak or pass message from experience?

I want to do more of true life story and then probably feature every now and then, I started writing when I got married and relocated to city, I wasn’t working, I was a nursing mother so it afforded me all the time to write and I achieved three scripts in two years and I intend to shoot each and every one of them, so I do a lot of family story because I will like to a kind of story that families will seat down together and watch with their children.

There are lots of tittles which you can give your movie, so what brought the title from within?

It’s because everything good comes from within and I said to myself that why don’t you cook something strong and relate it to it because have always have the consent and I ask myself where to start from and God just presented me an inspiration From Within and to form the movie a different story From within and to form a work shop out of it for the youth and I’m going to use From Within, we are going to drive this far than here, we are going to visit places because it’s truly speaks our mind, telling us to search for that God given talent within yourself, use it to better your life and the society.

Can you reveal to us the message in the movie?

It’s about a widower who has two young daughters and after five years that his wife departed, he begins to search again for true love and he was able to come across beautiful women who are also wealthy but that is not what he’s opting for, he was looking for the beauty From Within, beauty from inside, love and trust worthy person that will love him and his children for genuinely and eventually he found one in the list place that everybody will look for, because at his status and level of education standard one will think that he will definitely marry a well educated and glamorous person but he ended up marry someone who is not in the list at all. So this encourages us that most time all that glitter is not God. You have to look within to see the real picture, forget the colour of the picture, it looks like casket, people buy casket of millions of naira and when open it you will see that there’s nothing good inside and you know that we have nothing to do with corpses. So to cut the story short, a man looking for true love and he found it in the strange places, and a young man wondering around searching for purpose for his life, he look within himself and realizing that he can be who he wanted to be, he just have to take a step at a time. So that is what we are actually talking about.

It seems that the illustration of your story From Within is from experience, because taking critical look at the street of Nigeria, we have many graduates who are vagrants as a result of unemployment. So are you saying that even at that they can start up something tangible within themselves?

Yes. Pending discovering, for example look at the man speaking there, he’s educated but he cannot get a job like you and I because he doesn’t have legs, but do you know what he does for living? He loves singing, he do go to parties, clubs to perform and people spray him money and then he solicit for jobs by informing the guests about what he knows how to do best. On a good day you wouldn’t call a cripple to come and perform at your event, I’m not mucking him but just trying to explain how bad it is. Even in his level where he find himself worthy of your presence, he believes that God loves him and he should not be shame of his appearance, you understand. If he doesn’t have legs and I do, together we are the image of God; it depends on how you see it. So there’s a unique thing about every human being. Look for it, start working gradually and you will see that that dropping water will turn to an ocean with consistency and Trust in God.

So how far have you gone about the movie?

Actually we just had the premier and you are there you saw what happened, the Idea is not just to bring celebrities together but to show case the talent within ourselves, open for public to criticize so that we can learn from our mistakes and then we tap from the word of experiences and then we can only get better. It require a lot of hard work, we are going to do it in UK, South Africa and Abuja after the elections because a lot of people are busy doing one thing or the other in this elections period. But for me, my fulfillment is not just for movie, the one day work shop I had, for me is not fulfill in anything else, I feel that without given me money that I must being able to touch somebody’s life and I believe that the return will touch the few lives as well.

We learnt that at your one day work shop, the likes of Kanawo O Kanayo, Saheed Balogun and others were expected to address the visitors but they were not at the event. What informed that?

I can’t say because I spoke with them before I put them on the hand bill, Kanyo, I know that he was in the UK and he told me that he will be back to town three days before the event while I also spoke with Saheed up to a day before the event. So I didn’t know why they did not appear and I don’t want to speak for anyone. People have difference programmes and I’m sure that later we get in touch with each other.

Flipping through your profile as a responsible woman and looking at the way you talk, it seems that you are one of the successful women who cherish their marriages. So what is you view about marriage?

Marriage is a beautiful thing; no doubt it has some sacrifices you need to pay before you can have a successful marriage but at that, it’s a lovely obsession. It is not a bird of roses and it’s a fact that we are kind of people that celebrate negativities in marriages which very is sad, people always wanted to see or read that someone’s marriage has hit rock, can a newly wedded marriage could be last? I mean we keep predicting people’s future which is not good. Marriage is meant to be beautiful. It is not just meant for child bearing, as a Christian I think marriage is a companionship and when the children comes it is a beautiful thing. Each marriage has it up and down and we live for mistakes, you make mistake and you realized the mistake and you pick up, then friendship is not sustain your marriage over the year, not just love because love is a relative word. So I believe in marriage, companionship and family.

So you also believe that love still exists?

Why not? love must have failed some people, but that doesn’t mean that is not existing again, and that it failed you doesn’t suggest that you shouldn’t go on loving, it depends on the what contest, love is a strong word but we used it like recharge card.

There are lots of celebrities that their marriages collide like sosoliso air line

Outside the entertainment industry every marriage hit rock every minute, the only different we have is that the entertainment arena are in the limelight, we don’t have privacy, the moment you decided to become an actor, you have sold your privacy, that is how you know that marriages are not intact. There are many outside there that have crashed long time ago but you don’t know because they were not a public figure. So I disagree with the idea that marriage keeps breaking in the industry. You know about that because they are in the news while people that are not in the industry also share from the cake.

A lot of people ‘precisely’ new generation believe that marriage is a game you can just dabbling into, whereas there’s a click behind every successful marriage, so enlighten the public secret to ensure a successful marriage

Gbolahan your question seems that you are talking from experience (general laugh)……. Well, the only sure way to have a successful marriage is holding onto God. Is not how much you love each other, sometimes the people you love so much are someone who doesn’t love you back, that is live for you and there’s no remedy for that. Marriage I don’t believe is something you can dabble into. it is good to be mature before you go into it, that is where you can manage certain things, you can manage certain situation, there’s nothing that has never happened under the firmament, the situation has been in existence from the day of old then it depend on who its happening to and how you are able to manage that situation. So there’s no sure way, it just the grace of God.

For how long your marriage has come to limelight?

I got married six years ago (6)

What helps you in sustaining your marriage till date?

Like I said earlier it’s God, what happens in some marriages also surface in mine sometimes, it just the ability to manage it, your ability to hold on, knowing that I came into this and I intend to make a work. So there’s no magic anywhere, mine is not special but I thank God so far.

What do you think about pre-marital sex?

Well, I wouldn’t say that I encourage it. Although in recent time people think is an old fashion, but Christianity encourage it that you hold on until you get married and I am Christian, I wouldn’t say that I got married as a virgin no but if you are a born again Christian, you will do things according will of God. And at the same time, I think it’s a good idea. The more reason we should talk to the younger ones who are just coming up so that they will do things accordilly because there are some things we do ignorantly that if you preach to younger ones they won’t understand the need for them to do the right thing. Although there are times that whether you date that person before you engage in marriage or not doesn’t determine the sustainability in your marriage. So like I said it takes a principal.

Now are you suggesting that it’s advisable to experience pre-marital sex before marriage?

I haven’t said that, what I mean is that as a Christian it will be wonderful to hold and let God direct you in his own way because sometimes, being human being we will not be able to hold on, we like to make choices for ourselves and 99 percent of cases we paid for those choices. So I think to hold on and ask God for divine decision is a good idea.

So what is your thought to the young generation who engaged in pre-marital sex?

Ignorant is not an excuse, may be they didn’t know before now and now that is everywhere, people talk about deceases outside there and once you come to exchange contact with any one sexually, you are exchanging spirits, they will make best of decisions.

Can you let us into your background?

I came from Uke in Indemnily Local Government Area of Anambra, I’m from family of nine, my parent and six siblings but I lost one of them two years ago in a fatal accident, so now I have five siblings two boys three girls and I had a wonderful grow up, though we might not be reach but we have a comfortable parent and we grew up having everything we wanted to have as children. Very strict father but my mum is not strict but she is always my father’s decision, so if your name enters my father’s bad record definitely you will have problem with my mum. Growing up was fantastic, like every normal family you have your scruple but we never allowed any problem generating in the next 24 hours, me and my siblings we were very close. I attended Umbrella Nursery and Primary School in Olode Apapa from there I moved on to my town for my Secondary education after that I did Diploma in Unijos, though those days there was nothing like Jamb then, what we do is that we take on in a year course like pre science course and you move on to Higher Institution and when I stumbled into acting, I lost in a little beat because I got carried away, I mean young girl making 40.000 naira upward way back like fifteen years back I got a little carried away and I decided not to go back to School after Diploma but when I got more matured, I realized that life had more in store then I proceeded to Lagos State University to study English in 2008

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