Genevieve Nnaji - Nigerian Superstar

Genevieve Nnaji - face of Mud

The first time I actually sat down to watch Nigerian Home Video was when I watched 'Keeping Faith' by Ego Boyo starring Genevieve Nnaji and Richard Mofe Damijo . I went to the camp to buy a Christian movie and the Lady showed me a rack of Nigerian movies. I saw the DVD and I bought thinking it was a christian movie because of its title. But after watching it, I fell in love with Genevieve Nnaji's acting or interpretation of her role. It was so beautifully acted that from then I became a fan.

To me she is the real Superstar of Nigerian Home Video popularly  called Nollywood. She is unarguably the most famous and consistent actress of them all. She has became the most demanded for leading lady by most Directors and Producers. She is the best paid actress in Nollywood.

In fact Oprah Winfrey hailed her as the Julia Roberts of Africa. This is not a mean feat to be compared with the best in Hollywood. This was when she featured in Oprah Winfrey programme called ‘Meet the Most Famous People in the World of Entertainment. She was described as the most famous actress in Nollywood. Am very sure Oprah and her team would have done their research unlike Nigeria where there are no statistics, to come up with that conclusion. This is true. Genny has been around for a while and has grown over the years.

Not long after that she was chosen as Connector of The Day on CNN’s Connect The World program. 

So on November 23, 2010, she was interviewed by Max Foster on CNN. She spoke about the challenges Artists and Entertainers go through in AFRICA and especially in Nigeria with rigid culture and custom.

She was the real Genevieve,  bold, articulate and confident. Telling it like it is as Dolapo Oni, the presenter of MNET Studio 53 Extra will say it.  

Genevieve Nnaji did not just come suddenly. She started her acting career as a child actress in the popular television soap opera Ripples at the age of 8.  Most of Nigerian A-list Actors and Actresses actually starred in that soap and Fortune. People like, Ramsey Nouah, Pat Attah, Lizzie Benson, Regina Askia, Bob Manuel Udokwu etc. It was a learning ground for all under the Sheik of Nollywood , Zeb Ejiro. I remember then that Zeb Ejiro's office was close to Pako, Aguda in Surulere and a lot of them were always milling around there. Ramsey was close to my sister then, that is another story for another day.
By 1998, at the age of 19 she was introduced into the Nigerian film industry which was just coming up with the movie “Most Wanted”. She went on to Starr in several other movies like  Last Party, Mark of the Beast, Ijele, Passion and Pain, Wind of Glory, Blood Sisters, Promise me Forever and Keeping Faith which I watched.  So far she has starred in over 85 movies and still counting. 
For her versatility, consistency and professionalism, she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005.

To show that her creativity and talent is not only in acting, she signed a recording contract with EKB Records, a Ghanaian record label in 2004, and released her debut album One Logologo Line. I remember the chorus of the song 'No more fighting o oh'. The song was more of women empowerment slogan than any thing else. Well it enjoyed air time then. 
That same year she became the Face of Lux in Nigeria. She went around as Lux ambassador giving motivational speeches since Nollywood decided to rest all of them in 2005 and introduced new faces like Ini Edo and Mike Ezuruonye. 

Othe Brands tapped into it and signed her up to represent them - MUD cosmetics, Coscharis Motors and now Range Rover ,

She has acted so many roles but i like when she acts the part of  a naive little girl or this helpless poor lady. She is really natural, really talented when it comes to acting. After that her debut album, she concentrated on acting and it has paid off.

In 2010, Genevieve Nnaji starred in the award winning film Ijé: The Journey

GENEVIEVE NNAJI is also a philanthropist. She did a lot of that when she was the Lux ambassador. She was in London for Naomi Campbell gala launch of Fashion For Relief pop-up shop. The charitable venture received donations from designer brands. The donation went into the Prince’s Trust, a UK based youth charity that helps change young lives. Genevieve was there to celebrate with Naomi. She wore a beautiful green dress with nude platform pumps. She looked good when i saw it that i took the picture and stored it on my phone. She is one of the Nigerian actresses who is conscious of her weight and has kept it slim over the years.  In London, she was also promoting her movie, Mirror Boy.

I have her pictures on my phone and am always interested in any activity she is involved with. Actually when i opened a twitter handle, she was the first person I followed. I keep wanting to do a story on her but never came around to it until I saw this picture and others claiming she has a secret daughter hiding somewhere and I now decided to do this story to celebrate her. She has done so much in portraying the Can-do spirit despite all odds. She is a role model. She is the only one in her chosen profession who keeps her life out of the public glare. I remember when she was interviewed on Teju Baby's show and was asked about Dbanj , she just said he has a good heart and that was all. Others would have started talking about the relationship, but not my Genevieve who is calm, cool and collected all the time.


People should let her be. Having a daughter early in ones life is not a bad thing but a blessing. So why this castigation or criticism?

She has done well for herself and has become the face of NOLLYWOOD globally. She is the black beauty that should be celebrated.

Ride on GENEVIEVE. Your best is yet to come.