Nigeria News
Models Are Not Lesbians
Grace Onuoha, a model, actress, fashion designer and the current Miss Eko, tells ABIMBOLA OBATAYO about her career and how she copes as a student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ
Grace Onuoha, Miss Eko
How was growing up like?
I will say it was quite challenging. I am not from a well-to-do family, so growing up, for me, was challenging.
Give us an insight into how you started your modelling career…
I started my modelling career in 2008, a day after my birthday precisely. I was just 17 years old then. I went with my sister for an audition because the previous day was my birthday, so she decided to take me out with her for the audition. We got there and I saw girls like me and I decided to take part. I was interviewed and then I was chosen. I didn’t even expect it because I went there for fun. So two days later, I was called upon that I have been chosen. I was asked to report to the camp that they were going to train us. That was how I began.
Which outfits/designers have you worked for?
I have modelled for Zizikado, Itien Bassy, Modela Couture, Mood Couture and for myself, Great Grace Collection. I have modelled for some designers whose names I can’t even remember.
Were you paid when you started modelling?
Yes, I was well paid. That was what encouraged me to go into it fully.
Did you really love modelling or was it circumstances that led you into it?
I have always wanted to be a top model right from when I was a kid. I think I was four years old when I said I wanted to be on TV, that I wanted to be a broadcaster, I wanted to be everything that has to do with broadcasting. While growing, I liked Genevieve and Agbani Darego, so I have always wanted to be a model.
Did your parents support your?
Yes, very much. They were really in support even before I started modelling; I had acted in some films. My first movie was done in my secondary school. The production team came to my school to pick people that will act and then I was chosen and I played the lead role in the movie. My parents really liked it because they knew that was what I wanted to do, even right from when I was young. I participated in a lot of church activities like drama and debates, so they already knew what I wanted to be. They have always been in support, they provide me with clothes and all that I need, even when I wanted to contest for Miss Majoss, I was about 7 years old then, but my parents provided all I needed, taught me what to say and how to say it. When I was in the secondary school, I contested again and won. So they have always been praying for me, showing me all their support.
How have you been able to combine education and modelling?
I chose a part-time programme because of my modelling career, so none of them is disturbing the other.
What modelling competitions have you won so far?
A lot of them and I am going to start from my primary school. I won Miss Majoss International School and while in secondary school, I won Miss Majoss International College, and after my secondary school, I went for Instant Beauty Queen on Soundcity and I won. I was Miss NIJ in 2011 and Miss Eko 2012.
Apart from the car you won, what other things did you get from the Miss Eko pageantry?
Well, I was supposed to be given N2 million and a jeep, they have been paying me in instalments. I would say I’ve been paid but still expecting my balance and I was supposed to have a year contract with women affairs and poverty alleviation and also to do some things with the Commissioner for Sports. I was also supposed to be on a monthly salary but I have not seen any of that yet, I am still hoping.
What are the challenges since you became a professional model?
I wouldn’t want to say it is very easy, but compared to other people and other stories I have heard, I think it’s been quite rosy for me. I won’t say it’s because of my beauty or anything; it’s by the grace of God because I have always been chosen at most of the auditions that I have attended. Maybe it was just a few that I was rejected, which I felt was normal for some obvious reasons. But many auditions that I went for, I was chosen. I have been getting money from modelling and it’s been very good for me.
Have you been given any endorsement deal since you became Miss Eko?
Yes, I have done an advert for Emily. I did for Best Lube Oil, Gentle Touch and some I can’t remember.
How have you been able to handle the fame?
For me, it’s like my normal everyday life. It’s like a continuation of me not being Miss Eko. Well, there’s something special about me being a queen and having a car but I still see people as the way they’ve always been, my friends are still my friends. I also have my privacy even as a queen and everybody is still what they are to me. The fame has not changed anything.
What other things do you do aside modelling?
I do fashion designing, and like I said, I also market other things. I sell what I make. I make accessories and Ankara shirts.
How have you been able to cope with the opposite sex?
Well, it’s been the same. It’s normal for guys to want to come around when they know this girl is now made but I’m too wise to be fooled by people pretending to be friends when they are not. The best time to know when people love you is when you’re nobody. The people that I have in my life now are those that have always known me. So, these guys coming around to ask me out are like they’ve always known me but don’t have the courage to walk up to me. But I still make them understand that it can’t be. If it wasn’t that time then it can’t be now.
What is your take on the issue of lesbianism in the modelling world?
I don’t really know what lesbianism holds in the modelling industry. I have never experienced or seen anybody that came to me and said ‘oh I’m a lesbian’ and I have never been molested before. So, I don’t know anything about lesbianism. Models should not be seen as lesbians.
Tell us how you got into Nollywood?
It all started when I was in secondary school. They wanted to use my school as location for a movie, and because the school uniform is really nice and I was the president of the literary and debating society, I was auditioned and did very well and I was chosen. I played the role of Amina. After that, I did What Went Wrong and Wind of Change where I played Izoduwa the daughter of Patience Ozokwor. I have done other movies afterwards.
What advice will you give to upcoming models?
I will advise them to be patient; they should avoid every form of desperation because people take advantage of others when they are desperate. Then, I will also advise them to hold God tight. Anywhere I am today, any position I see myself could not have been if not for God. They should have a prayer routine and make God their only source, because if you don’t make God your only source you cannot make headway. Importantly, they should have a role model. If you know you want to become somebody; you should have someone you look up to. For instance, you want to become a top model; you look at Agbani Darego and Oluchi. You look at those that are already there and how they live their life, the way they dress, their poise, everything. My role model is Tyra Banks. I love her life, her dressing and things that she does.
What are your future plans?
Like I will always say, the future is now. My ambition is to be one of the best fashion designers in my country first and to still leave more examples to upcoming models.
How would you describe yourself?
I am a friendly person, adorable, humble and of course very intelligent. Wisdom is really embedded in me because I have the wisdom of God. I am also fun to be with and also a peacemaker.
Any regrets so far?
I don’t have any regrets. Life is good, life goes on, so, there is no energy to regret or live a life of regrets.
Are you engaged or getting married soon?
I am not ready to get married. I am someone that sets my priorities right. In fact, marriage for now is not in my top ten priorities. I still have like two to three years to give myself, to enjoy my career, to enjoy my single life. So I don’t have plans for marriage now. So, relationship right now is not in my top ten priorities either and I am not engaged.
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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