Being 50 ordinarily is a landmark
celebration. For Nollywood actress, Ngozi
Nwosu, there may never be another
celebration like it again considering a major
health challenge, which could have marred
her chance of attaining her golden jubilee.
In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the
Fuji House star actress, who was recently
feted to a 3-in-1 party which was graced by
top Nollywood celebrities, opens up on her
ordeal, the lessons and life at 50.
HOW do you feel being 50?
I feel young. I’ve always felt young.
Nollywood has decided to fete you at 50. Will
you say this is the best birthday you’ve had?
I think this should be the best really.
Considering the circumstance, I thank God; I
made it to 50, yeah. This should be the best.
When exactly was your birthday?
1st of August.
What did you do that morning?
That morning, I was not in Nigeria. I was in
England. I had breakfast in bed – that was after
my morning prayer. My girlfriend surprised
me by serving me breakfast in bed. And I was
like wow! I’ve never had that before. It was
nice turning 50, you know (laughs).
Who were those who called to congratulate
you?
From midnight, I started receiving calls from
people, friends, my family in Nigeria.
Did you ever think you would get to 50?
Well, there was a time I thought I wouldn’t get
to 50, but with God all things are possible. And
I never gave up and here I am.
You look very pretty, how have you been able
to get back to shape?
My dear, it is God. I just thank God.
Why did you conceal your health challenge for
a long time?
I don’t think you were here when the doctor
was educating us on health issues. As he rightly
said, it is nice for you to voice out your
problem on time. But to me I felt it was
something I could handle on my own. It wasn’t
as if I deliberately kept quiet. I was handling it
on my own, thinking it will be over soon until
God said, ‘no, my daughter, I think I will
handle it the best way for you.’ And here I am
today.
At a time, there were so many insinuations
regarding your state of health. What was the
worst thing that was said about you?
My dear, so many silly things; I don’t even
want to think about it. I just want to thank
God that I’m alive. And to them all, I just want
to say thank you because either way they’ve
contributed to making me strong and I thank
God I’m still alive.
What are some of the lessons you’ve drawn
from the experience?
Some of the lessons I have drawn from the
experience; I’ve learnt to be myself, believe in
God and always help the needy because you
don’t know tomorrow. Nobody knows the
tomorrow. Today it is my turn. It could be
your turn tomorrow. I remember when I went
for ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ to play a
charity game to raise money for Samanger
because his health was failing him.
I thank God I won one million naira for him.
But the point is I didn’t know it would be my
turn someday. I thank God that when I was
called upon for that show I didn’t turn it
down. I’ve also learnt that you should never
trust in anyone but God because those you
believe in will be those that will let you down
and it has also shown me the amount of
people or the kind of people that will come to
your aid when you need them.
This is Africa where people desert you when
you have problems. What was your experience
in this regard?
I would rather not talk about it. To me, I’m
50, I’m enjoying it to the glory of God and all
that is behind me now. They are in the past.
How many more years would you like to spend
on earth?
My dear, God should just keep adding it and
adding it until He says, ‘my daughter, you’ve
finished your work on earth, come home.’
You were spotted recently at a location. Are
you hale, hearty and ready to work?
Spotted at a location? No, I’ve only gone to
Fuji House. And you know in Fuji House, I play
a key role there and they’ve been waiting for
me all along. And they’ve run out of episodes,
so I had to be there to play a little of my part,
just to tell people I’m still alive and I will be
back on track, that was why I went to see
them before I went back to England.
So, are you fully ready for work now?
Yes, yes, yes but I still need to rest. If at all I
have to work now it’s not going to be fully.
I’ve not gone back to work fully, no!
I learnt you were on location of Yaws and
Mine, that was why I asked that question…
Before I went back to England for my
treatment I was there just to see them,
because I was actually supposed to be with
them on the second season which I told them I
couldn’t do at that time as I wasn’t fit to work.
So I just went to tell them ‘well done, I’m still
with you. I will be back.’
What are things that you cannot do now by
virtue of your age and the health challenge you
just overcame?
There is nothing I cannot do because of age
now, but by virtue of health for now, if you
notice you will see that my walking is not
really smooth; that I use working stick. That is
the only challenge I have for now. I still walk
at a slow pace for now, but when I’m back to
my normal Ngozi Nwosu certainly there will be
nothing stopping me.
What is one special gift that you have received
on your birthday?
Well, I have received the grace of God; that is
the first special gift. God has given me back
my life. I really thank God. I call it the second
coming of Ngozi Nwosu. Then the second gift I
have received is a wonderful gift of breakfast
in bed by my girl friend in England because I
had never received that before.
What is your greatest achievement?
Life.
What is your greatest desire from God?
I pray that God should give me long life, not
like Metusellah, because I don’t want to live
the life that you will be blind, you will be
crippled and you will become a nuisance to the
society. I want a live long life but I want to be
fit; even if I’m 80, 90, or 100. That’s the kind
of life I want.
What has life taught you?
Life is a decision and life is by choice.
So many things have changed since the time
you travelled and now. You’ve gotten back to
shape. How have you been able to achieve
that?
I thank God. It is not by might, not by power.
Some of your colleagues who weren’t lucky to
get financial assistance passed on, but you
were lucky; you had the goodwill and the
money came on time. What do you think can
be done to prevent these health issues?
That is why I’m happy that my president,
Ibinabo Fiberisema, came. I’m glad they now
have a health scheme for thespians. I will
encourage them to please hook on to that
because life is too short. The things we think
might be nothing could turn out to be
something. I know that from the time I took ill
till this time there are so many people that
have dropped dead while I went to hell and I’m
still standing. That is why I say God has given
me a second chance.
Who are your childhood friends?
So many, they are there. Some are gone while
some are still hanging in there.
How about in the industry?
Industry? I do not have friends.
Any reason?
When you are rich they are your friends, but
when you’re not they are not your friend.
Most of them are a flash in the pan.
What’s your take on Nollywood at present?
For now, I can’t say because I haven’t been
working for two years. All this problem started
with pile, so for almost a year I couldn’t do
anything. I was battling with the pile until
finally I had an operation and just when I was
being myself back, I did one or two jobs
before the kidney thing started.
So really I cannot say the state, but from what
I am seeing, I think Nollywood is higher yeah!
But I want to quickly point out that our script
writers are not doing enough work, because
most of what I was watching while I was
resting were based on one story copied from
one English movie or the other, and before you
say Jack Robinson you know where it is going
to end and I don’t find that interesting.
When it comes to your health, what are the
things you want to do differently?
I have learnt that there are so many things you
don’t take and especially when one is aging, it
is important that you get hooked to a doctor
and seek advice because it’s only a doctor and
a nutritionist that can actually educate you on
what to do and how to take care of yourself
properly.
There is the notion that kidney diseases most
times have a lot to do with alcohol intake.
What is your take on this?
I don’t think it has to do with alcohol. Let’s
just pray that we should not be sick. There are
so many people out there, even kids that have
kidney problems, do kids take alcohol? So it
doesn’t have to do with alcohol. Though it may
have something to do with it, it doesn’t
necessarily have to do with it. Like I said, let’s
just pray not to be sick.
What else would you wish for in life?
I wish for the best things of life. In fact, I just
wish somebody will come and park the latest
car in my house now because this one that we
are talking is talk, talk. Somebody should come
and park the best car in my house and build a
house for me. I don’t want to be like the
Nigerian flag designer who almost died before
they recognised him. Yes, o! When they are
talking about Nollywood, I thank God I’m still
alive. I am part of those who made it what it is
today.
Your health challenge as it was then made you
trend in the media like never before, even till
now you are still trending. Would you say it’s a
blessing in disguise?
Yes, a big one. It’s a blessing, my dear. To
those who felt this was the end of Ngozi
Nwosu, I just want to tell them: this is the
beginning of Ngozi Nwosu.
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