Jennifer also revealed she became an actress by coincidence and that she incurred her dad’s wrath after she joined Nollywood
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nollywood actress, Jennifer Eliogu has revealed that she grew up in a strict home and that her father wanted her to become a lawyer.
The thespian also said she incurred her father’s wrath after she decided to join the movie industry instead of following his wish.
Jennifer made this known in a recent chat with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, where she said she only stumbled into acting while she was doing her diploma programme in 1997.
She said: “I didn’t come out to look for movies, I just stumbled into it [movie industry].
“A friend of mine, Princess Babiana… My dad was very strict growing up. We hardly go out, so we had our playground in the house. He doesn’t like visitors. So, we only go out when he is out of town.
“He prefers we are friends with people he knows their parents so he knows that when you go there, you are comfortable. So, my dad and her dad were friends. And she came to visit and she was going for [movie] rehearsals. So, I was like, okay because it’s her and my dad was out of town, I could go. So I followed her.”
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The 47-year-old actress went on to say it was difficult to convince her dad that she wanted to pursue a career in acting.
She said, “He was difficult. He didn’t even want to hear it. I was already doing diploma in UniJos. My dad always wanted me to be a lawyer. He felt that I was going to be a very good lawyer. It caused a whole lot of problems and my mum was at the receiving end. He kept saying, ‘is this what you really want to do? If anything goes wrong, you will not forgive yourself.’ And I was like, ‘I’m sure, this is what I really want to do.”
Eliogu further said she and her dad had a disagreement, which made her stop going to school, while he decided not to pay her school fees anymore
“It took a long time, very long time. I stopped being his girl. And you know what, I stopped going to school. He was like I’m not going to pay your school fees.” she added.