NaijaTalkTalk: ‘I worked hard because I hated poverty’

Ifu Ennada

TV presenter and actress Ifu Ennada’s early stage in life wasn’t rosy. The Abia State-born celebrity grew up in La­gos but poverty drove home her parents twice. A go-getter, this first daughter in a family of six kept working hard to help herself and her family.

“My family moved out of Lagos to the village twice when I was younger, no thanks to hardship,” she recalled.

This multi-talented media and entertainment personality said unequivocally that this is her best year so far. She said if you are trying to lose hope because you are finding life difficult and your parents are not helping either owing to poverty, you should persevere.

“Don’t lose hope. I was once in such a situation but today, I hum a different tune. I just launched my website and YouTube channel this month. The website is an online community with facets in fitness, health, fashion, beauty, gospel, lifestyle and news updates. The YouTube channel includes fitness/workout, beauty shows and several other weekly shows which would make a debut on the channel. It’s been a long time coming and I’m excited about this project.

“It’ll allow me share my creativity in every facet of life, just like when I was working fulltime as a TV producer. I wouldn’t forget to mention here that Le’ venue Group, a real estate com­pany helped to bring this project to life. It’s good to have some­one believe in your dreams and even go the extra mile to bring it to life. That is what the group is doing for me. And it is not just an ordinary real estate company. They’re on a mission to make housing affordable to everyone regardless of the size of their pocket. You can own a lovely home with a small amount as N10,000 a month,” she said excitedly. For this young lady, 2015 has indeed favoured her as she puts her past into consideration.

“For me, this year (2015) can be said to be my best so far as I was able to record several successes, including playing the lead female in the feature film, ‘O Town’, a gangster thriller writ­ten and directed by multiple award-winning director, CJ Fiery Obasi. That was a big deal for me. I feel honoured working with CJ Obasi and everyone on ‘O Town’. I keep saying it loud that CJ Obasi is a young director whose works are already break­ing records and getting great international recognition. For me there’s no better way to make a debut in film than working with one of the great minds in the industry. ‘O Town’ was premiered on 9th and 12th November at Afriff 2015,” she said. Though Ennada had a difficult early stage, she ultimately went to school.

“I graduated from Olabisi Onabanjo University where I stud­ied computer science. I then went on to study business manage­ment and entrepreneurial skills at National Open University of Nigeria. It wasn’t all rosy at the early stage of my life. My fam­ily moved out of Lagos to the village twice when I was younger, no thanks to hardship. But I grew up mostly in Lagos. I got my first job as a front desk officer at age 17. I grew up with very limited access to basic necessities of life.

But because I hated poverty, I worked harder to support my family. At age 16, I won a dance competition organised by Bobo Milk Drink at the Lagos international show. At 19, I got a job as a TV presenter and reporter with GoldMyne TV where I also presented Video Wheels, Hitz and Mingle. I also learned on the job how to create and produce contents which attracted spon­sors for the company. Creating contents came easy for me since I loved exploring my creative mind. Then in 2012 and 2013 I moved over to Dynamix International where I worked as a full­time producer. The media outfit is a producer of Dynamix on TV, a weekly TV show and Dynamix Awards which I produced during my time there. I also contributed to their monthly maga­zine, Dynamix Magazine, in the capacity of a lifestyle editor,” she recalled.

After spending over one year with Dynamix International, in the second quarter of 2013, “I answered to my calling in act­ing when my first audition landed me a lead role as Tina Eze in hit TV series, Emerald. It was Emerald that shot me into the limelight. Filming two seasons of Emerald lasted over a year and took a huge chunk of my time, but it was all for the best as I started getting recognition from influential producers and di­rectors within and outside the country. I have made significant appearances in hit TV soaps like Tinsel, MTV Base Shuga and Desperate Housewives Africa.

In the third quarter of 2015, I became the star of HM Travel and Tours, a comedy series exclusive to Ebony Life TV where I played the role of Mfon. The soap airs three times a week on the station,” she emphasised.