Kora award winner and Ex Project Fame
winner, Chidinma Ekile, in an interview tells how she has been able
to manage the recent controversies surrounding her
You won Kora Awards last year and
this year again, you were nominated for an international award, Channel O
Awards. Did you ever imagine that you would get to this stage?
No way. I never imagined it in any way.
All I did was just to be focused. I knew this was what I loved doing and
I decided to just keep doing it. I didn’t expect that it would get this
big. Sometimes I sit back and I think back of how it started.
But did the awards have any impact on your career?
Oh yes. When I won the Kora and got back
to Nigeria, it was a whole different experience. People started
treating me differently. They wondered how ‘small’ Chidinma could go to
Cote D’ivoire and bring the Kora home. It added to my profile. Being
nominated for the Channel O Award is a big deal for me even if I didn’t
clinch the award.
How has it been since then?
It has been good and challenging. It has been a lot of work.
READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW AFTER THE CUT................................
Did you go back to school?
Oh yes. I am managing my career and my
studies. I don’t have a choice. I wake up every day and I realise I have
a lot of things to do. This is really the best time to tidy up my
education. This is my youth. I get busier by the day. It will get
tougher. I have to do what I have to do before time gets tougher.
You eventually came into the spotlight and it opened doors to controversies and scandals…
I have been in the news lately. My
manager told me that I am a balloon on top of lots of needles. People
want me to drop on those needles and get deflated. He told me to be
careful. The first time was when my nude picture went viral. I actually
went for a photo shoot for my friend. I wore a tube dress. Some mischief
makers actually cropped off the lower part of the picture and posted it
on the Internet. It was as if I was nude. I wasn’t happy at all. I had
that picture. I had to post the real picture on the net and people now
got convinced the nude picture wasn’t original. I thought that was the
end, I didn’t know a bigger scandal was coming…
You mean the sex video?
Oh yes. I woke up one morning and I was
greeted on the internet with ‘Chidinma and sex tape’. I was worried
primarily because of my mother. I didn’t let her see the video but I had
to show her the photos. I didn’t want to go out that day. I couldn’t go
out. But my mum felt otherwise. She told me to ignore the mischief
makers. I almost took some actions but I thought against it. I met Sound
Sultan on a set. He told me, ‘Babe, you are now a star. I welcome you
officially into the industry.’ I trended for three days. Even people who
didn’t know me got to know me. My fan base grew. And then, I was happy
because more than 90 per cent of the public didn’t believe I was the one
in that video. There were people who didn’t need to see the video to
believe I couldn’t have done such thing. I am just grateful to everyone
who didn’t believe the story. My twitter account was hacked and the
people created another account. They kept releasing nasty pictures and
they were even responding to the tweets as if I was the one doing it. I
was just watching and laughing. It put me in the spotlight. I used it
for good.
But such scandal shouldn’t be good for your career…
Ever since I started, I have been scared
of scandals. I didn’t want to have any. But I realised that I cannot
run away from it. It is just normal. It is not everybody who is happy
seeing me rise. Some people are trying to do something to stop me. But
sex tape is not enough to stop me. They should bring up something else.
The sex tape just took me to another level in my career. It moved me up.
This is no more ‘little’ Chidinma. It didn’t bring me down in any way. I
am still doing a lot of things.
One of the Skuki boys said he is in love with you and would want to marry you…
Oh yes. Everybody wants to marry me but I am not ready for marriage.
But the boy came out publicly and declared his love for you…
I laughed when I saw that story. I have
not considered his request. I still have to make more money before I
consider marriage. He is actually my friend and he never told me
something like that. I have been linked with so many people. People
cannot imagine me being a saint. They are just looking for something to
attach to me.
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